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I cancelled a return flight for 2 to Seville. part of this was paid for by Avios. 38600 Avios.
BA will not refund. I have spoken to Exec Club, sent emails to them. NO refund. initially paid £168.34 + 38600 Avios; refunded £50.34 only. is this correct??Was this a reward flight? Or a cash flight paid partly with Avios?
Sounds like you used Avios to reduce the price of a cash flight – this would be correct, you’d only get the taxes back
Ouch, if so, that’s an expensive error, I feel for the OP. A lot of folks confuse reward seats with cash & Avios.
Double ouch. 2 returns in economy would have been 47k avios plus £2 on a reward booking, and all the avios would have been returned if it was cancelled!
In other words, taking the worst value Avios + £1 option for the flight would still have worked out cheaper than the cash ticket + Avios option? That’s a surprise and an eye opener. Course, the OP might have found there was no reward seat availability on their preferred dates in which case it’s a cash ticket or nothing.
While talking to friends and acquaintances a lot of people seem to think that the only thing you can do with Avios is to reduce the cost of cash tickets, they’ve not heard about reward seats. It’s almost as if BA wants to push people to use their points this way! 😉
The award option is definitely more flexible, the value from using avios would depend on the original cash price. Also we don’t know which cabin the OP was flying in.
Did you click on ‘save with AVIOS’, then log in and get various options to discount your flight ?
I did this last year and used 80,000 Avios to get approx £300 off a flight from LHR to Kefalonia, which brought the cost down to a more reasonable £600. (Didn’t really understand reward flight savers at that point).
I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have cancelled and got them back. However I seem to remember that I did earn avios and Tier points for the flights. Unlike with RFS.
Yes, you get avios and TPs if you use avios to reduce the cash price.
Yes, you get avios and TPs if you use avios to reduce the cash price.
Now I am here I dont think I would be so cavalier with my 80,000 points. Sad Face. Although it was a bit last minute so there probably wouldn’t have been reward flight availability.
I don’t want to disappoint you, but, there probably would have been reward flight availability at short notice. BA tends to add extra availability from T-7 days and often the best selection of available flights is from 00:01 GMT the calendar day before you want to travel. BA uses this as a way of dumping empty seats out the back door without having to discount the public cash fare which can easily upset people who’ve paid a lot more to book months in advance.
The exception to this tends to be guaranteed sell out flights, e.g. next to no chance you’ll get last minute availability to Sydney on December 20, to use a stark example. However, I’ve managed to get last minute availability on some flights I knew would be busy because of the destination and/or time of year, sometimes it felt like I got the last seat on the plane, which I guess is exactly BA’s aim in an ideal world: fill the plane to capacity at the last minute with reward ticket holders if you need to.
@Londonsteve. Oh dear I think I was trying to make myself feel better about it. Even sadder face 🙁
I booked approx three weeks out. The flight was full though as I asked the flight attendant & we were in the very last row, apart from the row that is saved for the staff if they need to have a rest, that was the row behind us.
Don’t think about it, @Misty! We all make mistakes to start with. I wasted the return portion of my 241 on my first-ever CW booking because I was too nervous to call BA and ask for the 50% avios back. And now look at me 🤣
Ah. Clearly I didn’t know what I was doing!! So a huge learning curve.
No, it wasn’t a ‘reward’ flight, I didn’t know much about them. Its very annoying that BA Executive Club employees are more than happy to be un helpful , scant with their responses and advice, rather than EXPLAON the whys and wherefores.Thanks for your responses
For next time it might help to know you can cancel within 24 hours without penalty, so you have time to check the Ts and Cs if you think you’re going to change your mind.
Ah. Clearly I didn’t know what I was doing!! So a huge learning curve.
No, it wasn’t a ‘reward’ flight, I didn’t know much about them. Its very annoying that BA Executive Club employees are more than happy to be un helpful , scant with their responses and advice, rather than EXPLAON the whys and wherefores.Thanks for your responses
Yes it’s annoying isn’t it when you find out.
To be honest I bet a lot of people do pay for flight and then use their AVIOS to get a bit of money off, as I’m sure Rob has said on here that part-pay with AVIOS is very popular.
