Questions on BA

Morning

I already have a BA Executive card with some points from recent European flights but I have not aggressively gone out to get points on this as I have done so with my Virgin Flying Club. I am now looking to go on the attack so to speak and get enough points for a future flight to either US/Barbados using the usual methods of Tesco, Credit Cards etc.

My question is based on 3 of us (2 Adults and 1 Child) should we have separate BA accounts or family and likewise for our yet to be opened Avios account. We would normally open separate credit cards to increase the bonus due and spread it over the year to make it easier to hit the spend levels.

I am planing to close all my Virgin Linked Cards and then go back to them in 2 years time or so (hopefully they will still be flying to BGI!)

With BA you can have a household account so long as you live at the same address. Although your avios are in separate individual accounts , they all go into the same pool when you redeem them.

I've recently started "hedging" with BA. After careful consideration I decided to keep sending my clubcard points to the flying club, and to keep my VS black cc running.

However, I have since taken out 3 additional ccs: the free BA Amex (introductory bonus of 10k if you are referred by a cardholder, before end of this month. The companion voucher is not great due to BA's higher taxes for redemption), the Lloyds Amex (£24 fee but £20 tcb, good earning rate, and doubled in the first 6 months, no Forex fee, and an upgrade voucher if spent over £7k) and the Amex gold (22k membership points if referred and spend £2k in first 3 months, 2 lounge club passes and it's free for the first year).

I should add though that this craziness is partially caused by the fact that I found out that my kitchen supplier accepts Amex, so I took them all out knowing that I can trigger the introductory bonuses on them, as well as satisfying the spending required for the 2 PE vouchers with VS and 1 upgrade voucher with ba on the Lloyds card.

The good thing about the Amex gold is that I can keep the points when they are until I'm ready to use them, and I can then convert to FC or avios as needed.

The huge differentiator for me with BA is the '241' vouchers you get through the BA Amex. It literally halves the miles you need as well as the taxes/fees compared with VS. Unlike the VS scheme the free flight is in conjunction with an outright reward. VS expect you to send £k's on a flex UC ticket just to be able to use their companion voucher.

I couldn't have put it better mrsw,

Could see the way the reward redemptions were going with VS so started collecting BA and Avios a year ago. Both accounts opened as household accounts, you can transfer between both as well. Lloyds rewards card opened, have already qualified for a 2-4-1 on BA and had one upgrade with Lloyds redeemed. Obviously the reward availability is still precarious with BA but they have so many more destinations we are pretty confident we can cover all our options.

Have still got 50,000 VA points in each of our accounts and plenty of Tesco vouchers to convert if needed.

It has taken me a while to navigate the BA site and Avios but think I have got the hang of it. Also booking a holiday with Thomson got us 25,000 extra Avios and no cc fees through the Avios call centre for about the same price as would have paid on the site. Used their e-shops site and got 5,000 Avios for purchases as they have some 50% bonus offers on till end of September.

Jury's still out for us. Have decided to abandon our VS Amex/Visa cards because reward availability is zilch for the routes we mostly want (LHR to JFK/EWR).

Not sure yet whether to go for BA Amex and trust we can find rewards on that route, or whether to use the AMS trick (actually for that route DUB is better), get miles from that to use on a holiday somewhere else, and take out Amex cashback or reward cards.

Still pondering. ?|

Thanks for the replies, would be interested to know who your Kitchen supplier is Mrsw, just starting the process of a new bathroom and on to a new kitchen (was looking at Wickes as apparently they take Amex in store BUT not online which is a pity as I would have clicked through on Shops Away for more points!). I am worried that as this hobby becomes more popular the harder it will be to get flights, especially as routes get cut/planes get smaller and I am sure the AMS trick may get picked up on one day although not sure how they would enforce/stop as we are part of the EU. The 2 4 1 voucher is appealing though as I have never used any of the vouchers I have received with Virgin.

WPIL - the kitchen supplier is bemchmarx. If you liked any of the Wickes kitchens then you are in luck. They are both in the Travis Perkins group, and essentially their kitchens are the same with the following exceptions:
1. Wickes sells to the general public and Benchmarx to trade only (easy for a tradesman to open a cash account though )
2. Benchmarx is typically cheaper, but we got a quote for the same kitchen from both, and for the odd items where wickes came in cheaper Benchmarx beat them
3. Wickes kitchens come flat packed and Benchmarx fully assembled
4. Wickes has a limited guarantee (15 years?) And Benchmarx lifetime on the cupboards
5. Wickes delivery is a few weeks and Benchmarx 24-48 hours
6. Wickes doesn't take Amex and Benchmarx does (and was happy to let me split the payment onto different cards to trigger bonus points)

So all in all it was a no brainer. We have gone with the borrowdale olive (in wickes it's called heritage grey) but mainly just on the cupboards. Worktops and appliances have been purchased separately (though the prices were a lot better with Benchmarx, they weren't as cheap as buying them from elsewhere).

