Discussion
The wife and I have accumulated a decent amount of BA Avios points and were hoping to use them to upgrade our flights to the Maldives next year from Economy to Premium.
However due to the combined ineptitude of BA and Amex we ended up missing the boat (plane?) and there’s now no availability to upgrade our flights (despite still being able to purchase tickets in PE on the dates in question)
So, we will now end up looking to use them to go towards a break in early 2021.
Are there any particular destinations that are better value than others when using Avios to fund/part fund the flights? The BA website doesn’t make it particularly easy to find good value use of the Avios.
Obviously it’s too early to book anything for our dates but we’d have probably around 100,000 Avios by the time we come to book something.
Thanks
However due to the combined ineptitude of BA and Amex we ended up missing the boat (plane?) and there’s now no availability to upgrade our flights (despite still being able to purchase tickets in PE on the dates in question)
So, we will now end up looking to use them to go towards a break in early 2021.
Are there any particular destinations that are better value than others when using Avios to fund/part fund the flights? The BA website doesn’t make it particularly easy to find good value use of the Avios.
Obviously it’s too early to book anything for our dates but we’d have probably around 100,000 Avios by the time we come to book something.
Thanks
Economy to Premium Economy is a waste of points IMO, especially on BA. Their PE is pretty awful - you get get a slightly bigger seat and pitch, slightly bigger screen and slightly better food. That's about it. No lounge, no flat bed - none of the really nice business or first amenities. I would just save up some more points and get business flights in the future (not that BA business is great, but it's a world away from PE).
A good use of points is upgrading PE to business. You should check if you can find a good deal on qualifying PE seats, and then upgrade to Business with your Avios.
A good use of points is upgrading PE to business. You should check if you can find a good deal on qualifying PE seats, and then upgrade to Business with your Avios.
Junior Bianno said:
Economy to Premium Economy is a waste of points IMO, especially on BA. Their PE is pretty awful - you get get a slightly bigger seat and pitch, slightly bigger screen and slightly better food. That's about it. No lounge, no flat bed - none of the really nice business or first amenities. I would just save up some more points and get business flights in the future (not that BA business is great, but it's a world away from PE).
A good use of points is upgrading PE to business. You should check if you can find a good deal on qualifying PE seats, and then upgrade to Business with your Avios.
ThanksA good use of points is upgrading PE to business. You should check if you can find a good deal on qualifying PE seats, and then upgrade to Business with your Avios.
Yeah I know PE isn’t great but it was a nice thought to just be able to sit as a two instead of a three on a long flight and have a little more space, considering we had no other real use of the Avios.
So does it cost the same Avios to upgrade from a PE seat to a Business seat as from an economy to PE?
You can only upgrade is there is an avios seat available in the class you want to upgrade to.
So with that in mind, it is worth first checking the avios availability. This site is very useful for checking avios availability for the year ahead in a single search;
https://rewardflightfinder.com/
You can use this information in combination with a site like the one below, where you can check availability and prices in the seat class you want to upgrade from for a variety of dates and to a number of destinations, all in a single search.
https://matrix.itasoftware.com/
So with that in mind, it is worth first checking the avios availability. This site is very useful for checking avios availability for the year ahead in a single search;
https://rewardflightfinder.com/
You can use this information in combination with a site like the one below, where you can check availability and prices in the seat class you want to upgrade from for a variety of dates and to a number of destinations, all in a single search.
https://matrix.itasoftware.com/
I can't add much, but the destinations to avoid are the tourist ones if that makes sense.
Destinations that are more visited by Business folk have a greater availability for Reward seats.
As an example, took my Son to Rio 2yrs back & we both flew BA First in both directions using Avios. I gave him the option of any destination in the World other than Australia or NZ, as we only had a weeks holiday available & for him i felt it was too far for such a short time.
South America had loads of availability, Hong Kong & China had loads of availability, key US cities such as NY & San Fran had plenty of availability (NY more than San Fran but i think their's 5 daily BA flights to NY so more availability), however LAX, Miami, Atlanta, Vegas, Orlando & many other holidaymaker US cities had none.
Basically all the desirable beach destinations such as The Maldives, Mauritius & the Caribbean etc. were snapped up as soon as available.
Not sure if that helps, but my Lad chose Brazil & Rio more specifically & we had no issue booking what was needed.
Destinations that are more visited by Business folk have a greater availability for Reward seats.
