What is the best value Avios points redemption per minute of flying time?

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• ADS says:

  31 Oct31 October 11:39

  does anybody have a list of BA route distances ?

  i would like to see what the list looks like based on Avios / mile or km.
  i’ve scoured the interweb but can’t find one !

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 11:53

    Gcmap.com can do you the numbers in about 20 seconds per route, then cut and paste our Avios numbers into Excel.

    Won’t be a lot of difference though.

    • ADS says:

      1 Nov1 November 17:16

      that’s a lot of x 20 seconds … and i don’t know all the airport codes – the shame !

      just noticed that BA inflight magazine has all the distances – result !!

• Charlieface says:

  31 Oct31 October 13:29

  Moving on from this analysis and the rewardflightfinder one recently, how about an analysis on last minute availability in both economy and business. A friend missed a flight and booked a new one on RFS while in the airport with an hour to spare. I think this is one of the best uses of Avios.

  • Jake says:

    31 Oct31 October 13:49

    Problem with that though it’s so dependent on outside factors.

    Last min availability to Rio prior to carnival = 0
    Last min availability to Rio during wet season = High
    Last min availability to Orlando over Easter = 0
    Last min availability to Orlando during hurricane season = High

    Etc etc

    • Rob says:

      31 Oct31 October 14:17

      Indeed. Lufthansa / SWISS are your friends for last minute availability from Europe long-haul (as per Anika’s recent last minute US trip when her passport got damaged and we had to rebook her – SWISS was the only option).

      • Spaghetti Town says:

        31 Oct31 October 14:55

        What are the taxes like on M&M redemptions Rob?

        • Rob says:

          31 Oct31 October 16:10

          On a par with BA.

    • Charlieface says:

      31 Oct31 October 18:12

      Yes true, but I find that’s only at very high peak seasons. Most of the year I see availability on the day with BA, especially if you’re flexible with times.
      Could be wrong but extra availability often seemed to pop up on the Saturday for the following week.

  • Lady London says:

    1 Nov1 November 13:41

    Hah! I booked an Avios flight whilst sitting on a Ryanair flight that was fully loaded but had gone tech. 1 and a half hours at the stand and then they Saïd it light not take off that night.

    By then it was after 9pm so i used m’y phone to book an Avios ticket same route on the 7am flight. Clever me I thought.

    20 mins later it was announced our Ryanair plane was repaired and we would take off after all. I had about 30 mins before wheels up and had to shut down the phone.

    Do you think i could get any BA office anywhere to answer the phone so I could cancel the Avios ticket ? No data on phone so had to dial them. But BA would not pick up the phone. On landing, still BA would not answer. This was past midnight.

    With an interview early that morning i needed sleep after Ryanair finally landed (5mins within thé duty of care window). The 0700 BA ook off before i could cancel. I lost my Avios because BA wouldnt pick up the phone. I wrote it off as the cost of the ‘Insurance policy’ of the Avios ticket.

• Harry T says:

  31 Oct31 October 15:11

  OT, as no bits:
  Priority Pass lounges in DXB Terminal 1 – is Ahlan Business Lounge or Marhaba Lounge better? Flying in the early hours of the morning so won’t have access to the Skyteam lounge that Priority Pass lets you into.

• Genghis says:

  31 Oct31 October 15:45

  OT. Email just now from BAEC. Seems interesting.

  Dear Mr Genghis

  We know how important it is for you, as an Executive Club Member, to use your Avios to explore the world.

  Simply register, book and fly four return trips in Club World or First by 12 February 2020, and you’ll unlock exclusive reward flight access.

  We’ll give you the ability to convert any available seat* into an Avios reward seat. So start exploring now, and see where your Avios could take you.

  Take us up on this offer, and we’ll be in touch in the New Year, with your exclusive reward access voucher, and instructions on how to redeem.

  • Anna says:

    31 Oct31 October 15:59

    That is interesting, but not a lot of detail given they want you to pay for 8 legs in J or F in the next 3 months! I suppose it’s good for anyone who flies CW on business regularly.

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 16:09

    We had the inside track on this – article tomorrow.

  • BJ says:

    31 Oct31 October 16:44

    Got the email yesterday but it had been around a few days already. Would have been more interesting if the dates were not so restrictive. Also, the shorter destinations that would have allowed people like us to game it are exempt.

    • Anna says:

      31 Oct31 October 16:49

      I’ve not even got the email! They obviously looked at my HHA, saw a school age child on it and realised it would be a waste of time.

    • Polly says:

      31 Oct31 October 19:57

      Think too short notice for most people, flights well booked by now, methinks. Only frequent biz folk might benefit. A big ask, actually.
      Radisson at ARN Arlandia gave us a nice upgrade tonight, and threw in breakie. We had dropped from Plat to Gold, so had lost breakfast. I acted surprised! As if…And they did the ness. Nice touch. Very convenient, local airport bus drops you off along with multiple aircrew.
      Food seems improved in Galleries N. Sorry, meant to offer guest entry…SIN on QR tomorrow.
      Q Suites on Doh Sin leg.