Once it's installed I will be able to tell you more. Give me a month

... and I am sure the AMS trick may get picked up on one day although not sure how they would enforce/stop as we are part of the EU.

BA have started to not allow people to short check their bags when there is a same day onward destination on the ticket from the initial arrival airport.

Also according to this post on the the flyer talk BA board BA have told some travel agents not to sell ex-EU fares plus have been sending some TA's lists of passengers who have skipped the last leg and that if it happened again they would charge the TA the fare difference.

I read a complaint a while ago when one of the US airlines rerouted a pax because of weather and other delays straight to AMS rather than to LHR. The pax was furious because their 'real' destination was LHR rather than AMS (they were going to skip the last leg) and they had to then buy an expensive same day flight back to LHR. The airlines argument was 'your final destination was AMS and we got you there plus we got you there quicker'.

So ex-EUs are not without some risks (even of remote)

There is nothing inherently wrong under EU competition rules with an airline offering a different price in different markets which is all an ex-EU fare is.

The BA household account is a holding account that simply shows the combined balance of all linked Exec club accounts.

As such, you can then use the Avios within that account without the need for them to be in "your" account.

Accounts can be linked provided they are registered at "your" address - the same address.

I personally use the BA prem Amex card as the rewards are pretty good, not as generous as the VS one (think 1.5 per pound and 3 with BA as aposed to 2 and 4), but then, I've actually been able to use the Avios.

The 2 for 1 is brilliant - I recently used this together with Avios for 3 First returns to BGI for a cash outlay of around £1.5k.

If you are ever likely to make AG with BA, the Avios seem to role in from flights as well, my balance 10 months on from booking has already nearly recovered!

Any other questions, I might be able to help, but suspect there are others on here with a far more in depth knowledge than I!

Great replies guys and girls! Never looked at Benchmark before but actually found their website really easy to use/visualise a kitchen.

3 First Class returns to BGI, wow! That is what I expect to pay for 3 of us next year. Is there a separate lounge at Gatwick for BA First and did you use the little known lounge at BGI (where they drive you to the plane).

My BA goals are Las Vegas in First (Concorde room and all!) and BGI in First/Club.

Great replies guys and girls! Never looked at Benchmark before but actually found their website really easy to use/visualise a kitchen.

3 First Class returns to BGI, wow! That is what I expect to pay for 3 of us next year. Is there a separate lounge at Gatwick for BA First and did you use the little known lounge at BGI (where they drive you to the plane).

My BA goals are Las Vegas in First (Concorde room and all!) and BGI in First/Club.

WPIL - I should point out though that some of their website is out of date. The one instance I found was where they were showing some "grooves" in the Borrowdale range, which I really dislike on a shaker style design (but YMMV), and was 100% sure that the display in their showroom didn't have those. So when I enquired I was told that the website was incorrect.

Also if you have any more questions on kitchens, please feel free to PM me so we won't go too off-topic here )

I was also hoping for BA first to Las Vegas, but they are withdrawing that availability from October i think. The aircraft will still have it on but only BA gold can select to use that cabin. HL just slipped in before they withdraw it from mere mortals. v(

I was also hoping for BA first to Las Vegas, but they are withdrawing that availability from October i think. The aircraft will still have it on but only BA gold can select to use that cabin. HL just slipped in before they withdraw it from mere mortals. v(

Could someone please explain this further for me ?! BA are not letting people book First unless they have gold status ? Is it just for Las Vegas or are other routes affected ? Surely I am missing something here ?|

Thank You

Could someone please explain this further for me ?! BA are not letting people book First unless they have gold status ? Is it just for Las Vegas or are other routes affected ? Surely I am missing something here ?|

Thank You

BA are placing the few remaining aircraft that have the OF cabin on these routes. Currently they are compensating Pax in F on OF aircraft 50k Avios/ seat. So BA have decided to limit these aircraft to 5 (iirc) specific routes. So highest cabin will be CW, its confusing but it looks like Golds will be able to select the OF seat BUT they will not be given F service.

Other planes with F will be unaffected by this - good job, I'm a lowly blue and have got a F redemption coming up.

Hope that helps...

MH

Thank You MH. That makes it very clear. I thought my interpretation must be wrong !!!

Good news for BA flyers though - they have announced refurbishment/new cabins in WT+ on 50% of the 747's in 2015. Should make a more consistent WT+.

Having flown on both BA seats, and VS in last year, I still prefer VS PE - but the more modern WT+ is definitely a lot better than the seats on the 747's, which I found tight.

I still am hoping VS's move to eliminate the M upgrade will allow any class of PE to upgrade even if agent booked - it's somewhat frustrating I can upgrade for tiny avios requirement on BA on any WT+ seat + about 60 of our English pounds if available seats, where I need a full W class to do similar on VS. This is a great reason why BA are getting some WT+ business from my employer compared to VS.

