chp

Is it still the case that domestic connections to/from long-haul Avios redemption flights are "free" (in terms of Avios - I know that taxes/charges are still applied)?

I ask because I have booked an open jaw off-peak band 6 redemption return flight with domestic connections and have been charged 133000 Avios (4000+62500+62500+4000), ie. I've been charged the Avios for the domestic connections.

Specifically, I have booked a redemption flight for 4 people and one infant using two Amex companion vouchers. The routing is BHD-LHR-LAS, followed by YYC-LHR-BHD, in CW all on off-peak dates. My understanding (and this is supported by the Avios calculator on the BA website) was that this should cost 62500x2=125000 Avios per person, with the infant being charged 10%, ie. 12500 Avios. Due to the two companion vouchers two adults should be "free" giving a total cost of 125000x2+12500 = 262500 Avios.

Instead, the total Avios cost I have been charged is 279300, which is two people at (62500+4000)x2=133000 each - charging for the domestic connections - and the infant then at 10% of this, 13300 Avios.

If it is relevant it appears that they forgot to debit the Avios when I first made the booking last month and only noticed this and charged me yesterday after I called to change the times of the domestic connections.

I've spoken to the Silver line who said to call Customer Relations. I did this and CR (after discussion with the Exec Club) said that they couldn't see anything incorrect at being charged 133000 per person for the flights, ie. no "free" domestic connections. The CR agent on the phone actually said that they had never heard about "free" connections to reward flights, long-haul or otherwise. Have I just imagined this??? I'm nearly certain I've taken advantage of them in the past.

As the Silver line agent and now a CR agent have both said that they can see nothing wrong with what I have been charged, if it is indeed incorrect I suppose my next step will be to email them unless anyone has any other ideas?

highpeaklad

No idea if the amounts are correct but you still get free domestic connections with long haul.

KARFA

Why can't you tell us what XXX and YYY and what cabin so at least we can double check and confirm whether you are right?

In any case, it is correct that domestic flights added on to longhaul reward flights do not incur an avios cost.

chp

Force of habit pseudo-anonymising things! Its BHD-LHR-LAS and YYC-LHR-BHD in CW.

KARFA

Both YYC-LHR and LHR-LAS is 62,500 one way in J off-peak.

For your booking which is 4 people (using 2x2-4-1s) and an infant (10%) I would expect you to be charged 2x(2 x 62,500) + 6,250 + 6,250 = 262,500

So I would agree that you seem to have been overcharged. It certainly is the case the domestic connections should not incur an avios cost.

chp

Thanks for confirming my calculations.

Disappointingly neither the Exec Club nor the Customer Relations agents I have spoken with seem to be aware of this. Overall I've had dealings, directly or indirectly, with 5 different agents so far:

Agent 1 - Exec Club Silver Line
Made the reservation, including the domestic connections, and took the cash payment fine. They calculated and quoted the correct price (with free connections) but somehow forgot to actually debit the avios and the companion vouchers! (Interestingly despite this the flights were ticketed - at least I could view actual 125- ticket numbers in MMB. I would of course have come clean once I noticed, but I wonder if it would have been possible to complete the flights?)

Agent 2 - Exec Club Silver Line
I called to change the time of the domestic connections and they noticed that the avios hadn't been debited. However, they miscalculated the amount due as I have described above, charging for the domestic connections. Unfortunately I was in a hurry on the call and didn't pick up on this at the time.

Agent 3 - Exec Club Silver Line
Once I noticed the avios overcharging I called to query it. This agent couldn't seem to grasp my point about the overcharging, said they couldn't help, and told me to call Customer Relations

Agent 4 - Customer Relations
This agent professed to have never even heard about domestic connections to long-haul redemptions being "free" in terms of avios and insisted that the calculation where I was being charged for them was correct.

Agent 5 - Exec Club
The CR agent called the Exec Club while I was on the line and apparently whoever they spoke to there agreed that the pricing was correct and that I should be charged for the domestic connections.

Assuming that BA haven't quietly "enhanced" the "free" domestic connections to long-haul redemptions away then, all in all, this is a disappointing performance from several of BA's customer service staff. I would have thought that domestic connections to redemption flights ex-LHR would be reasonably common and something the staff would be proficient at handling.

Maybe I've just been unlucky as I've had had good service from the Exec Club agents in the past. In any case, I've now sent an email to Customer Relations about it. Hopefully this will result in everything getting sorted.

chp

I know it isn't good form to reply to my own message, but to update, I emailed Customer Relations who told me that they did not have enough information to answer my query (even though I had laid everything out very clearly in my email).

