Just letting off steam

I checked prices on BA this morning for 2 people travelling Jan.13 Economy came in at £987.52. Economy out and Prem.Economy back came in at £1321.52. Right I thought I could go out Economy and come back Prem.Econamy using Avios for the upgrade. I would have thought that would have been £987.52 + Avios, no, it came in at £1357.52 + 25000 Avios, that's more expensive than paying cash for it, how can that be right. I thought I would give them a ring to check it out, after listening to music and going through a number of options was told "we are experiencing a high level of calls and the wait time is 45 minutes" So not booked yet!!

But your call *is* important to them [msnwink]

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Originally Posted by Snapper

But your call *is* important to them [msnwink]

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Of course it is they would not have you think anything else!

Unfortunately, the figures are probably right because only certain economy fare classes are upgradeable with Avios so what you're seeing is the economy fare element rising when you request the upgrade.

A much better deal would be to buy the WT outbound with the WT+ return with cash and use the 25k Avios to upgrade to Club. Unlike economy fares, all WT+ classes are upgradeable.

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Originally Posted by Katys Grandad

A much better deal would be to buy the WT outbound with the WT+ return with cash and use the 25k Avios to upgrade to Club. Unlike economy fares, all WT+ classes are upgradeable.

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Now theres a plan. Back to BAs I go.

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Originally Posted by Katys Grandad

Unfortunately, the figures are probably right because only certain economy fare classes are upgradeable with Avios so what you're seeing is the economy fare element rising when you request the upgrade.

A much better deal would be to buy the WT outbound with the WT+ return with cash and use the 25k Avios to upgrade to Club. Unlike economy fares, all WT+ classes are upgradeable.

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We would like to book for Febuary next year and use our 26k+ Avios points from 2 previous Club flights to get cheaper price. Can we still do that by booking WT+ in a sale or has it changed since the move over to Avios. Can we do this on-line or do we have to do it via phone?

Sorry to be thick, are you referring to upgrading or using Avios plus cash?

Avios is very strange. When it was Airmiles I used it to subsidise flights at good rates. Now it's just not worth it.

I looked at using my miles for car hire this year. I could have used all my miles to get one, or one option was 9,000 miles + £300. Hello I can get one direct for £250 so why would I waste 9000 miles and £50.

I've decided Avios just isn't worth it for me.



Keith

I think you have to put some time in on understanding the ins and outs to get the most from it. Used wisely, you can save thousands of pounds a year but it requires commitment and knowledge. It's much the same for all the Frequent Flyer programmes although you really have to do the miles to get those benefits.

At a conservative estimate, I'll spend around £20k less this year than I would otherwise have to do on travel because of programmes like Avios. I say "spend less" rather than "save" because I wouldn't actually spend the full amount if that was the only option.

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Originally Posted by Katys Grandad

I think you have to put some time in on understanding the ins and outs to get the most from it.

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I think you are right. I've just realised that no matter what time of year you go the charge is the same i.e. booking with B/A is more expensive in August because of the school holidays than say October. With Avios it's the same.

Am I correct?



Keith

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Originally Posted by Katys Grandad

Sorry to be thick, are you referring to upgrading or using Avios plus cash?

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My fault for not making my question clearer. What we would like to do is book WT+ and use the Avios points (26016) to upgrade to Club. I can remember you said this was the best way to use them but that was before they changed to Avios. So I wondered if it was still possible and how what would be the best way to proceed.

Our last trip out we used our Virgin Miles and that took some time to organize, dates kept changing but then that's probably because there are fewer seats in Upper Class.

At the moment the Lowest Fares in Premium (WT+) is around £900 or do I have to use the Flexible price as a guide to cost of ticket to use for upgrade?

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Originally Posted by syrup

I think you are right. I've just realised that no matter what time of year you go the charge is the same i.e. booking with B/A is more expensive in August because of the school holidays than say October. With Avios it's the same.

Am I correct?
Keith

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You're spot on. It's not the case with many of the other airline programmes but BA's redemption figures are constant. As we all know too well, that doesn't mean it's easy to find availability especially at peak times.

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Originally Posted by bargainqueen

My fault for not making my question clearer. What we would like to do is book WT+ and use the Avios points (26016) to upgrade to Club. I can remember you said this was the best way to use them but that was before they changed to Avios. So I wondered if it was still possible and how what would be the best way to proceed.

Our last trip out we used our Virgin Miles and that took some time to organize, dates kept changing but then that's probably because there are fewer seats in Upper Class.

At the moment the Lowest Fares in Premium (WT+) is around £900 or do I have to use the Flexible price as a guide to cost of ticket to use for upgrade?

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No problem during sale times because although the fares fall, the fare class remains the same. You don't quite get a completely cash-free upgrade because BA add a (relatively) small surcharge but I still think they're the best value redemption option and you don't have to pay any extra APD on an outbound flight because you're already in a Premium cabin. You need to be quick off the mark - I've found that Tampa flights tend to be cheaper in WT+ sales and the upgrade availability is better. WT+ LGW-TPA has been around £760 in recent sales. Flexibility on dates certainly helps and I think you have a decent chances on finding something at that time of year.

I've assumed you have a BA Executive Club account where you can check current availability. Rule of thumb is if there is a Club award available then there is also upgrade from WT+. If you don't have an account, you can enrol for free on ba.com. You can select the lowest fare option when searching because all WT+ fares are upgradeable and it can all be done online.

EDIT - I just had a look at February availability. Decent opportunities to both MCO & TPA outbound between about 3 & 12 February but nothing then until early March (I'm guessing that's to do with half term). Of course, no guarantee they'll still be there come sale time.

Thanks for the info KG, I've just logged into my BA Exec account and tried to book flights to test availability. I don't know if I did it correctly, I logged into the Book and Upgrade screen and put WT+ into the prompt as that's what i want to pay for and then use Avios points to upgrade to Club. I've had to go back to 6/12/13 as there are 3 of us and some flights only have availability for less.
When I went through with my sibgle ticket it came up with a price £929.46 + 25k Avios but it only shows a WT+ ticket not a Club World so I'm not sure if that's correct.
I'm going to have to do it via phone as all 3 of us have the same amount of Avios points but I just wanted to know if the way the screen shows it is correct so that I have a base price to go on. It's got to be worth the long wait on phone, if it is the price above then I'd rather pay that now and know I've got the tickets rather than wait to save 200 in a sale.

I've been trying again and now it's showing Club World and £1,000.46, but as per norm with reward flights we can't get the dates we want. Back to the drawing board!

I've sent a DM.