The huge differentiator for me with BA is the '241' vouchers you get through the BA Amex. It literally halves the miles you need as well as the taxes/fees compared with VS. Unlike the VS scheme the free flight is in conjunction with an outright reward. VS expect you to send £k's on a flex UC ticket just to be able to use their companion voucher.

May I ask for some clarification on the 241 voucher, Vegascrazy? I thought both pax would need to pay the taxes and surcharges - are you saying that the actual amount of taxes and surcharges on BA is less than that on VS?

I am potentially interested in the BA Premier Amex (when the time comes) but never really thought of the 241 voucher as a great offering.

I am potentially interested in the BA Premier Amex (when the time comes) but never really thought of the 241 voucher as a great offering.

The 241 voucher is, if you are a couple, probably the best value perk out there.

You are right that each passenger pays the taxes and surcharges (I think they are slightly higher on BA than VS).

I have been lucky enough to use 2 '241s' in First to DXB and have another one booked for Feb. (I have another voucher active at the moment and may try to get First to Tampa next Oct when the flights come out)

Flights that would have cost nearly £5k per person came down to just £500 pp plus one set of miles (120k) i.e total of £1k plus 120k Avios.

U/C is a good product, but First is better ! (then again, from what I read BA First is lagging some of the Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates, but I am happy to slum it in BA First !)

I still am hoping VS's move to eliminate the M upgrade will allow any class of PE to upgrade even if agent booked - it's somewhat frustrating I can upgrade for tiny avios requirement on BA on any WT+ seat + about 60 of our English pounds if available seats, where I need a full W class to do similar on VS. This is a great reason why BA are getting some WT+ business from my employer compared to VS.

I think you are getting some of your fare buckets mixed up and this not comparing like-for like.

On VS

M is an economy bucket

W is a full fare PE bucket. That and a S are the upgradable PE buckets into UC.

At least on VS you can upgrade from more than one cabin - economy to UC for example but on BA if using miles you can only upgrade one cabin and can't use miles at the airport or withing 24 hours of your flight.

I think you are getting some of your fare buckets mixed up and this not comparing like-for like.

This much is true on the upgrading of Y. Sadly I am mostly comparing like to like though - work mostly send me PE thankfully as a minimum. The whole VS being generous in upgrades is true, I admit - in allowing Y to UC upgrades. However it is of little use for corporate bookings.....

The problem with VS vs BA is where BA allow ANY WT+ ticket to be upgraded - whether booked via travel agent or not (they don't do same with Y), VS restrict the same to full W fares only. S fares only up-gradable if booked direct with VS. The whole issue is my Work force us (along with many others using same system) to book using an automated system which is a travel agent fare (Concur). Therefore, I can't upgrade a VS fare in PE for the most part, where I can on BA. That is *unless* I book at last minute on a full W - which has occurred in past.

Ultimately I feel the above is penalizing corporate travelers when compared to the rival airline at present. It's certainly why some of my colleagues rule out VS today.

I suspect the main reason VS don't allow UC upgrades from any PE bucket is lack of availability.

BA have vast numbers of CW seats to fill every day. VS don't - some UC cabins only have 14 seats and of course they have far fewer flights. It's already hard enough to get a G on many routes so if they loosened the upgrade restriction it would be virtually impossible.

Any tips on getting First to somewhere on west coast of the US(got a 2 for 1 for BA on the go, and club isn't looking great)?

I've been hitting the 330 days (indeed, seeing end of august at moment on club). Yet seeing nil on anything to west coast of the US around any times.

I might fly anywhere, if they've got 2x first seats...

Any tips on getting First to somewhere on west coast of the US(got a 2 for 1 for BA on the go, and club isn't looking great)?

I've been hitting the 330 days (indeed, seeing end of august at moment on club). Yet seeing nil on anything to west coast of the US around any times.

I might fly anywhere, if they've got 2x first seats...

West coast is a total PITA on both VS and BA.

Any tips on getting First to somewhere on west coast of the US(got a 2 for 1 for BA on the go, and club isn't looking great)?

I've been hitting the 330 days (indeed, seeing end of august at moment on club). Yet seeing nil on anything to west coast of the US around any times.

I might fly anywhere, if they've got 2x first seats...

LAX seems to be a good one, try that...

I've found the BA customer service people, on the whole, quite willing to search for you.

I have phoned the AG line and just said to them, I want to fly to the US somewhere around dates XYZ, what reward availability can you find?

If you get the right person, they will search lots of routes for you on a date range....cuts out a lot of internet searching, that's for sure.

They do tend to know the most likely routes as well, from memory this includes LAX, YVR, ORD, JFK, IAD, MIA, DFW etc.

So for west coast give LAX/YVVR a go, failing that call them up and "give them the challenge..."