End of RFS for IB flights booked via BAEC?

[Londonsteve]

I’ve been trying to book an IB flight to MAD in Business. Looked at Iberia Plus first and found 12,750 Avios plus a load of cash. Ah yes, I thought, I forgot that IB doesn’t offer Reward Flight Saver within Europe, so I went to Ba.com and tried again. Same flight showing as available, if you try to book onto BA metal you get the usual RFS offer, although it’s 13,500 Avios + £25 (I thought London to Madrid was identical Avios across BA and IB with the same peak/off-peak dates?). Try to book on Ba.com onto an IB flight and I get the same 12,750 Avios offer as IB Plus site plus a load of cash.

Has BA abolished RFS for IB flights booked via BAEC? It would be rather silly to incentivise flying BA metal over IB considering they are one airline and BA now offers many less flights to MAD than IB, increasing the chances you will book with another airline because they offer the departure time you’re looking for.

Also, I see the daily BA 777 rotation to MAD has ended and it appears to be replaced with two wide-body rotations to LHR daily?

[ChrisC]

IB and BA are not one airline.

They have the same owner but they are still very much separate companies.

Their peak / off peek calendars aren’t the same.

See here for example

https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/01/01/2022-peak-and-off-peak-avios-flight-dates/

• This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .

[Londonsteve]

I know there are differences but I recall that one could book an IB flight to MAD on BAEC and because it carried a BA flight number, it was sold as a BA flight operated by IB. You paid BA Avios rates and benefited from RFS. It made no difference whether it was BA or IB metal, you had a BA flight number and BA sold you the flight.

If you cannot get RFS for IB metal, I can only choose from the handful of services operated by BA, none of which are at a times I would like to travel. Understandably BA and IB are not competitors on the Madrid route but limbs of the same body.

[SamG]

This was probably an accidental quirk of these being “BA flights operated by Iberia” for a long while after T5 opened as Iberia didn’t have any systems etc there. They do now and they operate as IB prime flights and will charge IB taxes and fees accordingly

You are right though- BA schedule to MAD is very barebones right now !

[Londonsteve]

Well blow me down. It’s barmy to seek to charge more for reward flights on exactly the same route just because it’s operated by a different carrier. BA operates the first two flights of the day (logical as LHR is their base), but if you want an evening departure to Madrid, it’s IB or nothing. The opposite is true as there’s little incentive to fly BA Club returning from MAD when it’s fewer Avios and less cash on IB, not to mention two daily wide body options with a long haul hard product. The smart money will go BA economy out and IB business back, especially those with status for whom LHR lounge access is a freebie, but in IAG’s eyes you’re supposed to end up on whatever airline offers the right departure time and not because there’s a clear incentive to fly one over the other.