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alig4th wrote:

Also from a “would I actually pay that price” perspective:

I really enjoyed reading this! 🙂 The points you raise really do highlight how difficult it can be assess the value you are getting per Avios, and how the value can vary wildly depending on what factors you choose to take into consideration!

My scenario was somewhat simpler though, as it didn’t involve a 241 voucher nor a comparison between Business and Economy. Also, I needed the flexibility of a redemption booking, so even though I’d have paid the cash price, I had already decided it would be a redemption booking. So, really, all I wanted to calculate was which of the 6 options represented the best value, and that’s when I started to wonder how everyone else crunches the numbers when faced with the different options.

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masaccio wrote:

TL;DR: I never calculate it. Avios let me fly classes/routes I am too cheap to pay for.

Yes, good point. I’ve also used Avios for CW in the past, and you’re right that calculating £/Avios in those scenarios doesn’t make a lot of sense if you wouldn’t be paying for CW in cash. I believe one of the scenarios in Rob’s article on the value of an Avios point mentions something like this.

However, there are occasions where I need to use Avios for an economy ticket where I would pay the cash alternative, and so in those situations, if I am presented with 6 variations of a cash + Avios price, I want to understand which represents best use of my Avios.

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VALittleRed wrote:

An alternative is to take the assumption that an avios is worth 1p when calculating the avios redemption price. Then you could compare against the cash price.

So, are you saying that, using this method, if a redemption costs 76,500 Avios + £303 taxes, you would treat it as though it’s costing you £765 in Avios + £303 cash = £1068 in total?

I can see why one might use this method, as it’s a very easy method to use, and you are directly comparing the different options with each other (I believe it’s the method that Rob advocates, too), but in a scenario where you *would* purchase a cash ticket if a redemption seat wasn’t available, then aren’t you missing something if you don’t compare the various options to the cash price?

In my example in post #1, it highlighted to me that I would get 4.1p value per Avios if I went for the option with the highest cash element, but only 1.4p per Avios if I went for the option with the lowest cash element.

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@dougzz99 ah, ok, never mind… guess I’m at the mercy of the airline then and whatever excuse they come up with.

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@PeteM any chance you could check for W9 5742 on 4th Jun 2022?

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JDB wrote:

@tf81 one thing I should have added is that in respect of the cancellation compensation, do you know the cancellation reason? In your submission, you should pre-empt any ‘exceptional circumstances’ excuse by asking for actual proof of same, rather than them just claiming it.

@JDB the only issue with this is, I expect, from my experience thus far with Wizz Air, that they would just ignore me if I asked them for the reason.

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@JDB Is the recording of a phone call a type of personal data? I found this page on Wizz Air’s website, and have looked through my phone bill to work out when the call was made, so have submitted this under “Personal Data”. Hopefully that’s the correct category.

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Just had a quick look at Aviation ADR. Since the airline haven’t responded to me, I need to wait another 10 days to meet the 8-week requirement before getting Aviation ADR involved. In the meantime, I’ll look into the SAR and also the reason for the cancellation.

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@JDB many thanks for all this advice! I’m not that familiar with MCOL, although I have used it once in the past, against EasyJet about 15 years ago, which was a success. However, the initial cost on that occasion was £35, whereas now it would be over £200. So, I will certainly look into the arbitration option you suggested. I’m guessing it doesn’t really matter that I’ve sent a Letter Before Action already, and it just means I can go straight to MCOL if arbitrartion fails, without the need to send another letter, right?

Yes, the replacement tickets were incredibly expensive (about £760 each!), but we were on a Greek Island on the last day of half-term and there was simply nothing else available. Even at this price we had to return 2 days later than planned and miss work. Re. evidence to support the fact they told us to sort ourselves out, I don’t have this in writing for the fligths (I was just advised to do this after spending 12 hours trying to get hold of them on the phone), although they did send an email advising customers to sort out their own accommodation and reclaim it.

I don’t know the process for an SAR, so will look into that as well. Would I need to know the dates and times of all calls I made to Wizz Air, or can they look for inbound calls from my number? I imagine there’ll be a 4-8 week wait for this, so probably something I should have done sooner…

No, they did not give a reason for the cancellation, so I was anticipating they might claim “exceptional circumstances”. I had the impression it was down to staff shortages, but that’s just a guess at this stage.