As an example, took my Son to Rio 2yrs back & we both flew BA First in both directions using Avios. I gave him the option of any destination in the World other than Australia or NZ, as we only had a weeks holiday available & for him i felt it was too far for such a short time.
South America had loads of availability, Hong Kong & China had loads of availability, key US cities such as NY & San Fran had plenty of availability (NY more than San Fran but i think their's 5 daily BA flights to NY so more availability), however LAX, Miami, Atlanta, Vegas, Orlando & many other holidaymaker US cities had none.
Basically all the desirable beach destinations such as The Maldives, Mauritius & the Caribbean etc. were snapped up as soon as available.
Not sure if that helps, but my Lad chose Brazil & Rio more specifically & we had no issue booking what was needed.
Sadly I don't think 100,000 avios will go very far for 2 tickets these days. At the end of 2016 I used the last 80,000 of mine for 2 BA economy flights to Argentina in October 2017, and it still needed over £1000 extra for fare top up, departure tax and seat choices each way. I have 8000 left and it's not enough for a bottle of wine!
Thanks all great help.
Yeah 100k isn’t much, we’d still end up paying a hefty whack for flights, hence it was an easy way to use what we currently have (75k) by spending it on upgrading our Maldives flights even though it was only to Premium as the extra cost to go Premium over economy if paid in cash was ridiculous.
But unfortunately the option has disappeared whilst we were waiting for Amex and BA to fanny around and sort their stty systems out!
Yeah 100k isn’t much, we’d still end up paying a hefty whack for flights, hence it was an easy way to use what we currently have (75k) by spending it on upgrading our Maldives flights even though it was only to Premium as the extra cost to go Premium over economy if paid in cash was ridiculous.
But unfortunately the option has disappeared whilst we were waiting for Amex and BA to fanny around and sort their stty systems out!
Worth mentioning Amex has reduced the sign up & referral bonuses.
https://www.headforpoints.com/2019/04/16/american-...
https://www.headforpoints.com/2019/04/16/american-...
Isn't 'part pay with miles' possible on any booking? ie does not have to be a reward seat? I'd assume it's less value benefit, but would allow all you have to be used up.
Full on reward flight availability is dreadful on all airlines - I've currently got ~500k Avios and 6 upgrade vouchers and can't use them due to availability for the places I go. Was the same challenge when I did Emirates and when I did Virgin.
Full on reward flight availability is dreadful on all airlines - I've currently got ~500k Avios and 6 upgrade vouchers and can't use them due to availability for the places I go. Was the same challenge when I did Emirates and when I did Virgin.
w8pmc has pretty much nailed it. Frequent fliers and Avios hoarders know exactly when much-wanted holiday route seats open up and grab them before mere mortals have a chance.
BA tends to open up availability 330 days out - and usually a small amount. Computer algorithms pretty much then monitor availability and can open up more seats (better to get points for empty seats than leave them empty!). Top tier fliers can also request seats to be opened up, limiting later potential availability.
Very useful link here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-ex...
BA tends to open up availability 330 days out - and usually a small amount. Computer algorithms pretty much then monitor availability and can open up more seats (better to get points for empty seats than leave them empty!). Top tier fliers can also request seats to be opened up, limiting later potential availability.
Very useful link here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-ex...
BRISTOL86 said:
Thanks all. I spoke to someone at BA today and they said they’d keep a watch on my booking and let me know if any more PE reward seats come up, due to the length of time until we fly, but don’t know how much of that was just making me think there might be a chance!!
I don't want to keep on about rewardflightfinder.com but if you enter the dates you want into their system, they will email you if avios seats become available on the dates you would like.That way you get to hear directly rather than relying on someone to let you know. The service is also free, if you want the daily update service.
I used it last year to get first class flighs to Delhi which weren't initially available when I first checked.
Puggit said:
Top tier fliers can also request seats to be opened up, limiting later potential availability.
If you are a gold card holder, BA will open up an avios seat for you, provided you "pay" double avios. It doesn't really limit potential general avios availability later, any more than if the flight is going to be busy anyway. Generally economy long haul has best availability but is rubbish value. Premium economy has worst availability as these cabins generally sell well. Upgrading from PE to CW is good value if you can find it. Going out of the normal seasons generally gives you availability. So for example I've got upgrades & full redemptions into the Caribbean without a problem (but not travelling in the spring!) Key is shop around & be flexible.
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