chp

That's what I thought too, but having just tried a dummy cash and one-way WT+->CW UUA booking LHR-BOS, the "peak" cash fare is only £20 more than the "off-peak", while the "off-peak" UUA costs 24000 vs 20000 for the "peak" period.

Doesn't really make sense to me...

KARFA

Cancelling the JL avios booking is fine and you will get back avios and the charges minus the cancellation fee.

Your LHR-NRT will be a new booking and charged at new rates - it is a different zone as well I think so expect to pay quick a bit more avios. Yoiu can of course cancel your existing LHR-PVG avios booking and same would apply regardding the refund as for the JL booking.

moral_low_ground

as is staying at Hilton Hotels where VS often have mileage promotions (I earnt 64K VS miles the last 2 months just with a few stays at Hiltons here in Dubai)

dc2447

Hi, I'm not too smart.

Could someone outline which routes are going to cost less Avios in Europe in ET and outside of Europe in Premium cabins?

shorthauldad

Well, to me 4000 Avios is only now worth about £20, so that might actually make perfect sense!

In aggregate BA must believe demand to be higher during peak periods compared with off-peak periods. That implies they might attempt to charge more for cash fares, and more Avios for redemption upgrades, in peak times.

chp

I take your point re. the Avios value!

I also agree with what you say re. demand. Presumably BA feel there is more demand during so-called peak periods. This would explain them charging more cash for flights on those dates. However, I still don't really understand their logic in charging LESS Avios for peak redemption upgrades. Surely if there is greater demand they would rather sell seats for cash than encourage redemption upgrades?

tomdelay

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Maybe availability of reward tickets will be so low during peak periods that 90% of use end up redeeming during the off-peak.

Does anyone think VS might 'enhance' their own Flying Club anytime soon? I can see them making the most of things in the short term, and advertising the massive differences (i.e. only 20k to upgrade from economy to upper from London to NYC, compared to 26k on BA to go from WT+ to club)... But equally, I can see them quietly hiking up their own thresholds.

xenole

Quite a few redemptions I make to the US tend to be on "later in the day flights" i.e. ones arriving 8pm onwards and this would fit in with an off-peak period.

That said, it's not always the case that there isn't availability throughout the day but most of the time, the off peak flights are easier to pick up.

If I was just going to pay straight cash, I would fly as cheap as possible and earlier to maximise the time at my destination.

shorthauldad

I think I was a bit garbled in post #63 (was thinking about lunch rather than what I was typing).

If the underlying cash fare in WT+ is (on aggregate) higher during peak periods, then having a lower Avios charge to upgrade to CW is understandable. It's the overall 'revenue' (cash+Avios) that's the key - so on-peak, even with a lower UuA amount, this might equal or exceed that for an off-peak cash fare (low fare + higher Avios UuA charge).

There's also the fare bucket angle. Perhaps revenue management release far more T (discount WT+) inventory off-peak than at peak, and this is a crude way to charge more for upgrades to CW which come from T rather than E or W?

TBH, the amount of noise everyone made about what amazing value UuA was, it was only a matter of time before BA enhanced it.

T8191

Guilty as charged, M'Lud

Still, if BA want me to fly with someone else, that's their decision and I shall endeavour to comply

chp

That is what I suspect as well.

Purely anecdotal, but while trying the dummy LHR-BOS booking I mentioned above, there was plenty of reward availability on BA during peak periods, conversely there actually seemed to be a lot less (direct flight) CW availability on the off-peak dates I was checking (Sept-Oct).

I am still not convinced that this apparent pricing anomaly is entirely intentional on BA's part...

Still, as has been said, it will be interesting to see how this whole business pans out. I doubt it will be to our (passengers') benefit, though!

fincastle84

I ran a quote for 2 pax LHR-NBO return, off peak. Avios had increased from 50,000 to 120,000!!! I called the EC & after a long wait spoke to a very helpful employee. He assured me that the Avios cost should STILL be 50,000 & that this is one of many faults with the updated website. He is going to report the fault.

Watch this space.

shorthauldad

It would be nice if that agent was right, however I don't think he is.

mslouisebrain

So I've been on the website today and there are definitely NOT two reward seats in business class for every flight. In fact, the availability has dropped dramatically since yesterday.



Return business class flights to New York that were 80,000 points yesterday are now 120,000 points.

On top of all this, the last 5 flights I have been on have had absolutely filthy cabins. And the new Club Europe product? It's a joke. I really think I'm done with British Airways now. I can't see why I would choose them over any other airline any more. Gutted

Ldnn1

This isn't correct.

Demand for CW awards is higher during 'peak' periods, but demand for CW cash fares is lower during 'peak' periods.

It therefore makes sense for BA to:

- charge higher CW award prices during 'peak' award season
- charge lower CW award prices during 'off-peak' award season
- charge higher WTP-CW UUA prices during 'off-peak' award season which is peak business season, so as to discourage business travellers from buying cheap UUAs rather than pay cash for CW