Bits: BA Manchester changes?, bonus Avios from Avis, 20% off Friends & Family Railcards

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News in brief:

Big British Airways changes at Manchester?

Following on from the launch of BA’s weekend European flights from Manchester, I have heard from a couple of sources that other major changes are now in hand.

First, there are strong rumours that British Airways will take over the AA service to New York JFK. I have mentioned this before on HfP and the story refuses to go away. The AA flight is only bookable until 28th October if you look at aa.com.

Secondly, it is rumoured that British Airways will move from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1

Thirdly, other rumours state that British Airways has agreed a deal with the airport to take over multiple long-haul gates in Terminal 1. The implication is that there is little point running one long haul service and they might as well use the infrastructure to run other, presumably also North American, routes.

Note that 2) and 3) above have not been confirmed by multiple sources although they sound sensible given 1). Let’s see.

Bonus Avios when you rent with Avis

Both British Airways and Iberia have launched bonus offers when booking a 3+ day Group C or above car rental with Avis this spring.

The offers are different so you might want to think about which portal works best for you.

Book and complete via avis.es by 31st March and you will receive 1,000 bonus Avios on top of the usual 3 per €1 (minimum 700 Avios), giving a minimum reward of 1,700 Avios

Book and complete via avis.co.uk by 7th April and you will receive 800 bonus Avios on top of the usual 3 per £1 (minimum 700 Avios), giving a minimum reward of 1,500 Avios

You need to use the relevant BA or Iberia discount code which links to your BA or Iberia membership tier. The Iberia offer is not necessarily better because the Avis / BA deal gives you a free additional driver and 250 bonus Avios for paying with a British Airways American Express card.

Details of the Avis / BA offer are here.

20% off Friends & Family Railcards

Until 20th February, you can save 20% on a Friends & Family Railcard. You need to buy via the Railcards website here and use code FEB17.

The price will drop from £30 to £24. The card will save you 33% of adult rail journeys and 60% off for accompanying children.

Category

American Airlines and AAdvantage, Avis and Avis Preferred, British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Iberia Plus

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Simon Schus says:

12 Feb12 February 04:22

I’d much prefer BA to fly fro MAN Terminal 1 than MAN Terminal 3! T3 feels so crowded, cramped and with all sorts of odd angles in the construction. T1 feels much more open… and has a Paperchase. 🙂

Let’s see what happens 🙂
MAN Airport Employee says:

12 Feb12 February 05:19

I can categorically say that BA will NOT move from T3 to T1 at Manchester. T1 does not have infrastructure for domestic flights (biometrics for facial recognition and also domestic baggage hall/reclaim).

If BA were to pick up the JFK flight, this will be served from T3 as the AA flights are now operated from T3 and also due to the AA/BA alliance they will not move terminals.
- Anna says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:37
  
  They’d have to move the lounge as well.
- Rob says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:43
  
  It was a BA Manchester employee who shared this story ….
  - MAN Airport Employee says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 14:26
    
    Rob – all EZY Belfast flights are bussed from the gate to the reclaim carousel as there are no pier served domestic routes in T1. I’m not sure BA would want every single one of their passengers to be bussed from the aircraft on every single flight given the airport charges the airline for bus service.
    - ECR says:
      
      12 Feb12 February 19:43
      
      So pretty much the same situation regarding buses for domestics as in Gatwick South Terminal then? It doesn’t seem to have stopped BA moving there from the North Terminal. I’ve absolutely no knowledge or interest as to whether BA move from T3 to T1 or not but the fact there are already domestic flights shows it is possible.
      
      Whatever happens you can be sure that both BA and Manchester Airport will attempt to make whatever arrangements they think will make them the most money.
- Northern Lad says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 09:17
  
  As T1 is planned to be demolished in 5 years time it does seem a bit implausible. Maybe a move to an expanded T2 though is less implausible, especially with the proposed US Customs pre-clearance?
  - MAN Airport Employee says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 14:29
    
    T1 isn’t being demolished in the upgrade. It’s being refurbished and connected to T2 and T3 to create a super terminal. Part of C pier won’t be in use (stands 22-28ish).
    
    The old tower block in T1 is being demolished at some point though.
- ECR says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 10:24
  
  Manchester T1 currently has domestic flights as Easyjet fly to Belfast from there. I’m not sure if there are any other domestic routes.
  - MAN Airport Employee says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 14:26
    
    See my above reply to Rob.
MAN Airport Employee says:

12 Feb12 February 05:26

Oh and possible reason for JFK not being bookable with AA from MAN after 28/10/17 is because it’s a seasonal flight and doesn’t operate all of the winter season.
- barry Cutters says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 10:36
  
  Ba are taking on the AA JFK from Manchester .
  The will also be adding a Florida route, probably Orlando.
  -However could end up being Ft laurderdale.
  
