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Hello!
Following on from the Avios redemption changes, I posted my situation on the blog post, and got a very useful reply from Mark. However he hasnt seen my follow up reply, so thought I would post the details here and see if anyone else (or Mark) can help?
My post:
We had saved 150K points for a old style 2-4-1 trip to Bangkok which got covid-cancelled twice. We have since decided to go to Rio with the same amount of points, but had not et booked – obviously the tax element cost went up over this time too. Now we need 200K point (which we dont have) – plus £1100 taxes. What WERE the taxes before these new changes came in? Looks like we will need to buy 32K of points if we want to make our trip.Mark’s reply:
You might want to try looking at Iberia for all or part of the trip, e.g. assuming travel from Heathrow it looks like you can get it as low as 155250 Avios + £ 1,301.68 on off-peak dates, travelling with IB via Madrid in one direction.If you’re willing to travel via Madrid in both directions you can do better still at 117750 Avios + £ 902.02 for two with the voucher. Hopefully that looks a bit better if your happy to connect, and that way you’re benefitting from the recent changes.
In theory you could probably bring the cost down further by starting your 2for1 journey in Madrid and getting there on a separate booking as that will save you UK long haul APD. The outbound connection would be at your risk though if you did that, and you wouldn’t be able to book it online.
My response:
Mark this is awesome, thank you. Now, Im a bit of a noob to all this, so are you able to be a bit more basic with your suggestions please!? Would I book on the BA site? I can see that the return flight in and out of Madrid is lower points and taxes. Going London to Madrid to Rio would be good, but coming back direct to London would be preferred. Where and what should i be looking for? Sorry to be so inexperienced with this! How would i redeem the voucher if not on the BA site? THANK YOU!So, can anyone help with my last response? I want to look at the best option that means I dont need to go back to Madrid on the return if possible. What should I be looking to do please? Much appreciated!
You need to book via BA but it’s not clear yet how open jaw bookings will work with the recent changes – it may need a call. Have you tried a dummy booking to see what options you are given? There was quite a bit of discussion on this sort of thing under Rob’s recent articles so it might be worth looking through these.
Note you will need to start the trip in Madrid to get the best pricing so would need to book a separate flight there from the U.K., and factor in enough time to transfer to your Rio leg.Thanks. Yes i understand the need to start from Madrid, thats no problem 🙂 My confusion was where these point levels were being found and where to book. Ive looked on BA and its only giving me their own direct flight options. I was hoping “mark” might pick up my enquiry! 🙂
Your post mentions you have the old style voucher. My understanding is that those do NOT allow to use IB yet.
Hello 🙂
Picking up on yonasl’s point, I was assuming that the extension of the vouchers to Iberia and Aer Lingus didn’t exclude the old style ones, That wasn’t spelt out in the article, and I don’t have one to test it.
However, if that assumption is incorrect you may not be able to use it on IB services. The best way to confirm is to try a dummy booking. E.g. as of now there are connecting redemption seats from London via Madrid to Rio available in business class on Saturday 9th December 2023. If you search for a redemption one way from LHR to GIG for that date on ba.com with your voucher do you see it?
Ignore my comment about starting in MAD to save APD – that presumably won’t work for you anyway since old style voucher bookings have to start in the UK.
Assuming that you don’t your options (assuming you can’t earn a new style voucher in a timescale that works) are either:
*Buy the avios you need to make up the difference for a BA booking or
*Ditch the 2for1 and book with Iberia anywayIf you decide to do the latter I would personally look to make three separate online bookings, with a night stop in Madrid on the way out. This will give you the long haul APD saving, without having to call (plus you can book the legs up to 355 days out as they become available):
*London to Madrid (consider a cash booking as an alternative to Avios, especially if you’re Avios limited)
*Madrid to Rio
*Rio to LondonAll of these should be bookable on ba.com via the Book with Avios option so just see how it works out and add it up… The lower Avios pricing options on the Iberia services don’t look too bad if you need to manage it down to what you have available. you can do dummy bookings to see what works for any available date – so long as you don’t enter any card details you’re not in danger of committing to anything.
Bear in mind also that Iberia has different peak/off-peak dates to BA that will affect the pricing on their services.
The details for Iberia for 2023 are here:
An Iberia example, without using the 2for1. This assumes you have the flexibility to avoid peak redemption dates and picking some higher cash options to keep you around the Avios you previously said you had available. You can tweak these as required.
*London to Madrid: 3,900 Avios + £ 56.21 per person – economy (Iberia flight booked via ba.com)
*Madrid to Rio: 42,500 Avios + £ 99.50 per person – business (Iberia flight booked via ba.com)
*Rio to London: 38,250 Avios + £ 285.20 per person – business (connecting Iberia flights on both sectors booked via ba.com)Total for two: 169,300 avios + £881.82
Note that Iberia only seems to release two business class redemption seats on the Rio flights, so you may need to book some way in advance and/or be flexible around dates.
Obviously using the 2for1 with Iberia would be better, if that is possible from London with the old style voucher.
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