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Hi
I am BA silver, for now, and am getting rather confused about the best way to earn Tier Points. Like many i am not happy with what BA has done and have thought about various other airlines that would suit my needs. I visit my elderly parents in CHS South Carolina regularly.
I pay cash for my flights and prefer to fly Business Class for various reasons. I won’t get into them.
I have looked at the options with other airlines – for me it as much about price (low) and being able to take advantage of the status I earned on my cash flights.
One of the routes I use regularly is out of Budapest which is always cheaper by far than out of LHR even taking into account having to pay for seperate return flights from LHR to BUD.
With this in mind…… if i book via BA the charges are in HUF no GBP’s. Which is fine with me – i can sort that. My understanding is Tier Points are only given for Fare and Carrier imposed charge.
Firstly, is this correct?
Second, will tier points be earned on the conversion from HUF to GBP’s?I do this journey at leat 3 times a year.
Many thanks for your help
MicheleYes – in the new system, TPs are awarded on spend, and not all of the fare qualifies on flight only.
Have you priced up a BAH? These can give better value than flight alone and you’ll get full TPs for the spend as a solo traveller. I’m not sure if you can start outside the U.K., however.
You can add as little as one night in a hotel (e.g. airport hotel) to make it into a BAH.
Yes – in the new system, TPs are awarded on spend, and not all of the fare qualifies on flight only.
Have you priced up a BAH? These can give better value than flight alone and you’ll get full TPs for the spend as a solo traveller. I’m not sure if you can start outside the U.K., however.
You can add as little as one night in a hotel (e.g. airport hotel) to make it into a BAH.
Thank you @NorthernLass – I will have a look but I think i will get more out of it if I fly from BUD rather than LHR becuase so much of the flight out of LHR is taxes etc. And the prices is almost double anyway.
BAH – i have to admit i thought you had to fly from UK but will check that. I also thought you had to book 5 nights for a BAH but will check that also. I could do with car hire – i looked at that some time ago but worth a revisit with the potential impact of tier points.
Many thanks again
Don’t limit yourself to Bud – have found some good fares from DUB
Some confusion over BA Hols
For the old double points offer you had to start in the UK and have 5 nights hotel or car as well
But BA Hols are more than that.
All you need to make it a holiday is a night at a hotel or a nights car hire (as well as the flights of course and all booked together). And if my understanding of the new scheme is right you’d get TPs based on the full cost not just the base fare and surcharges.
So the hotel could be at LHR the night before flying to BUD for example or at your destination.
Also advantage of a BA Hols is only paying a deposit on booking unlike a flight.
I’m not confused, I book loads of BAH’s! A couple of times I’ve tried to start outside the UK and got an error message, which is why I mentioned it. That could be BA’s IT though.
You don’t even need a flight to get BAH terms, it can be a hotel and car hire booking, or even 2 separate hotel or car hire bookings (though whether you’d get full TPs for these under the new system remains to be seen).
Some confusion over BA Hols
For the old double points offer you had to start in the UK and have 5 nights hotel or car as well
But BA Hols are more than that.
All you need to make it a holiday is a night at a hotel or a nights car hire (as well as the flights of course and all booked together). And if my understanding of the new scheme is right you’d get TPs based on the full cost not just the base fare and surcharges.
So the hotel could be at LHR the night before flying to BUD for example or at your destination.
Also advantage of a BA Hols is only paying a deposit on booking unlike a flight.
Thank you – so I go online – book the flights i want, then where it indicates at a hotel or car, i can add a car for say 1 day to pick up at CHS airport, for one day that booking then becomes a BAH and therefore, should in theory, give me TP’s for the full cost not just the fare and surcharges? It would be worth the extra £100 for the car hire to get the while TP’s based on the full cost.
I hope i have read your post right 🙂 Thanks for your help.
You need to use the custom trip tool if you want your flight and car hire to span different dates.
The issue you might have is that not all locations/airlines feature in BAH’s so you might find that you can’t get the flights or car hire to price up for CHS (I’m guessing you connect there on a non-BA flight?)
You need to play around with the system a bit to see what you can and can’t do. Sometimes if you call BAH they can add things which can’t be done online.
I’m not confused, I book loads of BAH’s! A couple of times I’ve tried to start outside the UK and got an error message, which is why I mentioned it. That could be BA’s IT though.
You don’t even need a flight to get BAH terms, it can be a hotel and car hire booking, or even 2 separate hotel or car hire bookings (though whether you’d get full TPs for these under the new system remains to be seen).
I never said you were confused but there is more than you on this thread.
I’ve never had an issue starting any of my BA Hols outside of the UK and I’ve done loads of them.
