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We use JustPark, usually plenty of options within a mile of the A4, and from around £40 a week…
Rounding up our trips to a fortnight from 12 or 13 days also makes it fully cancellable for maybe another £5.

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I booked a JNB LHR, which priced in ZAR, and paid using an eVoucher in GBP from a cancellation, the whole voucher was converted to ZAR, and now I have another ‘remainder’ eVoucher with a ZAR total…

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jj wrote:

Flyingred wrote:

The difference in viewpoints in the discussion is fascinating…

I hope that we can all agree with that! I really do understand why some people struggle to find value in Avios, but, for my travel patterns and priorities, the proposition remains strong.

I actually think that Avios flights are much better value now than at any time in the past few years despite the price increases imposed by BA and Amex. My last three First Class trips to North America cost me £1,700, £1,600 and £1,800 respectively, which rendered the Avios option worthless. But those halcyon low-fare days are just a distant memory, so all of my current bookings are on Avios. And don’t forget that availability has improved dramatically with the new 241, too.

It all makes me especially grateful for the two unearned and unexpected BAPP 241 vouchers that Amex accidentally awarded me in January…

jj, a welcome step back, thank you. As I said in the original post, though granted it may have been misinterpreted, I personally don’t get much benefit from the ongoing 2-4-1 strategy, and so am planning on dropping it for a while, to reopen it when the joining bonus changes the maths.

I am genuinely interested if many people actually consider, or indeed calculate, if there is truly a benefit, financial or otherwise, to a rolling 2-4-1 strategy. I don’t deny there can be, particularly as we have heard for those trapped to school holidays and seasonally busy destinations, great benefit, but as I say, that’s not my situation. I suppose it was possibly a bit of FOMO, should I be considering going to XXX in YYY month, etc.. Equally, I was slightly surprised by my calculations, driven by the recent hike in these delightful ‘fees and taxes’, having fallen for the presumably well planned and designed notion that it must be a worthwhile benefit.

Of course there’s also the thought that even though HfP’s readership is relatively large, and I feel somewhat more financially savvy, and almost certainly more financially enabled than a random sample of the population, I have no idea if it represents a statistically significant share of 2-4-1 collectors and users. Presumably in BA’s eyes, continual creeping rises in fees, though admittedly helped recently by the new voucher’s better usability, are easy money with no repercussions as to customer volumes. Or maybe I’m wrong on that and the HfP community is a driving customer portion, which BA monitors carefully for any strategic advantages to be gleaned, and will change it’s conditions if thought necessary to maintain their custom….but then perhaps Hanlon’s razor could have been conceived for BA.

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Yes, there are the odd useful occasions, but let’s be honest, who, not on an expense account, is going to pay BA £7890 when Are Lingus will do it for less than £2000, admittedly having to get to DUB to start, but for nearly £6000, I’m happy with a little inconvenience…

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I agree UUA can be reasonable, and have done it a couple of times, but still more expensive than the indirect business sale alternatives, plus of course the ‘unaccounted’ earnings on those tickets, although I’ve not really researched the cost equivalent in other schemes, but probably should now BAs charges are so high. My real ‘feel good value’ mileage use was Norwegian premium cash outbound to USA and Virgin miles Delta One redemption return to Europe for about $6 fees.

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It’s highly unlikely I’d be earning Avios on a revenue fare, as I’ve never seen a JNB fare I’d be prepared to pay cash for on Oneworld.
Having done premium economy a few times, in many ways I actually find it a worse option than economy if the flight is not full, due to not being able to spread into the seat next to me, presuming it’s empty obviously, but then apparently I’m unnaturally tall.
I’d prefer business on an EU start back to LON then onwards over a premium economy direct, but as I say, we’re richer in time than money, and now the ‘new’ vouchers allow that and it still works out cheaper, the ‘hassle’ is worth it. However, my point was, I’d prefer even more a 4 hour longer indirect business flight that costs less than all the 2-4-1 options.

• This reply was modified 55 years, 6 months ago by .

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Although that was for 2 travelling together, but comparable to the 2-4-1 obviously. Current Swiss sale, which doesn’t require 2 travellers, has it at around £1800, definitely not a bargain, but still better than BA without the 2-4-1

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The example was out peak and back off peak. Mid January Swiss were offering LON-JNB for around £930, via ZRH, and around 14 hours total.

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JDB, I don’t disagree, it’s more that if you’re in a position to see what comes up in sales, you can nearly always get cheaper options. I know past actions are no guarantee of future intent etc., etc., but as an example, there are generally at least a couple of sales a year where JNB would be less than £1000 each from LON. I understand we may be in the minority with our flexibility, but I have never paid more than £1800 for a flight, but have done Hawaii, NZ, Australia, most of the far east, lots of USA and a fair bit of South America, all in business class, and without exception, never felt the offerings to be worse than BA, indeed, almost always better… I think there’s a large amount of inertia with the 2-4-1s, once you’re on the path, it’s difficult to change the mindset and look elsewhere. Yes, they have their good points, but overall I think those days are now behind me.

