Avios when based in the North

[NorthernLass]

@dundj, I’m time-rich these days and you’ve given me an idea – drive to GLA (genuinely a 3-hour drive!), mini-break in bonnie Scotland, fly GLA-LGW for an LGW departure, repeat in reverse. Or train to GLA (again they seem to be much cheaper and generally more pleasant heading north), which would allow for LHR-MAN on the return.

Some great TP ops here!

[neila85]

Thanks all!
I agree the train just isn’t worth it.
A direct flight from Man to Gatwick would be ideal to link the BA network.

Ive never considered the taxes before as I’ve always just booked based on convenience so will definitely consider this aspect now.

Looking at Madrid and Dub as potential starter points for a decent long haul, going west more than east.

[davefl]

NorthernLass wrote:

I flew from GLA for the first time last week and the dedicated BA lounge for the 6 flights leaving that afternoon was delightful. It does feel as though BA is giving up on MAN bit by bit.

Bit by bit? Do you remember when T3 was built, it was the “BA Terminal” and the logo was plastered across the front.
They used to fly to :-
CDG, BRU, MAD, AMS, CPH, ARL, FCO, DUS, FRA, GVA, ZRH, DUB, MCO, LAX, HKG, JFK

EDI, GLA, ABZ, SOU, IOM, LGW, LHR and more.

[ekposh]

If you’re going West, they make sense (DUB /MAD). If you do fancy a trip east, don’t discount HEL on AY. Positioning there is more expensive but you’d get some excellent Avios value and v low surcharges (e.g. SIN), saving you £100s and 1000s Avios.

[MGOR]

Over the years I’ve tried different combinations of getting to LHR and LGW from the NW and enjoyed some great trips using Airmiles / Avios . F return to Santiago being the highlight! For me the best option was when there were flights from LPL sadly no more. Next best option was flights from Man to LHR/LGW to allow connections. Now they’re either gone (LGW) or much reduced / unreliable with long connection times. I’ve tried driving which is OK ish going down but returning after an overnight long haul never again! Train to LHR and LGW was bearable when it was Virgin but now it’s Avanti no chance too costly and unreliable (from bitter experience). So what do I do now ? Not tried National Express which could be an option I suppose? At the moment I’m ignoring BA and getting cheap loco cash flights from Man or LPL either direct or connecting on long haul using the likes of Gulf / Eitiad / Qatar or Turkish. My Avios are accumulating until I am more time rich to use them on a ‘big bang’ trip somewhere (South America via Mad?) OK I risk a devaluation but my view which not everyone will subscribe to is they are ‘free’ as I’m spending the money anyway and getting them is a bonus (I don’t chase them avidly other than using BA Estore at times). In summary BA lose out and some destinations eg Caribbean are not as appealing as the flights are mostly from LGW but I’ve opened up a whole new world of non Avios destinations and airlines!

[davefl]

MGOR wrote:

Over the years I’ve tried different combinations of getting to LHR and LGW from the NW and enjoyed some great trips using Airmiles / Avios . <snip>. In summary BA lose out and some destinations eg Caribbean are not as appealing as the flights are mostly from LGW but I’ve opened up a whole new world of non Avios destinations and airlines!

+1

[NorthernLass]

@davefl, well I meant they are down to the last few bits!

@ekposh, I’m sure I looked at a positioning flight to HEL on Finnair once and it was something like £750 in economy 😱

[Hbommie]

NorthernLass wrote:

@davefl, well I meant they are down to the last few bits!

@ekposh, I’m sure I looked at a positioning flight to HEL on Finnair once and it was something like £750 in economy 😱

£750? That’s not typical, it’s usually £150 to HEL return.

[Bill]

NorthernLass wrote:

It took us 6 hours to drive from East Lancashire to LGW a couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday!

There was briefly a handful of short-haul weekend routes on BA from MAN but they were pulled after Covid.

But there’s still plenty of long-haul options where there’s no direct service from MAN so you’d have to connect somewhere. Many of the US routes like MIA, IAD, ORD etc. plus quite a few “tropical” options like NAS, GCM, BDA, PLS, plus the remaining Far East routes.

