How I mis understood the benefits of using Avios on short haul European flights

[PlaneTripper]

I’ve used my Avios for Club Europe a few times to Belgium and Spain. I did it in peak time when I needed to fly on weekend dates – when they obviously hike up the cash fare. It was definitely worth it for priority boarding and the lounge etc etc. Long-haul Business is still my favourite redemption though.

[JonF]

I’ve just booked 3 RFS tickets LGW-FAO for Feb 2024 half term. 49500 avios spent + £105 in fees. If I had paid the BA fare (including the bags) then it would have been an incredible £3106. This values an Avios at an amazing 6.06p. Even the equivalent budget airline fare at similar times with bags would have been £824, but even this values an avios at 1.45p. The BA ticket is more flexible of course, and Wizz don’t have a great punctuality reputation.

[Whatsthepoint]

There are so many examples of where using Avios for short haul is worth it, Maybe Rob needs to update his advice. We also grabbed a bargain 2-4-1 voucher trip to the canaries in CE. I worked out had I used it for economy I’d be easily getting 3p of value, in CE 5p of value based on cash fares. Plus 1 for CE redepemtions, especially on usy flights of over 4 hours.

[supermac]

My update. I started off using avios for short European trips. Then I discovered that there was a sweet spot by using less avios and cash on their drop down option. Normally it’s about the mid way option or about half the avios amount. It does make a difference. On an economy return for two to Oslo full avios of 49,000 +£2 worked out at £328 while 31,000 and £70 was £276 and at the same time saving valuable points.

Finally I found an even better option (which to be fair doesn’t often work but it’s worth a look). That is avios on the way out of the UK and cash on the return leg. BA always makes it more expensive with cash on a single out of the UK but there is often very little difference on the return leg. The best pricing that I could get for two economy returns to Oslo using the best combination of points and cash was £276 but paying cash for the return leg brought it down to £242.

I’m gradually getting the hang of the Avios system.

[Lady London]

@supermac that’s a good tip and food for thought.

Perhaps the most fertile hunting ground for these is countries where BA faces strong competition. Hence tickets originating in that market (whether outward or just return), such as Scandinavia, certain start places in Eastern Europe, or very very competitive such as AMS, will be priced cheaper.

Or high tax markets where to achieve a given headline fare with the tax in, the airline heavily reduces the part of the cost that is called ‘fare’. If you’re really lucky, YQ (which has become another fudge designation which is another type of fare money) may seriously lower or disappear.

So your avios tickets and sometimes cash tickets starting at those destinations, where your internet seller or other seller is selling as a local… ahem “in that market”, or works with a partner in that market can be very much cheaper. This used to be an old dodge as to how bucket shops and ethnic travel agents got their tickets so cheap.

@BJ is going to choke on his croissant and @JDB won’t believe his ears, and @NorthernLass always knew, but I admire British Airways enormously for their ability to sell and price cleverly across so many different national markets. They’re well worth investing in. IAG thought so and so did Qatar and they’re so, so right.