FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Your guide to spending Avios | 2021 edition
Old Mar 22, 2021, 9:11 am
  #65  
Globaliser
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Originally Posted by Prospero
Current rates for redemption flights

https://prospelicious.com/wp-content...2/Spend_BA.png
Originally Posted by Prospero
Additional price points
The RFS product has evolved in recent years and now includes variety of additional price points, allowing you to progressively reduce or increase the amount of cash paid by offsetting the amount of Avios redeemed. These are included in the following tariff - the base rate is emboldened. Cash amounts are shown in Sterling but fixed amounts can also be priced in USD, EURO, and South African Rand. Note, RFS fares on Comair flights do have higher cash components where the base rate for economy class is £40 (500R) and £70 (900R) for business class.

https://prospelicious.com/wp-content.../12/RFS_SH.png
I wonder whether the time has come for a re-write of the short-haul (Zones 1-3) sections of these tables?

There has been a series of stealth price increases, disguised by the introduction of “additional price points” allowing different combinations of Avios and cash for award tickets. When these additional price points, there was much discussion trying to work out the different value implications of the alternatives. However, although the discussion illustrated the opacity of what was being done, it has only relatively recently become clear that the opacity itself was used to bring in price increases.

Four things have happened, the last two consequential on the first two.

First, the “base price” in the number of Avios required for short-haul awards has changed. Formerly, it was set at the level that would require payment of a standard RFS fee of £17.50 (economy) or £25.00 (Club). The cash element payable could be adjusted up or down from the standard RFS fee by decreasing or increasing the number of Avios payable.

However, the “base price” has now been changed so that it is the number of Avios required for paying an RFS fee of £0.50. The cash element payable can still be adjusted up by decreasing the number of Avios payable, but the base price is now the maximum number of Avios.

Second, there has been a recent unannounced increase in short-haul award prices by a flat 750 Avios (see Rogue RFS pricing or a stealth increase? [Avios increase confirmed]).

The combination of these two changes means that the old and new base award figures are as follows.
Code:
Base awards
      Old     New    |  Old     New    |   Old    New    |  Old     New
Zone  Y off   Y off  |  Y peak  Y peak |   J off  J off  |  J peak  J peak
1     4,000   9,250  |   4,500   9,750 |   7,750  15,000 |   9,000  16,250
2     6,500  11,750  |   7,500  12,750 |  12,750  20,000 |  15,000  22,250
3     8,500  13,750  |  10,000  15,250 |  17,000  24,250 |  20,000  27,250
.
Old base award figures attracted an £17.50 economy / £25.00 Club RFS fee as standard; new base award figures attract a standard £0.50 RFS fee. If you are only doing a standard redemption, these changes therefore only have a limited effect. There are, however, knock-on effects for other aspects of awards.

Third, a consequence of the change of base price is that the price of a short-haul UuA has increased by 2,000 Avios. This is because the price of a UuA is calculated as the difference between the Avios required for an award in the cabin paid for and in the cabin upgraded to. The number of Avios used in the calculation is the base award for each cabin. But because the base award has changed from the £17.50 / £25.00 level to the £0.50 level, the numbers of Avios used for the UuA calculation are now different.

The old short-haul UuA table (economy to Club) was therefore as follows.
Code:
Old UuA calculation
Zone  J off   Y off UuA off  |  J peak   Y peak UuA peak
1     7,750   4,000   3,750  |   9,000    4,500    4,500
2    12,750   6,500   6,250  |  15,000    7,500    7,500
3    17,000   8,500   8,500  |  10,000   20,000   10,000
The corresponding new UuA table is as follows.
Code:
New UuA calculation
Zone  J off   Y off UuA off  |  J peak   Y peak UuA peak
1    15,000   9,250   5,750  |  16,250    9,750    6,500
2    20,000  11,750   8,250  |  22,250   12,750    9,500
3    24,250  13,750  10,500  |  27,250   15,250   12,000
Fourth, it used to be the case that if the actual TFC on an award route were less than the standard RFS fee of £17.50 / £25.00, then you only paid the actual TFC. Thus, for example, TFC for LUX-LHR one-way are £6.40; to fly on an RFS award in Club, you would only pay £6.40 rather than the standard RFS fee of £25.00.

In a sense, this feature lives on in this provision in the RFS Conditions of Use:
10. In the unlikely event that the RFS Flat Cash Price is higher than the applicable taxes, fees and charges on a booking, the Eligible Member will pay the actual taxes, fees and charges applicable to the booking.
However, setting the “RFS Flat Cash Price” to £0.50 in effect strips this condition of any useful effect. Although this wasn’t part of the FT guide, it is another part of the stealth increases that have been brought in under the guise of “additional price points”.

The successful introduction of these increases does, I suppose, show what can be done by making the audience look the other way, as good magicians do. It did a better job than deploying the “enhancements” word.

No doubt there is scope for corresponding stealth increases on the long-haul routes to which RFS pricing now applies, but more work would have to be done to identify what is happening there.

Last edited by Globaliser; Mar 31, 2021 at 8:26 am
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