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JDB, the AMS price was just to lower the ‘taxes and fees’, it’s still on the BA A380, just starting in AMS.

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My flight outbound is fast approaching, and no sign of any extra availability return yet, so have booked a cash return in case, but just now wondering if I should add an Avios return for a years time so if availability appears whilst away I could change dates of the return, as I presume once the outbound is flown with no inbound booked I could not add it? Risk is I believe the return is only changeable not refundable after outbound is flown….

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Thanks SamG, yes the default ticket via BA.com has cancellation fees of approx £45 if done online before first (and in this case, only) flight, made up of 800ZAR cancellation fee and 150ZAR online change fee, but doesn’t specify if that’s per booking or per ticket, and so not sure if it’s doubled as my wife will be with me. Even so, a voucher would probably get used up in the next couple of years so would probably go for that if needed. Was debating Virgin, at £2 cheaper, or £90 more for ‘economy delight’, but lack of flexibility should reward seats appear actually makes BA look more attractive! Wonders will never cease. Silver in both schemes but flights look quite full so doubtful of any happy endings there…

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And as for safety, don’t wander around the less touristy bits of Cape Town after dark, but same goes for pretty much every city I can think of. Stats are far worse for most major US cities, but nobody seems to worry about going there…

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Definitely go. Many holiday rents available for peanuts where you’ll get a fantastic whole apartment or house, or if you prefer then lovely hotels available, but equally superb B&B’s around for far less than hotels which tend to charge top prices. Driving is easy and relatively cheap to hire compared to the rest of the world at the moment, but Uber is big in Cape Town, and a 25 minute trip will get you pretty much anywhere for less than a tenner. Wine lands are the real culinary hot bed if you feel you could go that far, maybe an hour and a half max from Cape Town, and again massive range of beautiful accommodations available.
Weather generated lovely, but occasionally showery so take a coat in case… but please please go.

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LHR-JNB booked Feb ’21, 25/12/21-16/01/22, 2-4-1 voucher in club, £1295.96
LHR-JNB, DUR-LHR, booked July ’18, 23/01/19-01/02/19, 2-4-1 voucher in club, £1133.42

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Thanks, C it will be, if any seats get released…

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Depends on your valuation of comfort. Personally I prefer the new club suite as there’s more personal space and storage, and even being 6’5” I found no problem with the often maligned foot space, indeed I preferred it as it offered more sideways knee room. My wife however much preferred the old ying Yang layout as the seats themselves were more comfortable, for which she explained ’softer’. Probably just about agree they have more give over the new seats, which are very firm, though perhaps by the time they’re many years old they too will have some give. Overall I wouldn’t pay anything extra at all to fly club suites over the old version, but my absolute prime driver is price, and can I sleep on it. Also, choosing a routeing because of airframes is a somewhat dodgy option, as there’s no guarantee the plane won’t be switched out for a different version….

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Usually quite a few JustParks around the A4, so you could deposit family and bags in long term T5 carpark on the northern perimeter, go leave the car somewhere then walk back to long term in about 10 minutes and shuttle to terminal. Also the only ‘official’ way to avoid the £5 drop off charge for Heathrow now… even on Christmas day, when there’s no public transport…

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Jen T, how do you then get a second driver added? I have previously tried in advance by email and phone, but never managed it, and the excess insurance specifically requires additional drivers to be named on documents not just to be eligible to drive by being spouse/partner or whatever. This always leads to actually having to go to the counter, even if slightly queue jumping as status…

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Ssshhhh!

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Bring an umbrella, weather is a bit British at the moment, but better for this evening apparently…

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Have spoken to friend in SA who informed us that everyone she had spoken to arriving recently had PCRs, and had certificates scrutinised in depth (whatever that means), though government websites still seem ‘imprecise’. We have booked PCRs for 23rd, extra £100 over LFTs but peace of mind feels worth it. The main thing to remember seems to be that even if you are right in your interpretation of rules, that doesn’t help if the person who is wrong is in charge of your being allowed to board a plane. Awkward times…

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Hope you all make it out and back OK. We’re off to JNB on Christmas Day (hopefully) and returning 16th. Got shifted forward 3 hours on departure but apart from that, no news…. Still trying to work out if PCR of LFT required outbound, need to book today really so will have to opt for PCR without further info…..

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I use Tmobile unlimited talk, text and data prepaid sim from amazon. £30 for 3 weeks, so need 2 (other time spans available), which must be activated before you go, then just insert when you arrive and away you go. Never had any problems, coverage seems good…