Chance of POUGs on Weekday BRU Flights
Dec 5, 2017, 3:12 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
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Chance of POUGs on Weekday BRU Flights
Hi all,
Due to a new contract my main destination is going to be Brussels from January. My company understably won't pay for CE on an hour long flight (they also won't pay for Gin), so in order to maintain any status I'm going to have to rely on POUGs in order collect any worthwhile TPs from these flights. Are their any regulars on this route who can advise the likelyhood of being offered POUG's on a Monday morning and Wednesday evening? Or maybe its time to give up and start taking Eurostar instead...
Thanks!
Due to a new contract my main destination is going to be Brussels from January. My company understably won't pay for CE on an hour long flight (they also won't pay for Gin), so in order to maintain any status I'm going to have to rely on POUGs in order collect any worthwhile TPs from these flights. Are their any regulars on this route who can advise the likelyhood of being offered POUG's on a Monday morning and Wednesday evening? Or maybe its time to give up and start taking Eurostar instead...
Thanks!
Dec 5, 2017, 3:17 am
#2
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If you are booking LHR-BRU point to point via BA.com then I'd reckon something like 70% of flights will have a POUG offer. If it's done via a corporate travel agency system direct to GDS then it will only come up at OLCI stage and the percentage will be lower. If you are claiming this, then the most cost effective way for both you and your company is to nest tickets - so buying BRU-LHR (Wed), LHR-BRU (Mon)- to apparently show you are spending Saturday night away. This is a legit process with BA.
Dec 5, 2017, 3:18 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2012
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If you already have silver then you could potentially maintain it by virtue of 25 return flights rather than TPs
Gold you'll need to upgrade, but it's going to be an expensive way to maintain it if you arent mixing in a few J longhauls- so you'd have to personally consider the value
depending on where you live I would give the Eurostar some consideration - from personal experience with a Paris commute for a while it was far prefereable in the end- those flights can carry regular annoying delays that the trains just didn't have and you can cut your arrival at the station a lot finer than the airport
Gold you'll need to upgrade, but it's going to be an expensive way to maintain it if you arent mixing in a few J longhauls- so you'd have to personally consider the value
depending on where you live I would give the Eurostar some consideration - from personal experience with a Paris commute for a while it was far prefereable in the end- those flights can carry regular annoying delays that the trains just didn't have and you can cut your arrival at the station a lot finer than the airport
Dec 5, 2017, 3:22 am
#4
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Just to check, is your work travel booked through a TA? If so the likelihood of being offered a POUG on a TA booking is virtually nil sadly.
Dec 5, 2017, 3:26 am
#5
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If it's a UK based TA (CWT, Amex, some Egencia accounts, billed in sterling) then POUG comes up at OLCI from time to time, and also for the return trips before OLCI if under 36 hours away.
Dec 5, 2017, 3:47 am
#6
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Thanks for your help as always. Our office assistant books the flights on BA.com, so it's just a normal booking and it sounds likely that there will be some POUGs to be had then. Having never been to BRU before, I presume it's a very business heavy route on weekdays, so thought they might not need to offer them. The Nesting point is a good one an I'll look into this. Don't think I'll be quite at 25 returns, its probably going to be once every three weeks or so. It does look like I'll have to consider some longhaul leasure travel for next year or start paying more attention to the TP run threads!
Dec 5, 2017, 3:52 am
#7
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In which case it would be helpful to have handy the corporate credit card number used in the booking, to assist App POUGs. It isn't used for payment purposes, it's just another security layer. If you do it via BA.com you may not need that credit card number, alternatively do an Avios search on the App (and thus trigger a full BA.com login) and then immediately process the POUG.
Dec 5, 2017, 9:08 am
#9
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Dec 5, 2017, 9:14 am
#10
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What class would your employer mandate for Eurostar travel? Mine forces Economy for flights up to 8 hours (and beyond that it's only PE), but inexplicably pays for Business Premier on the Eurostar. In my experience, travelling in Standard Premier on the Eurostar beats flying LHR-BRU in ET by a long way, so the train might actually be a better option for you...
Dec 5, 2017, 9:20 am
#11
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What class would your employer mandate for Eurostar travel? Mine forces Economy for flights up to 8 hours (and beyond that it's only PE), but inexplicably pays for Business Premier on the Eurostar. In my experience, travelling in Standard Premier on the Eurostar beats flying LHR-BRU in ET by a long way, so the train might actually be a better option for you...
Dec 5, 2017, 9:29 am
#12
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In conclusion I very much agree with the above advice. For that sort of money I know what I would do, and it wouldn't be the boring option
Dec 5, 2017, 10:16 am
#13
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If you choose flights where the business-traveller loading is low and connecting traffic is less likely, you may well get a POUG at OLCI (don't dawdle). All my business travel bookings are impeded by a corporate TA and I do get POUG offers as long as it's at some unbusiness-like time. Mid-afternoon on a Monday from LCY is quite likely, for example. Early morning from LCY less likely.
(I don't fly to BRU much, so that's generalised from other routes).
(I don't fly to BRU much, so that's generalised from other routes).
Dec 5, 2017, 10:31 am
#14
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When I travelled the route, it didn't take me long on Standard Premier (when it was called Leisure Select) to get the card for the lounges/quick security, but after they changed the name to SP it got harder. I believe they've changed it again so it might be easier to obtain again.
Lounge is about a priority pass level of lounges, took me a long time to realise there was a quieter one upstairs at London. Downstairs gets packed...
Dec 5, 2017, 11:15 am
#15
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I would also be an advocate of Eurostar for London - Brussels travel but, naturally, it does depend on where in London and Brussels that you're travelling to and from. Certainly if you can get Carte Blanche status with them then Fast Track will be available and you would also get lounge access. When I lived in Brussels and needed to visit our office in London then Eurostar was the only sensible option. Similarly Thalys for Düsseldorf and Paris, and ICE for Frankfurt.