Newcomer to UK

[yipchunyu]

I just moved from Asia to UK this April. I just settled down most of the stuffs and ready to make a short trips. I earned some AVIOS in the past and planning to use it for do some short tips to Europe with my wife.

I read some materials on the use of AVIOS’s tips but it’s very complicated to me to understand it fully.
Any recommended routes (from London to Europe) for me to consider are greatly appreciated.

And I also read from someone that I can add some UK local cities when flighting back to UK.
For example, I start the trip from London > Europe city and then when back to UK, I can choose Europe city > London > Manchester / Edinburgh with no extra cost (and so saved some bucks on a single flight to UK cities).
Is it correct? Or I misunderstood the concepts?

Any advice are welcomed. Thanks in advance.

[Lady London]

Welcome @Yipchunyu.

I suggest you get a foundation and your initial bearings by looking at the various wikis in the British Airways section of the Flyertalk website. Then take a look at the various category headers and topics on there so that you will have an idea where you might find more info in the future when you are ready for it.

Personally I’d advise you to take a look there first to get the basics.

After that you’d be able to put many of the threads that come up here into context. Have a look at the other category headings on the forum here. As quite a few of them are more specific to the UK than Flyertalk – eg the London threads and the other non-London UK location threads.

Also look at the indexes of the articles on headforpoints.com so you will know roughly what is where and you can start to go onto more detail. Such as the various articles on UK points-earning credit cards.

Yes on a *longhaul* award booking currently an extra domestic flight to or from the Heathrow hub of BA, does not cost more avios than just the long haul. Small extra taxes/charges may be added though. Shorthaul you pay every flight segment now on avios. Although a long long time ago I believe this was not the case. Currently that advantage is only connecting to longhaul flights on same ticket.

Don’t neglect the low cost airlines for cash though for short haul. Sometimes the value of your avios is much more put to a different use.

[BJ]

Welcome and happy travels! For Europe, provided you have the time then I highly recommend you explore by train, not plane. It’s simple and inexpensive and both much more relaxng and fun. Start your research and planning using the fabulous seat61. Continue to follow HfP abd you’ll grow your avios pile into a mountain to use on flexible premium longhaul travel.

[QwertyKnowsBest]

Welcome yipchunyu,

Lady London’s advice is good. Invest time in understanding the basics then the resources here and elsewhere will make more sense. H4P is a great resource and online community and I am sure that you will find help here beyond the aforementioned if you need it.

[AJA]

Welcome to HfP and a belated welcome to the UK @yipchunyu

I wanted to clarify your question re UK domestic flights added on to a return flight

“For example, I start the trip from London > Europe city and then when back to UK, I can choose Europe city > London > Manchester / Edinburgh with no extra cost (and so saved some bucks on a single flight to UK cities).”

Are you looking to effectively stop over in London and then fly to Edinburgh or Manchester at a later date ? If so I’m not sure that is possible unlike a long haul flight.

Also is your intention to use Avios for these flights? If so it’s not going to work as London to Edinburgh would be charged as a separate flight. It is only on longhaul flights starting in tge regions via London that the UK domestic sector is free.

[Mikeact]

The Avios University series on here is an excellent starting point.

[Rhys]

We’ve written a couple of beginner’s guides including the Avios Redemption University which we’ve tried to make as accessible as possible. The first one is here: https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/04/06/how-do-you-book-flights-using-avios-points/

You can find all the articles here: https://www.headforpoints.com/category/avios-redemption-university/