martinfoss

As others have said, I too look at what I would have paid, not what I actually pay. I also look at the Avios as something I got for free. What I have paid for, are the flights I flew when I got the Avios, and I got the Avios as a free bonus.

If going to London, and there was an I-fare available, I would off course boook that. If I didn't have the possibility to stay for a night between Saturday and Sunday, I see the use of Avios as a great value.

My next flights with BA are in two bookings, one CE flight from OSL to LHR with a domestic connection, and the second booking from NCL via LHR to somewhere in Europe.

As mentioned previously, I paid 4500 Avios for one booking, and 7500 for the other one (paying half the Avios asnd some more cash) and 1250 NOK in cash.

A normal ticket for these flights in CE/domestic, would have cost 15,492 NOK. I paid 1250, and 12000 Avios, which I got for free when I flew BA/OW.

In my eyes: a bargain.

TravellerFrequently

I booked two J class HKG-SYD-HKG for 200,000 Avios, which I thought was not too bad. I do not know if this is more or less Avios than was required in BA Miles previously.

As it saved us c.£6,000, I was happy.

Nearly made up for not being able to use the Amex 241 in F all the way from LHR to SYD....

HIDDY

Thanks to greedy Chase punters and clueless US agents although allowed most of those routings were clearly against the rules and might have helped in some way to BA changing the rules.....

Anyway with LAN Argentina being thrown out of AEP and LAN constantly changing schedules those multi stopover routings are going to cause their redeemers a lot of headaches over the next year........rather them than me.

pinkcat

BAEC makes loads of sense for NA pax flying short haul on AA!

rossmacd

And UK ones for that matter!

18,000 Avios + £6.40 GBP for 2 pax DFW-MSY-DFW, which would have cost over £320 GBP. That is a steal in my book, when I am miles rich and cash poor (thanks to the BA sale!)

T8191

That seems to come out at less than 2p per Avios
However, your Avios/Cash equation is different to mine. I'll stick to UuA to CW, at around 9p/A

stueys

All true, must confess I tend to stop at long haul when spending miles. I need to broaden my horizons, though I like looking for cheap AA F in the US

rossmacd

Not great value, but I have more Avios/DC Miles/FB Worthless Miles than I can shake a stick at, so the opportunity to spend them far outweighs the value I get from them, even at 2p per Avios

origin

I dont value Avios points like everyone else. In the end they are free either from flying or cc or online shopping. However, it depends on how long it takes someone to earn the amount of money to pay for the flight. In my opinion thats the value of Avios points.

HIDDY

I think like that as well.....my maths is crap anyway.

Biggest advantage I see when using miles is the flexibility that redemption tickets offer.

belfordrocks

I never said I had an encyclopaedic knowledge... in this case I'm happy to stand corrected

(though it would help if Avios had a semi-functioning award chart instead of that map nonsense)

Jimmie76

Not for me, but then I'm not US based. I've just booked my first ever straight redemption LHR - MAD in Business on IB for 30,000 Avios and thirty something pounds which to me was an absolute bargain given the cost of the tickets were coming in at £500+ even with the sale.

T8191

Amidst this discussion, we highlight the same point again ... there's something in BAEC for everyone, depending on their needs and aspirations.

As a fairly infrequent [3 p/a] leisure traveller, I'm broadly speaking:
Cash-rich [whatever that actually means]
Avios-comfortable [and self-sustaining]
TP-poor

To retain Silver, I can't afford the luxury of full-redemption flights that don't earn TPs! Instead I have to spend cash [BA & Amex] to earn Avios and, critically, TPs on those 3 holidays each year. What else do I do? Stay at home and leave it all to the kids when I go?

Other people here, who are genuine frequent flyers, earn ludicrous amounts of Avios in their peripatetic existence [that substitute for having a life ] and inevitably have Avios to burn. Redemptions make a lot of sense, whilst the ££/$$ equation [especially with "taxes and fees"] assume greater significance.

HIDDY

Some people get far too carried away with all this miles malarkey. Analysing their worth down to 0.1 of a cent is a sign that someone has a problem if you ask me.

If I have miles I spend them without giving it too much thought. Tier points don't concern me...thank goodness for that and if I don't have miles then there is always the old fashioned method of using cash to pay for a ticket.
Some of those can actually work out much better value than using miles and you don't have to worry about finding availability.

PETER01

As a 'BA employee' how can you say that

I too am an infrequent traveller but collect the miles when I can by various methods. I then just book what suits us and if that blows all the miles whether by a full redemption or MFU then so be it.

Life is too short to NOT go to places you may want to visit or see people/family or whatever. I cant tell you the amount of times I have heard bereaved people say "Oh we were going to do this/go there/experience that but never quite got around to it"

BAEC and miles (I refuse to call them Avios ) gives loads of oppportunities and as T8191 has stated there is something for everyone and YMMV.