News: BBC on British Airways redundancies, Heathrow Rewards transfer bonus to Avios

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News in brief:

BBC Radio story on the British Airways redundancies

BBC Radio did a well-informed piece yesterday on the current state of aviation, including the British Airways redundancies and issues over social distancing. It appeared in a couple of places, including Radio 4.

It is worth a quick listen and is only nine minutes long. The link is here and you need to fast forward to 13 minutes in.

There was also a 3-minute ITV News piece last night dedicated exclusively to the BA redundancies which you can see here. It doesn’t say much for the PR abilities of the unions that it has taken them 2/3rd of the consultation period to get the situation fully acknowledged.

50% Heathrow Rewards bonus when transferring to Asia Miles

LAST DAY for the 50% Heathrow Rewards to Avios bonus

Today, Tuesday 2nd June, is the last day to take advantage of the Heathrow Rewards 50% bonus on transfers to Avios.

This is the first Avios conversion bonus since August 2017! It may (or may not, of course) be another two and a half years until we see another one. The offer is clearly flagged on the ‘Transfers’ page of the new-look Heathrow Rewards website when you log in.

The minimum transfer is 250 Heathrow Rewards points, getting you 375 Avios with the bonus. Bigger transfers must be in multiples of 250 points. There appears to be a daily cap of 6,000 points so if you are only getting around to this today then this is your limit.

In virtually all scenarios, Heathrow Rewards points are worth 1p. This is what you get if you take airport shopping vouchers, train tickets etc. The only exception is Official Heathrow Parking where you get 2p per point.

The standard transfer rate is 1 point = 1 airline mile. You are therefore usually ‘paying’ 1p per airline mile, assuming that you could otherwise spend your points in Heathrow.

With the 50% bonus, it is a decent deal. You are effectively ‘paying’ 0.66p per Avios, since 250 points would get you a £2.50 shopping voucher or 375 Avios. It is also unlikely that you will be spending any money at Heathrow Airport for a few months, so taking the shopping vouchers is not exactly a great alternative.

You need to decide for yourself whether it’s a good idea to cash out your Heathrow Rewards points now for a 50% Avios bonus or hold on for something else in the future which may be more interesting. My personal view is that I am sticking. I have 7,000 Heathrow Rewards points but I’m also not short of Avios. I’d rather use them for Heathrow shopping vouchers or Miles & More miles if there was a future transfer bonus to those partners. You may think differently.

The 50% transfer bonus ends tonight, 2nd June.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Heathrow Rewards

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

Cee Watson says:

2 Jun2 June 07:21

So your only comment about 12000 redundancies is to question the PR abilities of the unions?
Would that be because you’re worried you’ll miss out on future invites from BA to VIP days? Mmm?
- Rhys says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 09:03
  
  Go read our numerous critical articles about BA’s position before you make assumptions like that 🙂
- Peter K says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 09:09
  
  Not been keeping up with things on this site before commenting? Mmm?
- Rob says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 09:14
  
  I don’t have a huge problem with 12,000 redundancies because that’s common sense unfortunately. I do have a problem with cutting pay and working conditions for everyone else.
  
  The unions have decided this is a lost cause and have sold the members out. They know that they have no cards, and if they put up a fight and get absolutely zero concessions they look like idiots (which is what will happen). The union is looking after the union, not the members.
  
  PS. For clarity, I have NEVER been on a BA press flight or taken a free trip from BA. If the invites come in, I let the youngsters have them. I have better things to do with my time.
  - Chris Heyes says:
    
    2 Jun2 June 12:46
    
    Rob@ I don’t believe the unions believe it’s a lost cause & are just looking after themselves
    (but you could of cause be right) i think they are playing a waiting game (gamble)
    but the risk for the unions is no flights soon, soon as there are flights the shift is back in their court
    but i feel the lack of flights June/July is the reason the unions can’t win
    I expect disruption to come quickly as soon as the unions are confident and able though
    So i wouldn’t be quick to think they are dead and buried
    be warned 2021 summer, the unions wont/cant forget this
    - Chris Heyes says:
      
      2 Jun2 June 12:52
      
      Rob@ ps i thought your youngsters were to young to go on “Press Flights” (9 year old & mystery
      age ?) lol
      For your readers note this is a joke lol
- Trevor Butler says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:29
  
  In support of fellow PR professionals (at the various trades unions) it has been virtually impossible to secure any broadcast output in recent weeks unless it openly criticises either the UK government or Mr Trump and his administration.
  
  Various correspondents and specialist units are interested in a variety of other stories, including the reorganisation at BA, but output editors just do not want to cover them.
  
  it is an uphill battle and, to be frank, the union PR teams are to be highly congratulated for securing the coverage which they eventually did. Momentum is also now increasing with added Parliamentary interest in the affair.
Harry T says:

2 Jun2 June 08:09

Have Heathrow Rewards fixed the 100% transfer bonus? My girlfriend received a 100% bonus instead of 50%, which was handy.
- Rob says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 09:07
  
  It was fixed according to reader reports.
  - Alex Sm says:
    
    11 Jun11 June 00:38
    
    Sadly
    I only got 50% bonus
Andrew says:

2 Jun2 June 11:13

I wrote to HR as my bonus points have not arrived They have replied saying that it is BA Exec Club’s responsibility to add the bonus points and I should speak to them. Apologies if this is common knowledge, but is this how others have questioned their bonus not turning up? Sounds like it might take forever on the phone to accomplish anything.
A
- Dennis Howard Unal says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 19:51
  
  Never receive the bonus points. But I only transferred 250 so not sure it’s worth the effort of a phone call… shame…
Don says:

2 Jun2 June 11:51

Iain Dale is expecting to hold a phone in with BA management this week or next.
- Bob Sopel says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 13:46
  
  I transferred some a week ago and they have landed in my BA account today.
Aeronaut says:

2 Jun2 June 21:59

The Amazon Music Unlimited offer (three months free) actually ends tomorrow, Wednesday “3 June at 11:59pm, 2020”, as per the T&Cs on the page you link to.
- Rob says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 22:36
  
  Doh. They told me it was the 2nd …. twice.
  - Aeronaut says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 08:04
    
    They might have subsequently tinkered with it of course.