Originally Posted by
mdj1
Made me chuckle.
heres a good one for the Avios team. Explain to me why it costs £15-20 to purchase 1000 Avios depending on how many one buys. If you book a hotel with avios and you use Avios points they only redeem you between $6-8 per 1000 Avios.
This is based on booking a midweek 1 night stay in london for 13500 Avios at the continental on Monday 31st January.
The cash price through Avios is £77.75 which works out at £5.75 for every 1000 avios but if you purchase Avios at £15 per 1000 you will finish up paying £203 and they are trying to JUSTIFY ALL OF THIS. RIP OFF
This is one of the more random posts I have seen on FT for a while. (Which is saying something in the current climate ....!)
You aren't meant to be able to buy Avios for less than the value you get by redeeming them. That would be equivalent to BA offering to sell you a £10 note for £5.
What they are doing, is doing you a favour, should you happen to have 97,000 miles in your account and need 100,000 for a redemption.
If you don't like the price there are plenty of alternatives, such as transferring some hotel points or Amex MR points to get the extra Avios you need.
(It should be said, in fairness, that the BMI Diamond Club scheme is so generous that, in some cases, it is cheaper to buy miles and do a redemption than it is to buy a cash ticket. And, with Priority Club, it is often cheaper to buy Priority Club points and redeem for the hotel you want, rather than booking a cash room. Same with Hyatt. However, these are unintended consequences. Indeed, on some routes, especially US domestics, it would still be cheaper to buy 100% of the Avios you need and do a redemption, rather than paying cash.)