An airport advance is a good ticket to buy

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/manchester-airport

[TooPoorToBeHere]

I didn’t mind the pre-covid train to LGW from oop norf when it arrived at Kings Cross, even with a bag – over to St Pancras and take one more train. I wouldn’t plan to use any kind of train to get to an airport now though. Far too unreliable, and if there’s more than one of you in the party it isn’t even cheaper than Uber/minicab.

Did Brazil on BA starting at MAN, was great other than the “departing from MAN” part. Think about EZE, too. Did several Brazilian domestic flights too, all great – I think there’s even an Avios redemption possibility on Latam. Full £500 UK261 on the return leg thanks to misconnect and usual BA shambles with afternoon/evening MAN flights.

[Richie]

AA have ordered 50 A321XLRs, my guess is we may see them at MAN at some point.

[davefl]

Richie wrote:

AA have ordered 50 A321XLRs, my guess is we may see them at MAN at some point.

Hope so, and also hope they don’t resurrect Philly, it was just voted one of the worst airports in the US.

We need a Chicago flight.

[AndrewT]

Richie wrote:

AA have ordered 50 A321XLRs, my guess is we may see them at MAN at some point.

Is that flying overhead on their way to LHR???

[Richie]

You won’t @AndrewT the ORD-LHR flightpath seems to go between Chester and Wrexham.

[NorthernLass]

Virtually any extra US city would be a welcome addition to the current massive 5 (of which one is seasonal) options!

[MGOR]

They need to focus on getting the basics right first before trying for more routes. Whilst things have improved from a low base I arrived back on Sunday morning at 3am on an already delayed TUI flight to be put on a remote stand to then be told there was no bus available to get us off the plane. It was then 45 minutes before we disembarked- the only saving grace was passport control was empty and the luggage was already on the carousel. Terminal 2 does not appear to have enough stands. I have no issues with remote stands and buses as lots of airports have them but if you’re going to do them at least make sure you have enough buses and drivers! We couldn’t even use the old joke of if you wait long enough 2 will turn up at once as that was apparently the only bus available. By the sounds of it from the air crew it’s a regular occurrence.

[krautboy]

We have done Gatwick now a couple of times and yes its bit of a hustle when living up north.

We usually opted to drop the car at LHR and fly out to a destination from there. We usually do multi destination trips, so this works for us. Out from LHR and at times back to LGW. Last year we flew to Heathrow to Miami and then back Cancun to Gatwick. Which meant we just had to jump on a couch connecting to Heathrow.

It is still time consuming though. 1 1 1/2 hrs on the couch and then get the car and drive home. Redemption via DUblin or Madrid can be good value.

Air Lingus also now flys to Barbados from Manchester, which the 241 voucher could be used for.

[davefl]

krautboy wrote:

It is still time consuming though. 1 1 1/2 hrs on the couch and then get the car and drive home. Redemption via DUblin or Madrid can be good value.

But all that means you can’t drink on the plane 🙁

Air Lingus also now flys to Barbados from Manchester, which the 241 voucher could be used for.

But we’re losing the Houston service from April and I’d wanted to try Singapore Airlines.

[Whatsthepoint]

A very timely thread for me. Wife and I have moved north from the Midlands. Previously LHR was a doddle and LGW not too bad. Now we have 3 voucher trips coming up. Orlando from MAN with Aer Lingus, Maldives from LHR and Canaries from LGW. First time ever from MAN. we also have a ton of Virgin miles and a voucher to use by early 2026. As we’re in Coastal North Yorkshire, we’re still 2.5 hours by car or 3 hours by train from MAN, so London isn’t much further. Leeds/Bradford has Aer Lingus to DUB, so that could he an option. For anything you can getbto from Madrid, using Iberia from MAN via MAD also looks promising. Even from the Midlands, we went down the night before. Wherever we fly from we’ll still do that. We’ll see how each works and go from there.