I have now called the Exec Club again, and after being transferred between several people have spoken to an agent who says that domestic connections to long haul avios redemptions are no longer "free" and have to be paid for. They have checked with their supervisor who also agrees that this is the case, and has been since the Exec Club changes last year! This is despite the Reward Flight Calculator on the BA website clearly showing that there is NO additional cost for a domestic connection on long-haul redemptions.

Does anyone know where it says, in writing that I can point BA's own staff to, that domestic connections are included in the avios cost for long haul redemptions? Or can anyone think of any other way to get this message across?

KARFA

I don't like to use the term "free" because they still cost extra cash - this can cause confusion. They do not cost any more avios though compared to booking the longhaul on it's own.

It is documented as part of the changes last year on various blogs such as here:

http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/01...pending-rates/

and on FT here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...b-changes.html

I have certainly added domestic connections to a booked longhaul reward since the changes and was not charged any more avios.

chp

Thanks for the response.

Since I posted I've been called back by the agent. They said that they and their supervisor had looked at things again and had discovered that there was in fact "an exception for Belfast" which meant that connecting flights from there didn't cost any avios! I think this "exception" is simply the normal rules of the Exec Club, but as it has got me the correct amount of avios I'm happy. It's just a pity it's taken me multiple phone calls to get there. (Reading between the lines of what was said I'm not sure there wasn't a lack of realisation that Belfast is in the UK and counts as a domestic flight!).

In case anyone else finds themselves in this position, as well as the links posted by Karfa above, I've since found that the Internet Archive cache has a copy of the Executive Club changes page from BA's own website in April last year. It clearly states under "Changes to UK Domestic Reward Pricing" that (my emphasis):

Link here

I'm glad my situation has been resolved, but overall I am disappointed at the lack of knowledge amongst BA's agents about what is surely a commonly arising situation.

KARFA

Thanks for finding something on BA.com archive, I couldn't find anything myself.

The answer you got this time is rubbish, it applies to all domestic routes not just BHD.

If you price up on BA.com it is correctly prices online at least and doesn't charge avios for the domestic flights. For example I have just tried it and get:

LHR-JFK return in J - 100k avios & £483.75
LBA-LHR-JFK return in J - 100k avios & £514.23

nearlyheadlessian

Perhaps someone can help here. I'm looking at a trip later this year to the US, where I'm finding that the avios cost quoted at ba.com is correct (i.e. it offers a free connection from EDI to LON for the long haul leg) but the cash charges have ballooned dramatically (cf KARFA's post from August 2016 above).

E.g.

LHR-MSY return in J - 150k avios & £529
EDI-LHR-MSY return in J - 150k avios & £733.66

And I'm replicating that to other destinations. Why on earth are the charges so much higher with a regional connection?

snuffi

I recently added EDI-LHR to a reward PNR which was originally LHR-BOS/JFK-LCY, and I was not debited any more Avios for this. I think I had to pay a change fee of £35 but that was it.

Blueboys999

I don't know for sure why there is that much difference but I recently booked an international reward including a domestic connection where the phone agent suggested that she book the connection in ET rather than Club Europe which did bring the charges down quite a bit.

Others with more knowledge of these things may be able to give a more definitive answer.

KARFA

I have had a look at your example.

LHR-MSY rtn J (off-peak)
125,000 avios + £ 528.47

Taxes/fees/charges breakdown
Air Passenger Duty GBP150.00
Animal & Plant Health User Fee (Aphis) - USA GBP3.00
Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee - USA GBP4.30
Immigration User Fee - USA GBP5.40
Transportation Tax(Arrival) - USA GBP13.80
Customs User Fee - USA GBP4.20
Transportation Tax(Departure) - USA GBP13.80
Passenger Service Charge - United Kingdom GBP41.47
Passenger Facility Charge GBP3.50
Carrier imposed charge GBP289.00

EDI-LHR-MSY rtn J (off-peak)
Shows 125,000 avios + £ 733.66 in the journey summary tab at the bottom of the page after selecting flights, but on clicking continue the "Your price quote" page shows 125,000 avios + £ 546.43 which seems much more what I would expect.

Taxes/fees/charges breakdown
Air Passenger Duty - United Kingdom GBP150.00
Animal & Plant Health User Fee (Aphis) - USA GBP3.00
Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee - USA GBP4.30
Immigration User Fee - USA GBP5.40
Transportation Tax(Arrival) - USA GBP13.80
Customs User Fee - USA GBP4.20
Transportation Tax(Departure) - USA GBP13.80
Passenger Service Charge - United Kingdom GBP59.43
Passenger Facility Charge GBP3.50
Carrier imposed charge GBP289.00

So the extra cash in solely down to extra UK PSC. No additional avios needed to add the domestic flights. Also for some reason an incorrect TFC figure is given in the journey summary tab, but a correct amount is shown on the quote page.

KARFA

When domestic CE came in I did some pricing of different ET/CE options and found this https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28035850-post669.html