Originally Posted by
afcal72
I remember booking last minute flights a few years back from Gatwick to SFB
that came with 3 weeks of car hire thrown in to the pot for about GBP190 all in. Who needs miles & rewards accounts at that pricing! So when you have to pay almost full price to spend miles you just feel like its all big scam especially when the miles have been earned.
At least they don't charge to print out boarding passes as well....
You're right in that using BA miles to book an economy class flight on BA or a transatlantic flight in economy with one of their partners is usually poor value because of high fees and charges. However, there are other ways of using the miles that can save you a considerable amount compared to a revenue booking e.g.
1. Book a business class transatlantic flight. OK you need more miles, 60k one way MIA-MAD, and the fees and charges are even higher than for the economy flight, but if you bought a ticket for the flight it would cost you much more than the fees and taxes.
2. Book a premium economy transatlantic flight with BA and use 12.5k miles each way to upgrade to business class.
3. Use your miles for a domestic flight with AA e.g JFK to SFO one way is 12.5k miles plus a total of £1.50 in taxes when booked on BA's website. MIA to HNL is 17.5k miles plus £7.90.
So, it's not a scam, just that some types of redemptions are good value but others are poor value.