• Anna says:

  31 Oct31 October 16:11

  Very OT – I am looking at booking an apartment in Spain directly with the management company (rather than via Hotels.com or similar), but they want to charge 4% to pay with Amex. I thought the ban on cc charges was EU-wide, but am I wrong?

  • HAM76 says:

    31 Oct31 October 17:07

    It is EU-wide unless you book as a business… Businesses can charge other businesses what they want.

  • Scallder says:

    31 Oct31 October 17:12

    Pretty sure it was only Visa and MasterCard. The UK govt went further and included Amex. I had to pay a charge with KLM using an Amex (even though UK version of site as company is in the Netherlands couldn’t avoid it)

    • Anna says:

      31 Oct31 October 18:38

      That’s a pain, 4% must be higher than the fee Amex charges the company? Interestingly hotels.com don’t charge for using Amex, but there was a case recently where someone lost their Amex consumer protection because hotels.com is classed as a 3rd party, so I’m reluctant to make an expensive booking with them.

      • Anna says:

        31 Oct31 October 18:59

        I’m still confused though – if Ryanair isn’t allowed to charge for paying with Amex, how can a resort in Spain do so? Neither are UK companies.

        • John says:

          31 Oct31 October 23:09

          It depends on where the sale is made, I think. Ryanair may be able to charge people in Spain a fee to use Amex.

  • Roy says:

    31 Oct31 October 22:21

    Pretty sure you’re not wrong. IIRC one of the Payment Services Directives bans the charging of any free for using an electronic means of payment (such as a credit card). Merchants are free to refuse Amex, but I don’t think they can charge extra for it.

    What you can usefully do about it – in practice – is another matter.

• lebron 23 says:

  31 Oct31 October 16:54

  what beach you on rob? usual half term middle east jaunt?

  any reviews to come following your trip?

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 18:10

    No. I have never reviewed this place despite coming here for about 12 years!

    Decided that Lufty business class wasn’t worth another review on the way down. I MIGHT do Etihad A380 business on the way back as we haven’t covered that for a while.

    • Anna says:

      31 Oct31 October 18:40

      Is this somewhere you don’t want HFP readers finding out about?!

      • Rob says:

        31 Oct31 October 19:40

        I tend not to review places we go to with the kids because we only use 10% of the facilities.

      • Will says:

        1 Nov1 November 00:56

        Magaluf is lovely in October.

    • Russ says:

      31 Oct31 October 19:55

      Vote for Etihad!!!

• Jill (Kinkell) says:

  31 Oct31 October 19:55

  OT/Bits: my 0705 flight to LHR tomorrow morning was cancelled today at 14.26. Subsequent email states due to adverse weather….That’s because Inverness is shrouded in fog and today’s flights can’t land/diverted or cancelled. However, that means no plane at Dalcross for 0705 and therefore cancelled. ( am now on the 16.45 tomorrow). Can BA claim weather 18 hours before a flight ? Weather is a knock on effect putting planes out of position. Is this a reason t refuse compensation!
  Fed up….second cancelled flight, not to mention a delayed flight in the last 7 weeks.

  • Scallder says:

    1 Nov1 November 00:14

    No they can’t. Take screenshots of weather websites tomorrow morning, take screenshots of the departures board showing other planes taking off and landing and you should be good to go.

    • Jill (Kinkell) says:

      1 Nov1 November 09:15

      Thanks. Visibility is good, EasyJet and Loganair both departed around 7 am, so no excuse. ( just no BA plane on stand!) screenshots taken.

  • Rui N. says:

    1 Nov1 November 09:44

    Easyjet just lost a case in court in Portugal (with a €125k fine going with it) because they also claimed that a flight in Lisbon was cancelled because several hours earlier there was bad weather in Madrid (or something like that), so the plane couldn’t be in Lisbon in time to make the flight.
    Like in many cases throughout Europe, the court said that was bogus and that it’s on the airline to find a replacement flight for the passengers that were on the flight cancelled.
    So, yeah, pressure BA for compensation.

    • Lady London says:

      1 Nov1 November 13:24

      Hi Rui, what did the court stage as the reason for thé extra 125,000 EUR fine on BA?

      Thinking this might set a précédent for fining airlines extra amounts if they persist in denying compensation in cases where it’s clearly due…

      At the moment, airlines have no disincentive for denying or delaying clearly payable EU,261 claims. So they do it and many people give up. So would be nice if a précédent has been set punishing this.

      • Jill (Kinkell) says:

        1 Nov1 November 15:43

        I’ll keep folk posted on how I get on with my comp. claims . This will be my third claim in 2 months.

• Dawn says:

  31 Oct31 October 20:49

  I see Fort Lauderdale is still on the list as a direct flight but it’s been discontinued apparently.

  • Rob says:

    1 Nov1 November 05:39

    Oh yes, sorry. Only ended on 7th Sep and I’d forgotten.

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