heathrowflyer

Hi Everyone...

(Fairly) long time lurker, have finally taken the plunge and joined!

Started a new job in January with a lot of travel, so this site is becoming a lot more useful.

So far this year I have completed the flowing trips: KEF (x2), TLL, CAI, OPO, WAW with CPT, CAI (Again), JNB, BUD and BEY coming up in the next month or two.

Further ahead there is potentially Jamaica, Dominican Republic and numerous others lined up so 2015 will hopefully be an interesting year in terms of not only the travel but also achieving status etc

I should hit BAEC Bronze after CPT only to be knocked back down to 0 tier points as my BAEC year runs until mid April…

I have a few general questions which I hope I can find the answers to on here – or at least be pointed in the right direction.

I have a fairly flexible travel policy with work, most EU trips will be with BA in economy (where available), failing that I’ll be on U2, RYR or whoever else flies to where I need to be.

Mid to long haul will be with whoever I choose (BA mainly) in a mixture of Y+ and business.

Again, for accommodation we have a fairly flexible approach – and can book with whoever I wish. Currently I have been using hotels.com with 12.5% cashback on top and effectively another 10% back in terms of the Hotels.com rewards promotion.

From FT’ers perspective: Is the hotels.com scheme with the cashback a decent method? I quite like the flexibility it offers and the 22.5% return seems pretty good?

Flying wise I am hoping to climb the ranks of the BA exec club – however I’ve already taken 3 short haul flights with *A carriers in Europe. I hastily joined Krisflyer only to discover that the two LOT flights in economy (T) didn’t even earn any miles! I’ve since had a short TAP flight post me a meagre 350 miles.

I will generally try and stick to OW wherever possible but is Krisflyer a good home for any *A flights I undertake?

Lastly I took the out BAPP Amex last month and am already over half way to hitting the companion voucher –so I hope to get a J or F redemption this year or the next.

Looking forward to this journey and any comments you may provide will be well received.

Thanks,

David