Reward Flight Savers priced from £1 - trial begins 16 July 2019
Oct 19, 2019, 2:48 pm
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
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Sorry if this isn't the most relevant thread on RFS any more, but I'm on a mobile and am finding it hard to find anything at all ;-)
I've just heard something that was new to me - under this new scheme, if you choose any avios/cash combination other than the max avios one, then if you do a partial cancellation (eg canx the return half of your flights) then you get refunded according to the max avios combination - ie just the £0.50 and half the higher amount of avios. I think this is how it used to work when you paid extra to spend fewer avios under the old scheme too.
So if you want that flexibility, but want to be refunded what you paid (in avios and cash) you need to make one-way bookings now...
I've just heard something that was new to me - under this new scheme, if you choose any avios/cash combination other than the max avios one, then if you do a partial cancellation (eg canx the return half of your flights) then you get refunded according to the max avios combination - ie just the £0.50 and half the higher amount of avios. I think this is how it used to work when you paid extra to spend fewer avios under the old scheme too.
So if you want that flexibility, but want to be refunded what you paid (in avios and cash) you need to make one-way bookings now...
Any short-haul booking made since this trial started seems to attract the lower cancellation fees, ie £1 for a return or 50p for a one-way.
Importantly, it does not matter which option you originally chose. Irrespective of whether you chose £1 of cash or £101 of cash, the fee is only £1.
Oct 19, 2019, 3:11 pm
#47
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze, Hertz pres circle, Marriott Platinum, hilton diamond
Posts: 2,537
I also did a GPR, and insisted on the old rate. Was told they cant even see that rate on the system so it had to be sent to ticketing. 2 days later a voicemail from them that they didnt have my CVV number saved so could I call them to add it. Called, and then something else went wrong and a day later they called for it again. Was a real nuisance and took a while to sort.
Nov 1, 2019, 8:52 am
#48
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,991
Any short-haul booking made since this trial started seems to attract the lower cancellation fees, ie £1 for a return or 50p for a one-way.
Importantly, it does not matter which option you originally chose. Irrespective of whether you chose £1 of cash or £101 of cash, the fee is only £1.
Importantly, it does not matter which option you originally chose. Irrespective of whether you chose £1 of cash or £101 of cash, the fee is only £1.
I recently booked a one-way reward flight, choosing to pay with 4,000 Avios and £15.50 in cash. Today I cancelled that flight, and received 4,000 Avios and £15 back. The effective 50p cost of "holding" an RFS booking seems to me to be a huge benefit - previously, I'd have lost the entire cash element.
Nov 2, 2019, 9:03 am
#50
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I really dislike the new pricing options. They are poor value and the system now defaults to one such poor value.
Nov 2, 2019, 9:53 am
#52
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold / Hilton Diamond / IHG Diamond Ambassador / Marriot Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,533
when I said no I was advised that this was the only option. I was then put on hold for almost 20minutes while they checked. In the end 18000 for 2 plus £35. Cash fare €440 each!
Nov 2, 2019, 10:39 am
#53
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
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Posts: 30,520
Nov 2, 2019, 11:05 am
#54
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 847
agreed! Tried to book a gold reward seats from Milan recently and was quoted 32,000 miles one way in ET for 2 with £1 fee.
when I said no I was advised that this was the only option. I was then put on hold for almost 20minutes while they checked. In the end 18000 for 2 plus £35. Cash fare €440 each!
when I said no I was advised that this was the only option. I was then put on hold for almost 20minutes while they checked. In the end 18000 for 2 plus £35. Cash fare €440 each!
Nov 3, 2019, 7:20 am
#55
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,020
New Cancellations fee.
I can confirm that this is how the new system works.
I recently booked a one-way reward flight, choosing to pay with 4,000 Avios and £15.50 in cash. Today I cancelled that flight, and received 4,000 Avios and £15 back. The effective 50p cost of "holding" an RFS booking seems to me to be a huge benefit - previously, I'd have lost the entire cash element.
I recently booked a one-way reward flight, choosing to pay with 4,000 Avios and £15.50 in cash. Today I cancelled that flight, and received 4,000 Avios and £15 back. The effective 50p cost of "holding" an RFS booking seems to me to be a huge benefit - previously, I'd have lost the entire cash element.
Does this make the GGL perk effectively useless as it saves just 50p per booking? If so this is good news for the rest of us non GGL lot!
Some clarity on this much appreciated.
Nov 3, 2019, 8:47 am
#56
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Surrey
Programs: BAEC - Gold
Posts: 882
What I am wondering is how this will work if/when dynamic Avios pricing comes in. Let’s say you book a flight at 15000 Avios return. A few months later, it drops to 10000 with seats still available. So you book the lower price seats, cancel the existing booking and it’s only cost you £0.50. Seems to make dynamic pricing a bit pointless? Unless it only goes up as you near departure?
Nov 7, 2019, 2:16 pm
#57
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,163
When looking to fly from MUC and take advantage of the current Avios redemption offer, I noticed that when combining a short-haul feeder to LHR combined with a long-haul flight from LHR, BA now uses the amount of Avios of the “trial price redemption” to add to the Avios required of the long-haul flight. For a J redemption this adds at least 5000 Avios to the redemption price. This is surely incorrect. There is no monetory gain to warrent this, just an increase to redemption rates by stealth.
Last edited by Tafflyer; Nov 7, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Nov 8, 2019, 7:45 am
#58
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4
I had the exact same experience booking a gold priority reward last week. Offered the £1 and squillions of Avios option and when I said I wanted the old pricing I was told ‘I’m not sure we’re still doing that, I need to check with a manager’. 20 minutes on hold later it was done. I hope they’re not going to get rid of the old pricing completely.
Nov 8, 2019, 7:55 am
#59
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,091
It appears that the old pricing has been removed from the system. I tried a Gold Priority Reward today and was firmly told that the £1 + loads of Avios is the only option. I was trying 4 seats to Geneva, old pricing was 72,000 (including the double Avios) new price is 128,000. Ouch. This was the GGL line.
Nov 8, 2019, 8:08 am
#60
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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