[neila85]

I am also find the BA avios search really clunky, eg if i search Man to Barbados it keeps forcing me to select a stop over in London and wont let me select no stop overs even though i know AerLingus has a direct flight.

Does this mean i have to use the respecrive airline clubs for AL and Iberia and then transfer poitns to those clubs to book direct with them?!

[Cathbluenose]

I live in Liverpool.In the last 6 months I’ve flown to Mumbai and Buenos Aires using Avios/companion voucher in business class for 2 people. Flying out of Heathrow is easy. I appreciate Gatwick is logistically more complicated. If you book using companion voucher, BA will add on a domestic Man to LHR, if you don’t do international at same time they may charge you for a booking change which I think is £30 per person. Heathrow has so many international options, BA will add on the domestic route for you, there is no need to faff around with trains!

[NorthernLass]

You don’t need BA to add on the domestic connection unless it’s not bookable online at the time. But the point is people would like a few more direct routes from BA that wouldn’t involve getting to LHR or LGW at all! The domestic connections are so unreliable these days the only way to guarantee getting on your long haul flight is to fly to LHR the day before and stay at a LHR hotel, which isn’t practical for everyone – though we’ve been doing it for many years now due to previous bad experiences.

[Aston100]

If you Mancs think you’ve got problems, you should think about the limited options for those in the Midlands.
I take almost all my longhaul flights from London.

[aq.1988]

I’m London based (around 40 mins from LHR), so don’t have these problems, but just noticed that BA have moved my most frequent route (ISB) to LGW. Absolutely gutted! It was always old CW, so that’s not the issue, but the journey from my house to Gatwick is a nightmare, and with Heathrow, we usually just get a lift from family. Not sure they would be willing to do the 2 hour journey there and back!

[JDB]

Aston100 wrote:

If you Mancs think you’ve got problems, you should think about the limited options for those in the Midlands.
I take almost all my longhaul flights from London.

I’m biased as Heathrow suits us just fine, but I wonder whether all these calls for BA to operate long haul services from regional airports would actually be in the best interests of passengers?? I fully understand why it would suit many people (notably Avios collectors) for BA say to operate direct flights from Manchester or Edinburgh to the US but I’m not sure if much thought is given to this wish list. First there needs to be an economic case for it which is tricky and then the environmentalists will get overexcited as well. If Heathrow expansion adding capacity for maybe 30m extra passengers (even without a new runway) goes ahead the case gets harder. There would inevitably be cannibalisation of some Heathrow flights which isn’t necessarily a good thing for anyone. If BA had say four long haul routes out of MAN and a flight is cancelled you would be more stuffed than flying out of London where there are many alternative flights to multiple destinations. While one reads of cancellations here, don’t underestimate just how many Heathrow flights operate every day with substituted aircraft and or crew. It’s an operational reality for all airlines.

It’s difficult to operate W type routings so it would probably require a crew and engineering base. Given that we are a tiny country and MAN and LHR are only ? 200 miles apart by road, the problem is really the poor transport links and an aviation solution isn’t really the answer. Unfortunately those responsible for long term planning fifty plus years ago failed us and attempting to retrofit motorways or railways now is nigh on impossible. France and Spain have also opted to operate effectively the ‘master’ airport model and while both countries offer better road and rail links the distances (and time, even with high speed trains) and limited rail connectivity directly to CDG or MAD, and some major cities not properly connected at all make the practical situation no better there. They do have the advantage of the hub having much greater capacity to absorb more domestic flights. In the UK, regional politicians and leaders of the other three nations were much more supportive of Heathrow expansion than those in the south east!

So maybe have a major airport with maximum route/frequency options plus regional airports having a fair number of other long haul airlines operating to them from their hubs isn’t a bad compromise.

I know it’s not the same but it’s not entirely dissimilar to the NHS having a small number of centres of excellence for certain very specialist areas. Yes, it’s a huge inconvenience for patients and/or their parents to travel hundreds of miles from home for treatment, but they will ultimately receive better care with better outcomes if they are in a real hub with the most experienced staff and infrastructure.