Happy

fly1346 in Post 3095 and brasov02 in Post 3102 both insist this is a raw deal. Go figure!

ThePointsCollector

can someone tell me the deal about comp. certificates? was this part of the deal?

OrvilleWright

Uh, you weren't serious about that, were you? Because it isn't a matter of crash-landing fireball potential at all... but is, in fact, a matter of...landing weight. A lot of things come into play, including structural limitations of aircraft, runway length, runway load bearing capabilities...all coming back to landing weight.

moondog

Simply put, since I can spend $2.50 (plus points) to fly to from anywhere east of Chicago to Shanghai, I'm not so cool with the $300 options.

brasov02

Not sure what you mean by "go figure" but I'll give it a shot...PDX-LHR on Continental award = roughly $100 bucks VS. PDX-LHR on BA award = nearly $400. If someone were to ask me which is the raw deal I would be forced to go with the BA one. Or as Glen Beck would say, "I think $400 is greater than $100." Go figure. (I would roll my eyes too but that's sort of rude.)

Mountain Trader

Like Glen Beck, simple answers for complex problems.

If the CO and BA miles cost the same in money, time and effort to obtain, your point would have merit. But the statements about BA being a good deal were in the context of the recent Visa offer. That offer is you get 100k miles for a $75 fee plus $2,000 of spending. With that, you get to LHR in C for the various surcharges and fees-stated at $312 above. That's more than the fees on a CO ticket (which you noted but seem to be ignored by most) but still great in my book. And for another 30k in spending, you get another C ticket to LHR for another $312.

Most of the whining about BA fees are by folks who seem to be new to the game, and have not taken the time to understand BA's program details. Step 1 of going after any offer is understanding what the offer really gets you. Only after that can you measure if it is worth it. The press articles about the coin deal, Mr. Pickles and all left the impression that someone is giving away free trips and all you have to do is fill out a credit card application. Thought and careful analysis are also required to see if a deal works for you.

If you think using hard to earn CO miles, paying their fees and receiving their service is a better deal, go ahead. It's your tea party.

boomdog

No it's not. It's Sarah Palin's Tea Party.

moondog

If I had: 1) 100k BA miles; 2) a desire to go to Europe; and 3) no plans to spend $30k on my BA card.... I would attempt to trade for my BA points for a biz class ticket to Europe in the Coupon Connection.

I think there would be many takers for such a trade because it would be a win-win:
-person trading out of BA saves a few hundred dollars in fees
-other party gets to "upgrade" to a much more useful currency than CO, DL, UA, etc

It should go without saying that proper due diligence should be performed before entering into any CC trades.

brasov02

That's just it. For some of us, or for me anyway, the problem isn't that complex. Basically, if you're like me and don't have a lot of spare cash for travel to Europe, BA miles are one of the last options. They could give me a million mile-sign up bonus but it still wouldn't change the fact that I would end up shelling out a much larger percentage of my limited travel cash using them than I would others. Therefore it was actually pretty easy for me to say thanks but no thanks to this latest "most lucrative bonus ever."
On the other hand, if you have any interest in traveling to most any other place than Europe then you would have been pretty silly to let this one go by if you had the chance to snap it up.
So that's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Cry if I want to. Cry if I want to.
(Dang it. Why can I not get any of those emoticons to show up on my messages? I just get a url address. I was going for the green one that's smiling with raised eyebrows as if he's apologizing for being clueless or something to that effect.)

LizzyDragon84

FT has 15 emoticons you can choose from. If you click the "Go Advance" button under the reply box, you can see what they are and choose one.

BobWang

No it's not. It's the People's Tea Party.

tatmtr7

Yes, I received the ba card and now want to make sure that I spend the amt of $$$ necessary to get the added miles. Can I order amex/visa gift cards just in case I need to boost this acct? Are the charges treated as a cash advance or a purchase when ordering gift cards? My kids all have upcoming bd's and I never know wht to buy them so this way I could make sure I earn the miles and they could buy wht they need. Thanks

specialeffects

Dude the Miles you are getting are 100k vs 30K (if you opened a CO CC), $215 for 70k miles is a smoking deals. If you cant do that math then I guess u should'nt be in this game.

troyb

You know you can get to Europe using BA miles on airlines other than BA, right? Iberia and Finnair come to mind.

clacko

tatmtr7....

you can use the ba visa to buy gift cards....i bought a walmart card to use at our sams which doesn't take visa....i will buy some gift cards for the grand childrens birth days....if we get tight on meeting the spend, i will buy gift cards for the grocery stores we use....also, if you can pay cable, utilities etc w cc, you can pay ahead to get the spend.....most any place you shop frequently will have gift cards....

i don't know about amex or visa gift cards....are you trying to double dip?....i think that theres a fee for amex.....good luck...

ps....i can't imagine that one could buy amex gift cards with a visa...