topic Changes to BA avios in Credit Cards

Changes to BA avios

red259 — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:46:21 GMT

For those of you with CSP/Inks or BA airlines cards, BA is going through a deval which will hit 4/28, so if you were sitting on a pile of avios you best make a move now or lose out later. It impacts mopre biz/1st seats vs economy.

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:50:42 GMT

Also big impact to earning through flying, economy now earns 0.25 Avios per mile rather than 1. So, use CC instead!

Re: Changes to BA avios

mongstradamus — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:51:20 GMT

@red259 wrote:
For those of you with CSP/Inks or BA airlines cards, BA is going through a deval which will hit 4/28, so if you were sitting on a pile of avios you best make a move now or lose out later. It impacts mopre biz/1st seats vs economy.

I think it impacts people with MR an lot since theres 40% transfer bonus that expires in few days. I know for me people it probably won't affect me much since i use avios for economy domestically so not an big deal. I think its still the same for JFK to caribbean miles wise.

Re: Changes to BA avios

mongstradamus — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:51:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Also big impact to earning through flying, economy now earns 0.25 Avios per mile rather than 1. So, use CC instead!

Looks like they are following UAL and Delta who moved to revenue based earning program

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:53:19 GMT

I just received this email. I had been kicking around the idea of transferring 100K of my AMEX MR points out to Avios to get the 1.4 multiplier. Glad I dragged my feet!

Re: Changes to BA avios

red259 — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:58:26 GMT

@mongstradamus wrote:
@red259 wrote:
For those of you with CSP/Inks or BA airlines cards, BA is going through a deval which will hit 4/28, so if you were sitting on a pile of avios you best make a move now or lose out later. It impacts mopre biz/1st seats vs economy.
I think it impacts people with MR an lot since theres 40% transfer bonus that expires in few days. I know for me people it probably won't affect me much since i use avios for economy domestically so not an big deal. I think its still the same for JFK to caribbean miles wise.

Yes I think zones 1-3 or something are the same or similiar. I would only use avios for shorthops anyway, because the longhauls tend to have the fuel surcharges which really kills the value.

Re: Changes to BA avios

red259 — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:59:10 GMT

@mongstradamus wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Also big impact to earning through flying, economy now earns 0.25 Avios per mile rather than 1. So, use CC instead!
Looks like they are following UAL and Delta who moved to revenue based earning program

Yep it is a race to the bottom.

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 00:03:55 GMT

The biggest devaluation in my opinion is on the earning side. The cheapest tickets will now earn only 25% of miles travelled, which is terrible. Considering this, i will probably switch to earning aa miles when i fly over the ocean.
Luckily the short haul domestics are the same. The vile thing is that they introduced lower avios off-peak awards but only on BA metal! Thanks but no thanks. When they stop charging the ridiculous fuel surcharges (oil is at an all time low!!!) i might consider it

Re: Changes to BA avios

mongstradamus — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 00:11:01 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@mongstradamus wrote:
@red259 wrote:
For those of you with CSP/Inks or BA airlines cards, BA is going through a deval which will hit 4/28, so if you were sitting on a pile of avios you best make a move now or lose out later. It impacts mopre biz/1st seats vs economy.
I think it impacts people with MR an lot since theres 40% transfer bonus that expires in few days. I know for me people it probably won't affect me much since i use avios for economy domestically so not an big deal. I think its still the same for JFK to caribbean miles wise.
Yes I think zones 1-3 or something are the same or similiar. I would only use avios for shorthops anyway, because the longhauls tend to have the fuel surcharges which really kills the value.

Using BA to europe can get expensive if you flying on BA some partners you can find interesting value namely aer lingus bost-dublin or airberlin that has no fuel surcharges that i know of. In general though i think i would probably use shorthaul flights, JFK to bermuda has been an trip i have been mulling much of january :-(

Re: Changes to BA avios

red259 — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 00:11:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The biggest devaluation in my opinion is on the earning side. The cheapest tickets will now earn only 25% of miles travelled, which is terrible. Considering this, i will probably switch to earning aa miles when i fly over the ocean.
Luckily the short haul domestics are the same. The vile thing is that they introduced lower avios off-peak awards but only on BA metal! Thanks but no thanks. When they stop charging the ridiculous fuel surcharges (oil is at an all time low!!!) i might consider it

Some governments are starting to look into this. Airlines are actually making a profit off the fuel surcharges at this point. It really is kinda sketchy and I think they avoid taxes on this as well.

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 00:20:56 GMT

Brazil for example forbids fuel surcharges by law. The US to my knowledge does not, but american programs don't have them

Re: Changes to BA avios

mongstradamus — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 00:23:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Brazil for example forbids fuel surcharges by law. The US to my knowledge does not, but american programs don't have them

I don't know if its an london thing with taxes and the such but two of the biggest fuel surcharge offenders are Virgin atlantic and BA who both fly thru LHR, i don't know if thats coincedence.

