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Interesting article.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/fast_track/9672711.stm
Sadly they did not touch on the woeful availability once you actually have the miles you need. The head of loyalty at BA did not come across very well IMHO.
In today's market, one needs to manage expectations with regards to rewards bookings. You will not get your first choice and the airlines are not standing in line giving free tickets away.
In the last 2 months I have managed to get at short notice:
Gatwick - MCO - LHR x 2 (Virgin - Y)
BKK - HKG - BKK x 2 (Cathay - J)
LHR - BKK - LHR (QF/BA - J)
Total value close onto £8,000
Are Airmiles worth collecting - Y E S !
Each to thier own means to an end I suppose
I booked a reward flight to Thailand in Nov still had to pay 4OOUK Taxes
could have got an etihad flight for a little more. spendt11 hours in A most uncomfortuble seat on a 747 with minimum pitch
MartynSinclair, may I ask how much you paid in taxes in fees on that £8000 total value?
In November I got two J class MAD - GRU - MAD for travelling with Ibearia in April this year. Paid ca. 140€ in total.
YES, worth collecting!
The following taxes were paid, the amount does include all charges to Amex:
1. Gatwick - Orlando and back (economy) - £258.90 per ticket
2. BKK - HKG - BKK (business) - £ 63.22 per ticket
3. LHR - BKK - LHR (business) - £ 525.97 per ticket
Yes, it is worth collecting and be selective on redemption:
BA EC Avios
WT+ to CW upgrade is excellent value
Intra-Asia travel on Cathay can be excellent value
M&M
Good availability on LX on business and First
Companion Award possible often
F&B
WebAwards at 50% took me to CUR and back from IAD this past summer
The YQ charge is the downright problem area to me. I really hate when an airline charges YQ on a partner carrier that doesn't do it to own members. LH M&M is one that does on a UA/CO booking whilst neither would to own members.
So MartynSinclair on the total of 5 return tickets you said in your earlier post you paid a total of £1170.21 including credit card charges.
While I recognize this is somewhat imprecise, it's still quite a bit, even compared with £8000 value!
I agree Binman. Probably understandable in the current environment that airlines are making customers work harder for their miles/freebies, however the guy from BA looked a bit shifty and tried to dress the mutton up as lamb instead of being honest (shame about that shirt as well...).
The question is: "is collecting airmiles worth it?"
Take ticket 3 as the example. The cheapest ticket for BKK came out at £1250 I think via Cairo. The BA/QF flight ex-LHR were around mid £3k. So even compared with a revenue ticket, there are massive savings.
My view is that airmiles are worth collecting.
Airmiles are only worthless to people that don't travel.
Here is an interesting fact.
I can get 4 people in club world from Europe to Indonesia for under £7000 and get almost 600 tier points for each passenger, not to mention over 100,000 miles.
I can also get 4 people in club to NRT/HND for under £6000 but 240 fewer tier points and fewer miles.
Here is the rub.
I can amazingly also get redemption seats to TYO NRT /HND (though would have to split over two flights and two airports) on my chosen dates.
A Round trip in Club World will costs 240,000 miles using amex 241, (480,000 without) and £2128 in fees!
In other words the fees alone ex LHR are 36% of the ex Europe fare. The mileage fare is flexible the ex Europe is not.
To get to Indonesia (Jakarta only) would add a further 360000 miles and £360 and again the party needs to split, not just over two flights, but travel from HND and NRT.
In this example miles are an utter waste of time and effort, not to say expensive.
On the other hand, 4 x F LHR SFO for £2000 and 300,000 is probably good value as was 4 x F LHR PHX earlier last year.
I have generally looked upon the payment for travel in summer months as not just paying for flights from A2B but have also factored in the transatlantic flights 6 months or a year later. As a result, I have not been too concerned about paying discounted premium fares ex EU.
Now that long range availability is being artificially restricted in favour of MFU at the last minute, I am less inclined to remain loyal to BA even at discounted rates in the longer term.
Shopping around for more competitive fares has meant that deals such as EK ex ATH brings J class travel to SIN/CGK to less than £4000 for 4 and indeed there is a deal with TK till Feb 14 in business class for 999Euro with partner travelling for a 1Euro. For a Family of 4 that means round trip to CGK for under £1700 or the price of single BA ticket!
I can't seem to get the link for the TK valentines offer working...do you have one that you could send?
Am not of the type to buy from sales just because I have been dupped with XX% off when in reality I didn't really want or need the object or service.
Being internally referenced, am now in a position not to be consumed by status. Am happy to just to shop around for acceptable VFM on the dates I want, as opposed to fretting over how to acquire the most avios, nectar, greenshield points possible, then getting frustrated when I either cannot use them or have to change my plans to use them.
Watersz' experience highlights one of the golden rules of redemption in my eyes - never redeem for short-haul or for long-haul economy - its rarely cost-effective and there will often be paid-for alternatives at close to the cost of the taxes or just marginally more. Using miles to upgrade can work really well if your fare conditions allow - EK are great for this - because then there is no additional taxes etc to pay even though the original higher class ticket (ex-UK) would attract the extra charges.
TominScotland: I agree with your comment but if you upgrade your travel class out of FRANCE, then you will have to pay the difference.
The French called it Solidarity Tax!!!!!!!
When I fly my work usually pays for my ticket in business class, and the routes I most frequently fly on don't offer first class cabins. I find collecting miles is still useful. Even if you don't fly too often, being able to get a few nights hotel stays or a brief car hire for free is a nice perk, even if it isn't the best value way to use your miles.
Before I got promoted high enough at work to get free business travel, I found the main benefit of collecting miles was status - I was usually at least Star Alliance Silver and the free luggage on flights in the USA was a nice perk when flying economy.
I do have to admit that paying large amounts extra in tax, even if only upgrading from economy to premium economy, is far from ideal and makes spending miles on upgrades a lot worse value than you initially realise.
For me the answer is definately yes. Without them Mrs T and I would probably not have travelled in higher grade cabins for our holidays or even travelled at all. So collecting is worth it, yes we have had to be selective when we have gone, but as Martyn says the airlines are not giving it away.
Absolutely.....the answer is yes!!
I use my TG ROP miles to bring my two sons to BKK every summer, in Business Class, and I also use them to upgrade my seat on the BKK-CDG route about three or four times a year.
Even at short notice I tend to find convenient flights...the TG redemption process is pretty easy, to be honest.
I have no experience with BA as I never set foot on their aircraft...a confirmed SA traveller me............
Yes, very much so.
Have used them for many years for family holidays to MFU flights from WTP to Club World on BA.
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