  Also they will be operating from T1.
  - Rob says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 11:52
    
    Sounds like getting in before Norwegian sets up home ….
    - Barry cutters says:
      
      12 Feb12 February 19:53
      
      Exactly the reason behind this.
      
      JFK is an easy one as American more than happy to give it up, BA can run that route more profitablly once it has base again there.
Roger says:

12 Feb12 February 06:37

OT pay.com

Has anyone looked at using pay.com as alternative card.
http://www.pay.com/pages/fees-and-limits.html

Possibly can be used as MS opportunity.
Fees are no too bad, not sure Amex will be acceptable and if does is not treated as cash advance when loading the card.
- Daniel says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:06
  
  If Pay.com accept Amex then it might be a useful way to pay HMRC… 2% to load to pay.com and then whatever 0.4% HMRC charges on top… To earn the 10k BA Amex 2-4-1…That would be £240 in charges
- Genghis says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:11
  
  Get a card and give it a try. There’s much trial and (lots of) error involved in MS.
  - James67 says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 08:17
    
    Morning Genghis, just wondering if your South Korean economist subscription went through ok?
    - Genghis says:
      
      12 Feb12 February 09:55
      
      Morning James67. No, they came back to us on Fri cancelling the order saying the card address needed to be South Korea. The card address read “London, South Korea” as the country was prepopulated. Oh well. Worth a shot. Might not even bother now as don’t really need the avios and can just read the FT.
      - James67 says:
        
        12 Feb12 February 11:25
        
        That’s a pity but thanks for trying and feedback. I know what you mean about collecting avios, I’m increasingly finding the opportunities easy to ignore because I can no longer squeeze much value out them on my z7 CW redemotions when compared even to exEDI revenue tickets, and RFS no longer a sensible use exRegions unless we want a stopover in London. In my view the only value avios now have are in the inexpensive flexibility of redemption tickets. I need to give serious thought to how I use clubcard points as I no longer want to convert those to avios,
      - Genghis says:
        
        12 Feb12 February 11:40
        
        I know where you’re coming from. Tesco earning opportunities seem to be significantly decreasing with their supposed focus on lower prices. Still need to do something with our existing stash. Trouble is, I don’t really see any other quality alternatives…
      - James67 says:
        
        12 Feb12 February 13:15
        
        @Genghis, what we have to remember though is that taking our foot of the gas is risky, the current situation with cheap revenue tickets may change dramatically so perhaps continuing to save avios for a rainy day is the wisest option.
- The_real_a says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:19
  
  No. There isba 3% top up fee last time i checked and no amex.
- John says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 10:06
  
  1% to spend your own money… why would anyone who has a UK bank account bother?
  - Genghis says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 14:19
    
    I’ve never understood the true purpose of these cards either. Can be decent for MS when they’re designed incorrectly
- The Urbanite says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 14:25
  
  The top up fees wipe out most, if not all of the value if MS is your game. Wouldn’t touch it for MS personally.
czechoslovakia says:

12 Feb12 February 07:06

Liking the “artists impression” of the future new terminal at MAN. Looks a vast improvement over the dump it is now.
PGW says:

12 Feb12 February 07:09

All seems rather speculative on the Manchester story (which is acknowledged of course). As somebody has already pointed out, there is a very good reason why you can’t book the AA service to JFK after October.

BA taking over that route would mean that for anybody whose final start/end point is other than NYC itself and is connecting to another flight would need to change terminal which at present isn’t necessary.
John T says:

12 Feb12 February 07:14

O/T: Does anyone know if it is possible to book reward flights from Australia to Fiji using Amex MR or Avios? I can see reward availability if I search on Qantas but get stuck after that.
- James67 says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:25
  
  What do you mean by getting stuck, it will not book it? Just call BA and ask them, if it’s really available and you cannot book it online for some reason at their fault they will not charge you the call centre fee to book it for you.
- BrianDT says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 08:27
  
  Call Avios, we’ve just booked but from NZ.
  - BrianDT says:
    
    12 Feb12 February 08:30
    
    nb Most Qantas ‘local’ flights can’t be booked on line. I checked availability on line and then called Avios, ( no extra call charge)
    - The_real_a says:
      
      12 Feb12 February 08:37
      
      God help us when the contact centre is in India
      - John T says:
        
        12 Feb12 February 08:53
        
        I found reward availability on the Qantas website, albeit all flights appeared to be code shares. I called the BA executive club line and they couldn’t find any availability. Could it be a code share issue? i.e. can Avios be used to book them?
      - James67 says:
        
        12 Feb12 February 08:56
        
        That might just be the case,personally I found BMI call centre in Pune to be the best thing since sliced bread. Travel has never been so flexible or rewarding since.
      - the real harry1 says:
        
        12 Feb12 February 10:13
        
        Just had 2 calls to EE/ T-Mobile in India (I assume) – both were perfectly fluent in English and efficient in sorting me out
Frankie says:

12 Feb12 February 07:50

Cool pic. Is it real? Manchester airport really looked like that in the olden days?