Re: Changes to BA avios

longtime_lurker — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 00:24:04 GMT

Does this change actually impact what Avios are best at? I was reading the e-mail and it said partner flights (excl. iberia) would still have the same redemption...so how would this change impact those of us looking to use them for short, domestic flights?

Re: Changes to BA avios

Imperfectfuture — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:15:30 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The biggest devaluation in my opinion is on the earning side. The cheapest tickets will now earn only 25% of miles travelled, which is terrible. Considering this, i will probably switch to earning aa miles when i fly over the ocean.
Luckily the short haul domestics are the same. The vile thing is that they introduced lower avios off-peak awards but only on BA metal! Thanks but no thanks. When they stop charging the ridiculous fuel surcharges (oil is at an all time low!!!) i might consider it
Some governments are starting to look into this. Airlines are actually making a profit off the fuel surcharges at this point. It really is kinda sketchy and I think they avoid taxes on this as well.

Many airline stocks going way up, pushed as the value play with the drop in oil. Delta, SW, etc. CEOA's coming on CNBC saying they are not lowering rates, still make more profit. Don't see this congressional session dealing with that, unless a lot of people complain. But it is a boon for their stocks.

Re: Changes to BA avios

red259 — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:22:50 GMT

@Imperfectfuture wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The biggest devaluation in my opinion is on the earning side. The cheapest tickets will now earn only 25% of miles travelled, which is terrible. Considering this, i will probably switch to earning aa miles when i fly over the ocean.
Luckily the short haul domestics are the same. The vile thing is that they introduced lower avios off-peak awards but only on BA metal! Thanks but no thanks. When they stop charging the ridiculous fuel surcharges (oil is at an all time low!!!) i might consider it
Some governments are starting to look into this. Airlines are actually making a profit off the fuel surcharges at this point. It really is kinda sketchy and I think they avoid taxes on this as well.
Many airline stocks going way up, pushed as the value play with the drop in oil. Delta, SW, etc. CEOA's coming on CNBC saying they are not lowering rates, still make more profit. Don't see this congressional session dealing with that, unless a lot of people complain. But it is a boon for their stocks.

Well I'm not going to comment on the effectiveness of the US congress. Fortunately, other countries are taking a lead here and hopefully that will pressure others to follow.

Re: Changes to BA avios

mongstradamus — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:27:38 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@Imperfectfuture wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The biggest devaluation in my opinion is on the earning side. The cheapest tickets will now earn only 25% of miles travelled, which is terrible. Considering this, i will probably switch to earning aa miles when i fly over the ocean.
Luckily the short haul domestics are the same. The vile thing is that they introduced lower avios off-peak awards but only on BA metal! Thanks but no thanks. When they stop charging the ridiculous fuel surcharges (oil is at an all time low!!!) i might consider it
Some governments are starting to look into this. Airlines are actually making a profit off the fuel surcharges at this point. It really is kinda sketchy and I think they avoid taxes on this as well.
Many airline stocks going way up, pushed as the value play with the drop in oil. Delta, SW, etc. CEOA's coming on CNBC saying they are not lowering rates, still make more profit. Don't see this congressional session dealing with that, unless a lot of people complain. But it is a boon for their stocks.
Well I'm not going to comment on the effectiveness of the US congress. Fortunately, other countries are taking a lead here and hopefully that will pressure others to follow.

All i can really add to this is large corportions like delta, aa, and UAL have more power than goverment does, so i don't see anything really being done about this.

Re: Changes to BA avios

red259 — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:32:22 GMT

@mongstradamus wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Imperfectfuture wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The biggest devaluation in my opinion is on the earning side. The cheapest tickets will now earn only 25% of miles travelled, which is terrible. Considering this, i will probably switch to earning aa miles when i fly over the ocean.
Luckily the short haul domestics are the same. The vile thing is that they introduced lower avios off-peak awards but only on BA metal! Thanks but no thanks. When they stop charging the ridiculous fuel surcharges (oil is at an all time low!!!) i might consider it
Some governments are starting to look into this. Airlines are actually making a profit off the fuel surcharges at this point. It really is kinda sketchy and I think they avoid taxes on this as well.
Many airline stocks going way up, pushed as the value play with the drop in oil. Delta, SW, etc. CEOA's coming on CNBC saying they are not lowering rates, still make more profit. Don't see this congressional session dealing with that, unless a lot of people complain. But it is a boon for their stocks.
Well I'm not going to comment on the effectiveness of the US congress. Fortunately, other countries are taking a lead here and hopefully that will pressure others to follow.
All i can really add to this is large corportions like delta, aa, and UAL have more power than goverment does, so i don't see anything really being done about this.

Well its not US airlines doing it, so they probably would be in favor of BA and others getting hit by the government over this.

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:33:56 GMT

The new deal works out better for me. I'm saving 20,000 BA point under the new rule. BA has always been short, domestic flights for me.

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 01:52:49 GMT

Same here. I wasn't in it for long haul flights and still way cheaper than AA pts for short haul.

Re: Changes to BA avios

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 02:27:29 GMT

I will never use BA points for long distance and international. The surcharge on international is outrageous.