Ravenswell

I've just used mine for
AUS to LHR (First)
Stopover 3 days
LHR to BLR (BUS)
BLR to LHR (BUS)
stopover 3 days
LHR to JFK (First)

And for two of us the total was 278K Avios plus 3000 USD

Which I think does represent reasonable value. I think the normally priced ticket would be $14K or more..

JayeJ

Okay, I missed the part where one part was off-peak vs. peak. I don't like the high fees either, but still a decent deal, imo. I've had to do the 2 one-way thing on a 241 recently.

Boraxo

Very unhappy with the latest increase in garbage fees from BA. On United "free" means "free" not $4000 + 140k points. Will be cancelling this card as soon as I can cash in my miles aka Venezuelan avios. Maybe we should file another class action since BA management didn't seem to get the message from the first lawsuit settlement.

dkerr

I would love to be able to convince myself that this was good value. But I can't. I think BA Avios and the 2-4-1 are good/useful for USA to London or Western Europe. But go beyond that and you are getting ripped off on points. There are many airlines that will get me from North America to Singapore in business class for anything between 110K and say 160K miles round trip. So for two people 220K to 320K miles. And most don't have anything like the carrier imposed fees that BA does. I also traveled from JFK to SIN in September on a paid business class bought about 10 days before travel for $3000 round trip. $4K-$5k is more common though. As I look at it you got less than 1 cent per Avios value, and that is very poor for premium class travel.

DAK.

pubsmeister

As my post above alludes, I do find the value of the Travel Together ticket of dubious value. Imagine not using the voucher, and paying full price for two; that's crazy! However, I do not see how this transaction is getting less than 1 cent per Avios. At 1 cent we're spending a little less than $8k, for our two seats in business/first. Retail price on BA for two is $20k in business, $25k in first (for our dates; remember, the calendar strongly influences price). Of course, no sane person would pay that, so you brought up other airlines. I'm glad you found a cheap fare a few weeks before travel; this trip will require planning, hotel reservations, etc. no way to book on short notice. With miles it becomes about availability and what points you have. If I was using another airline would use KrisFlyer, since Singapore transfers from all the transferrable rewards programs. A trip like this would be about 420k miles, and I do not know about availability of desired dates. United would be about 340k (comparable number of miles, but no significant co-pay), but it's United; that's no fun. Using United partners would be about 420k. Most of the points were transferred over from Amex at a 1.4:1 ratio, so "cost" was closer to 230k Avios. We did first class IAD-LHR a few years ago on the way to Paris, so really wanted to explore a more remote location. Of course, if a better deal comes up it's easy enough to cancel and re-book.

36902BRF

I am not sure it is even a good deal for Europe. I purchased a cash J class ticket on BA from East Coast to Athens for around $1900 and upgraded using 38k points and no additional cash (this was before the recent fee increase which made F more expensive than J). I will earn most of those 38k points back on the underlying cash J ticket. That was a pretty hot deal but it is pretty easy in this day and age to find sub $2.5k business class tickets to Europe from East Coast so paying $1400 in YQ fees per person no matter what the points cost doesn't seem that hot to me. I have been one of the few fans of the Companion ticket and have used several but at this point I don't see a lot of value in them anymore. And don't even get me started on paying for a seat assignment on BA in J on top of their insane YQ fees.

On a related note VS has also raised their carrier surcharges to match BAs but at least I can choose my seat.

36902BRF

How recent? The fees went up I think in mid-October. East Coast to Europe in F/J was 12xx in fees per person prior to increase. Now it is $14xx in J and $18xx in F. I have been told the fees are now the same no matter from where you depart from US so this is probably a smaller increase for folks not on East Coast. Also maybe Austin is more expensive but I see F pretty regularly in the $7-5k range from my home airport. I certainly would not use $14k as my point of comparison.

36902BRF

I checked IAD to SIN on Google Flights and I don't see a single day between now and September 2019 (when their calendar ends) where the cheapest J fare is more than $5000 per person round trip for a 14 day trip. I see sub $5000 fare on Korean every day I checked. Using $20k as a point of comparison as the cash value of the tickets seems crazy. First is more pricey but the majority of the days it is available for $7k-8k per person (typically on EK or BA).

dkerr

Totally agree. I jumped on an amazing BA J deal JFK-LHR three years ago for the entire family, for travel summer 2016. Combining AARP discount and using Avios as "cash" at the BA website I got down to under $900 + 30,000 avios oer person. Round trip. It was one of those holy s**t buy this before BA change their mind and then figure out what to do for two weeks in UK/Europe later.

DAK

dkerr

Of your four segments only one is in First. So that is hardly a fair comparison. And BA first hard product is worse than many airline's J now-a-days. I understand their strategy and why it is that way. But to compare what you booked with paid first class on any airline makes no sense at all. If I was going to pay that sort of price even if I could afford it, it would never be on BA. BA's first cabin is primarily there as a perk for their frequent business travelers... that is why upgrades to their F cabin is so easy. Few people ever pay for it, and when they do it is with big corporate discount.

We agree that the 2-4-1 with Avios are of dubious value anymore. I did big spend on that card and used two 2-4-1's a few years ago. But now I concentrate on other transferable currencies like Amex MR, Chase UR and Citi TY points. I still like Avios but use them elsewhere.

DAK

pubsmeister

Remember, I'm booking flights ~355 days out. Google flights doesn't go that far into the future. If you price my flights on their exact days- that where the numbers I listed come from. I agree it's a somewhat silly number, just a basis for comparison.

36902BRF

Ha I am all for early reservations but you cannot wait until say T-330 or so? I mean when the seats are loaded the cash prices are just silly. I understand stalking award seats as they are released but if paying cash there is no need to be quite so aggressive. If you are booking at T-355 because you have to whether or not you are using points then I can see the insane prices as being a somewhat valid comparison but if you are only booking to get seats on points at that time then I don't think it is a valid comparison.

36902BRF

Ha I got in on that one as well. My deal was $7xx DCA to MAD on AA metal but purchased via BA with the AARP discount and all that. If I had moved faster it would have been $4xx. I doubt I'll ever see a deal like that again.

JIMCHI

I am planning this routing: DEN-LHR (stop) -open jaw- FCO-LHR (overnight stop)- DUB (stop)- LHR (overnight stop) - DEN. Would this be an allowable routing using the Chase Travel Together voucher?

dkerr