I thinks it’s because a lot of people consider their AVIOS to be freebies, as they collected them when paying for their shopping, so it seems a bit like something for nothing.
So I’m none the wiser. What are reward flights?
What am I meant to take better advantage of my avios points?
Also, on a separate note, I made a thread an hour or so ago but I can’t see it in the forum or in my account under ‘threads created. Are threads vetted before posted? How long does this take usually?
Would have been nice to see a warning page/note or something beforehand.
You need to read the whole of this site 😂
Start with the articles!
So I’m none the wiser. What are reward flights?
What am I meant to take better advantage of my avios points?
Also, on a separate note, I made a thread an hour or so ago but I can’t see it in the forum or in my account under ‘threads created. Are threads vetted before posted? How long does this take usually?
Would have been nice to see a warning page/note or something beforehand.
Why are you here? Have a read before expecting people to help you. As @NorthernLass says, read the articles, particularly the AVIOS redemption university series in the drop down menu.
As for threads. Probably caught up in a spam filter as you’re a new account
Would have been nice to see a warning page/note or something beforehand.
You would have got an email when you registered saying your first post would be moderated and may not appear immediately
But you’ve revealed a flaw in that 2nd posts don’t get moderated.
Also please don’t expect to be spoon fed for every question you have.
So I’m none the wiser. What are reward flights?
What am I meant to take better advantage of my avios points?
Also, on a separate note, I made a thread an hour or so ago but I can’t see it in the forum or in my account under ‘threads created. Are threads vetted before posted? How long does this take usually?
Would have been nice to see a warning page/note or something beforehand.
Every flight BA reserves at least 4 business class (Club World/Europe), 2 Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) and 8 Economy (World Traveller/Euro Traveller) seats that can only be booked via Avios. You will pay the fare with Avios and the taxes/surcharges with cash.
These can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the flight, and you will get the cash and Avios elements back, less a £35 cancellation fee. I believe there is currently an IT glitch, so short haul BA return flights incur only a £1 cancellation charge when cancelled online.
The flights are bookable on the BA website via the Book > Book flights with Avios page. Rob has an Avios guide here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/the-beginners-guide-to-collecting-avios-points/
There is some more advanced information here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/british-airways-executive-club-guide/
https://www.headforpoints.com/category/avios-redemption-university/So I’m none the wiser. What are reward flights?
What am I meant to take better advantage of my avios points?
Also, on a separate note, I made a thread an hour or so ago but I can’t see it in the forum or in my account under ‘threads created. Are threads vetted before posted? How long does this take usually?
Would have been nice to see a warning page/note or something beforehand.
Wow. Good luck but if there’s a site with info at your finger tips or clicks I should say. This is it. I had no idea what an Avios was until I read the articles. Some I had to read 3-4 times and read them out loud before I actually got it.
You won’t be making the same mistake as poor lady in the first post.
Thanks all, my bad, I got ahead of myself with my thread not showing and I apologise for the bad forum etiquette !
So I’m none the wiser. What are reward flights?
What am I meant to take better advantage of my avios points?
Also, on a separate note, I made a thread an hour or so ago but I can’t see it in the forum or in my account under ‘threads created. Are threads vetted before posted? How long does this take usually?
Would have been nice to see a warning page/note or something beforehand.
Every flight BA reserves at least 4 business class (Club World/Europe), 2 Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) and 8 Economy (World Traveller/Euro Traveller) seats that can only be booked via Avios. You will pay the fare with Avios and the taxes/surcharges with cash.
These can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the flight, and you will get the cash and Avios elements back, less a £35 cancellation fee. I believe there is currently an IT glitch, so short haul BA return flights incur only a £1 cancellation charge when cancelled online.
The flights are bookable on the BA website via the Book > Book flights with Avios page. Rob has an Avios guide here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/the-beginners-guide-to-collecting-avios-points/
There is some more advanced information here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/british-airways-executive-club-guide/
https://www.headforpoints.com/category/avios-redemption-university/Thank you so much. I will start here!
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