A hotel or car booked via BA Hols does not automatically make it a holiday. A holiday has very specific meaning under the various regulations.
As well as in the BA new scheme T&Cs.
I did say that it’s not clear what types of bookings will earn TPs under the new system. So you can book a hotel and car together, and it’s a BAH in the sense, for example, that you can pay a low deposit and the balance 3 weeks before travel, but we don’t know as yet whether it would qualify for full TPs. I wouldn’t be completely surprised if it did, however, or at least will until BA amends the IT or Ts & Cs (again!)
The point was that the OP could enjoy some benefits of a BAH, and may or may not get TPs as per the new system. We don’t know yet.
@NorthernLass – what are you suggesting is still unclear about what constitutes a BAH for TP earning purposes?
@NorthernLass Booking a car and hotel together on the BA website is treated as a BA Holidays booking but I doubt it will earn any nTP as the T&Cs for TP earning is that per paragraph 3 an eligible BAH booking is flight+car or flight+hotel or flight+car+hotel
Take a look at the T&Cs on this page:
https://www.britishairways.com/content/the-british-airways-club/about-tier-points/holidaysThe T&Cs are also clear on the following points:
5 British Airways Holidays tier points awards do not apply to any British Airways flight bookings where the hotel or car is added to a booking in a ‘Shopping Basket’ with individually priced flight and hotel and/or car components or when added in Manage my Booking after the flight has been booked.
6 Bookings can only contain one flight departing from their country of residence and departure, multiple journeys from this country within one booking will not qualify.
7 All passengers using the hotel and/or car hire must be named on the booking prior to travel, any subsequent additions to passenger mix made locally could result in the booking being deemed ineligible for tier points.So even if it is possible to book a BAH starting in BUD I would say that it doesn’t qualify for TP unless Hungary is your country of residence. That said it might work as long as you only have one departure from the UK so an itinerary BUD-LHR-CHS-LHR might work but BUD-LHR-CHS-LHR-BUD definitely wouldn’t
I am BA silver, for now, and am getting rather confused about the best way to earn Tier Points. Like many i am not happy with what BA has done and have thought about various other airlines that would suit my needs.
I have looked at the options with other airlines – for me it as much about price (low) and being able to take advantage of the status I earned on my cash flights.
If you want to continue flying with BA you can look into the other oneworld programmes that may be easier to earn status with, such as Iberia and Finnair
If you want to continue flying with BA you can look into the other oneworld programmes that may be easier to earn status with, such as Iberia and Finnair[/quote]
I have to admit I am so confused about what is best re other One World airlines – especially when some of the threads, particularly on other forums, talkin booking with BA after checking in on line getting the BA check in desk to change to say Qatar FF number.
Anyway, back to BUD to CHS – so the flight is charged in HUF as stated in my original post. Here is the breakdown for the most costly of the chargesFare HUF649,600
Carrier imposed charge HUF342,600
Security Charge – Hungary HUF2,400
Airport Departure Tax – Hungary HUF12,700
Passenger Service Charge – United Kingdom HUF22,000Would I be correct in saying I should get Tier Points for the first 2 charges…. Fare HUF 649,600 PLUS Carrier imposed charge HUF 342,600? I think potentially all else is disregarded under the new tier system?
Many thanks
MicheleWould I be correct in saying I should get Tier Points for the first 2 charges…. Fare HUF 649,600 PLUS Carrier imposed charge HUF 342,600? I think potentially all else is disregarded under the new tier system?
Yes that is correct. The only aspect that hasn’t occurred to me previously is whether the FX conversion to the GBP cost which generates the TP & Avios is done at the time of booking, the time of payment (if different) or when you actually fly.
Would I be correct in saying I should get Tier Points for the first 2 charges…. Fare HUF 649,600 PLUS Carrier imposed charge HUF 342,600? I think potentially all else is disregarded under the new tier system?
Yes that is correct. The only aspect that hasn’t occurred to me previously is whether the FX conversion to the GBP cost which generates the TP & Avios is done at the time of booking, the time of payment (if different) or when you actually fly.
Brilliant – thank you for your help. I will let you know once the flights are sorted etc. 🙂
Yes that is correct. The only aspect that hasn’t occurred to me previously is whether the FX conversion to the GBP cost which generates the TP & Avios is done at the time of booking, the time of payment (if different) or when you actually fly.
Covered here
I’ve purchased a ticket in another currency. How can I calculate tier points?
The total eligible spend will be converted to GBP using the IATA 5-day exchange rate. This is calculated using either the ticket issue date or when the add-on was purchased. Your tier points will be calculated using this converted amount.
The total eligible spend for British Airways Holidays package bookings made in another currency will be converted to GBP using the OANDA rate of exchange, calculated on the date the booking was made.
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