GibFlyer

Hey guys,

During a recent booking the BA agent asked if I had a hotel booked yet for my holiday. I advised not yet as was waiting to book the return leg first.

She mentioned that you can get 10x Avios per £ if booked through them, and that they use Expedia booking engine/prices so same price as you’d get with them.

Is this a standard offering or a limited time promo? I had to end the call quickly as was low on battery!

Is BA the best place to book hotels with this reward? I’d usually get a 10% cashback through Quidco/TopCashback via Hotels.com.

Let’s say hotel was £1000, it’s a choice of 10,000 points or £100 cashback. So pretty much equal? Although would also get the reward night contribution on H.com I guess.

TIA!

Woody12354

This has been going on for some time now although not really talked about much. About 5 years back I was asked the same question I think it was 8 avios per £1 then and they used booking.com prices. Seems a decent deal especially if using a BA credit card to pay adding up to another 3 avios per £1

GibFlyer

I did search the forum before posting and couldn’t see anything obvious so yeah doesn’t seem to be a hot topic.

GibFlyer

Does this also stack with the tier points offer? Double tier points on holidays and 10x avois?

Greenpen

Some rewards stack one being TCB and H.com Rewards. This combination is almost always the best deal.

EuropeanPete

I'd never come across this either and couldn't find anything online, but like you an agent mentioned it to me. I've booked about £600 of hotels just to see what happens.

Pompelmoussekin

I was surprised / ambushed by this offer on a recent telephone booking too.

Luckily we knew roughly which hotel we wanted to stay at, but if you search Expedia in advance they can ask the agent to add any hotel available there on to a flight booking. Telephone booking fees waived and Atol protection added as the hotel addition makes it a package.

10x Avios per £1 spent on the hotel portion (including 10x points on hotel taxes and fees), then another 3x points if paying on the BA Amex.

The 3x points are credited in the usual monthly run, the 10x points apparently 35 post-departure. Fully expect to need to chase those up!

Not a bad surprise.

ScienceTeacher

They can up it to 12x if you sound convincing enough to be tempted.

I was booking a silly exOTP trip with some friends and we wanted a private room in a 4 bed hostel in LA. It wasn’t one of their ‘on the book’ properties but sure enough they called back, offering a price identical to their website with the extra 2 Avios/£.

I’ve found you can’t negotiate ‘price’ but certainly the ‘rebate’ element with BAH.

Edit; phone bookings also attract a 24 hour cooling off period unlike BAH website bookings.

marcopizzaiuolo

Just to be clear, what you have been offered on the phone is not a BAH but Avios Hotels. You can find the link on the BAEC Rewards App and/or BA Shopping Portal (rewards.ba.com - you need to be logged in).

I recently booked directly (not on the phone) and the Avios posted quite quickly after the stay. I also found that although the price was the same as shown on Expedia for a basic room, I actually got the confirmation for a room three levels up against the Expedia’s price points.

ratechaser

I'm personally a fan of Quidco/hotels.com - Quidco fairly regularly have one day 15% or even 20% cashback offers for hotel booking sites - and with hotels.com you also get the stamps that effectively add up to another 10% value.

moral_low_ground

I am sure you are aware that many big brand hotel chains state that bookings made through 3rd party/OTA's etc will negate any hotel status you may have (so if you are Hilton Diamond for instance you may lose free upgrades, free breakfast etc).

Guess it is a trade-off perhaps but I never use these offers as a) the posting record of them is truly awful b) I like the benefits I get with my top tier status' and value them more than the avios bonus

infrequentflytalker

You just have to hope nothing goes wrong with Avios Hotels. I’m waiting for a refund confirmed by the hotel two months on, as Avios Hotels has no working contact methods and nobody at Avios or BA takes responsibility.

zaphod424

I've used them a few times, it actually used to be 15 avios/£, but it was reduced to 10 at about the same time as the avios earning on flights was changed to the revenue system. Also you don't get 3 avios/£ from the amex on top, just the standard 1.5 as it's a payment to "Avios Group ltd", not British Airways so isn't counted for the double earning (BA holidays counts as BA spend, but not Avios hotels).

I would suggest you shop around and read the fine print though, sometimes avios hotels are priced the same as booking.com/hotels.com, sometimes they're a bit less, but sometimes they can be a bit, or even significantly, more expensive, and it's not worth paying significantly more just to get the avios (especially when you can get 6/£ on booking.com through the eStore). They also have a more limited selection of hotels than other sites like booking/hotels etc, so you may not find the hotel you want on there.

Also check the cancellation policy for the room you're booking, as they do vary, and there's a £35 fee to cancel even if you cancel before the refundable cut-off date.

But yes, if the price is competitive for the hotel you want to stay at and you are happy with the flexibility then it's a good way to get a healthy top up to your avios balance. It is odd how little it's advertised by BA though, it's tucked away in the 'about the Executive club' section of the website, and is barely mentioned anywhere else.

GibFlyer

This is great info,, thanks so much for taking the time to post.

xenole

The one downside I've found to BA hotels and Nectar hotels is that you can't book that day.
If i arrrived into LHR today and wanted a hotel for the night, it won't let you select today, only tomorrow onwards.
Sometimes I book on the day when planes change due to airlines, trains, I'm tired, have had a glass or two of something and/or don't fancy driving.