kimmyannangel

I would like to book flights from MSP to SLA (Salta, Argentina) for the summer of 2017 (yes, I'm looking way in advance). I have about 370k Avios and need flights for 6 people. If I booked AA from MSP-JFK-EZE and then found a LAN flight from AEP-SLA, does anyone have an idea of how that would price out? I know we may have to split our group into two groups of 3 to get all 6 of us there. It is a family trip to visit my son's friends in Salta. Thank you for your advice and help. I'm not a newbie to Avios but definitely not an expert either.

JAXBA

While you're a little eager for 2017, why not try booking a random date that's within range, and see what ba.com gives you?

kimmyannangel

I can't do the whole itinerary online. The MSP-EZE is pricing at 32500 and the AEP-SLA is pricing at 7500. I was wondering how it would price when they were combined. Isn't there a limit based on the mileage (which is around 7000 miles each way)?

Sully the Scarer

OK, I need to vent.

BA Gold, last year over 40 long haul legs in J/F. As a result I have a big pool of avios (500k+) and a couple of Gold Upgrade for Two vouchers.

I've tried to book to take Mrs S and the little one to St Lucia in November. Not a single premium seat available - not in E+, J or F - out or back. Speaking to the gold card hotline, and nothing.

So I called my other airline, United. I only have basic status with them, but I have a lot of miles from a few years ago. Within 5 minutes, I'm offered J/F availability on most days in November, with much lower taxes.

How on earth can this happen? How utterly useless can Avios be that a top-tier customer spending over £50k a year on travel can't get any priority above someone who uses their BA Amex card to buy their weekly groceries? "BA Gold get extra availability of economy seats" - is like offering the coffee shop manager a latte. I want premium seats - because thats how I fly. But they're all gone - probably to people who just buy a credit card and got lucky.

On that note, I'm done with BA. I put my gold card in the shredder, and I just won't bother anymore.

Rant over. Thanks BA Exec forum, I won't be attending any longer as there doesn't seem to be any reason.

Grrrr.

KARFA

If you are giving up on BAEC please send your avios to me before you close your account. I will have no trouble using them.

Smiley90

Where are you flying from? I see PLENTY of availability in premium cabins on the CLT-UVF flight on AA, the rest is a matter of connecting.

Wozza2404

November as in next month? Looking for premium availability during peak season (or the run up to peak season in this example) is unlikely to yield reward.

If you're more than 30 days prior to your intended travel date you can use the Double Avios option to open revenue seats for Avios purchase.

sxc

I am about to setup a BAEC account. Just say I create the account in Mid-December 2015, will my membership year expire on 31 December 2016, or 31 January 2017?

Or some other date that I haven't considered?

MADPhil

Your TP collecting year will run from the 9th. of the month following your first qualifying flight until the 8th. of the same month a year later. Your status year will run until the end of the month following the month in which your collection year ends. So the first TP collecting year can be almost 13 months long. When you set up the account is actually immaterial as long as it is before the first flight that you want to count.

sxc

So just say my first flight to earn tier points is 20th December 2015, then I have until 8th January 2017 to collect points before they get reset.

And assuming I reach a status level during 2016, it will last until 28th February 2017?

Kind of weird that the tier point collection months end on the 8th of each month.

MADPhil

The status should last until 28th. February 2018 as it is good for one full year after the year in which you qualify. I don't know about other programs but it is much like the AA program, except that AA uses a fixed year of 1 January through 31 December for collection. I don't know why they chose the 8/9 as the boundary. You might think they would have used the 5/6 like the Inland Revenue or the 14/15 like quarter days!

sxc

Thank you!

Roger

This must have been asked before but I can't see an answer.

Can a Gold Priority Award be used in conjunction with an AmEx 2-4-1?

e.g. regular F for 1: 100,000 Avios
regular F for 2: 200,000 Avios
2-4-1 F for 2: 100,000 Avios
GPA F for 2: 400,000 Avios
(I hope) GPA F for 2 using 2-4-1: 200,000 Avios?

Thanks.

nux

No.

Gold Priority Reward
5. Double Avios points may not be used in conjunction with (i) Avios & Money, (ii) Gold Upgrade for Two; or (iii) Avios for Upgrade or (iv) American Express Vouchers.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...ditions-of-use

KARFA

No, it can't be used with a 2-4-1.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...ditions-of-use