[Holidayguy]

Not Long Now… wrote:

S879 wrote:

Good morning from Madrid Airport where non-EU queues at passport control (Terminal 4S) when departing are at least 40 minutes long. How on earth do they cope in the summer peak season? On a positive note, Amex Platinum fast

track worked beautifully.

When we came through a fortnight ago, there were about 500 “non-european” people waiting for 5 open booths at passport control, at least half an hour. To the left hand side, being ushered towards the e-gates, were those of us “non-europeans” who had already registered (on our way outbound in December). 10 e-gates, about 20 people, less than a minute, lovely. Then of course, having used the e-gate to enter the country, we had to queue for a manned booth, 2 open, to check the just checked passport, and then stamp it.
I believe it’s called progress…

I believe it’s called Brexit.

[Holidayguy]

NorthernLass wrote:

Anyone can boost their avios within the rules of the program.

Have you considered flying from Belfast the night before your onward journey? You can do this on one PNR with your luggage checked all the way through, get a decent night’s sleep in a LHR hotel and be refreshed for your main flight the next morning. We do this regularly from MAN. It also reduces the stress of the domestic leg being delayed or cancelled, which is a very real possibility on BA!

Believe it or not, I hit send on my previous post and five minutes later I saw a reply from you to someone with a Barclaycard voucher suggesting that if a flight is available from Heathrow (in this case to Japan I think) they could contact BA by phone and the agent could add a provincial flight onto your voucher. I had been looking at dates flying from Belfast and getting no availability screens even though there was availability from Heathrow on these dates so had given up. If this was the case I’d be back in love with my BAPP card!
Yes NL, although I’m still a novice in the points game I’m aware that I can fly into London one day and fly out the next. To be honest there a quite a few BHD-LHR flights daily. For our first 241 foray we arrive in London at 17.05 for a 21.10 flight. It never occurred to me that there might be a problem. Would they let me change to an earlier flight or even one the previous day for a £35 fee?

[Holidayguy]

AndrewT wrote:

So what you meant was 10K extra, but you failed to say ‘extra’ in your initial post. Presumably if you fly with BA you would have some spend at 3 Avios / £ on top of that.

What ‘Mastercard Avios card’ is ‘free first year then £30 per annum’? The free Barclaycard Avios card is free period.

Not sure what the title of my Mastercard is, it’s a Barclaycard and it says avios credit on the front. Maybe it is the free BA card but I had another Barclaycard for years and then I received some communication that told me I could switch to a card that paid avios so I switched to cover retailers who don’t accept AMEX. Since it’s only a backup card I wouldn’t hit any spend targets for voucher so no big deal.
I did say on the original post that £300 would only get me an extra 10,000pts but I thought that since I was talking about ditching the BAPP it was obvious I was talking about the yearly fee.
I actually rarely fly BA. I live in Belfast and strangely that can be a great extra feature when using the 241 but can also be a big drawback. I’m flying to Heathrow and then on to Singapore for no extra cost so that’s great! But in practice that only works on T355 bookings as trying to get flights after that, it’s virtually impossible to get a reward flight from Belfast that marries up with say, a flight to Athens as I’ve been trying to do. There are flights available to Athens at odd times next year from Heathrow but no corresponding Belfast connections are available.
Incidentally I may have gotten something else wrong and perhaps you could clarify it? Is the Balance Booster only available for people with a BA AMEX card or can anyone with a BA account take advantage of it? My current offer is 34362pts for £316.13.

[Holidayguy]

NorthernLass wrote:

Not sure what you mean about 10,000 points? If you spend £20k on the BAPP, that will net you 35k avios, even before any bonus offers or BA spend at 3 avios per £.

NL I make it 30,000pts from BAPP on a £20k spend.If I spend my £20k on my newly acquired Mastercard Avios card (free first year then £30 per annum) I get 20,000 Avios. The 3 to 4,000 Avios I’ll make from the retailers who don’t accept Amex more than covers the annual fee.

[Holidayguy]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

Whether you like it or not ‘not economically viable’ is a correct and insightful answer.

In the distant past when there were no global alliances or codeshares it made sense for the likes of BA to fly to more cities than just SYD.

But now alliances are in place why should BA operate to other Australian cities when its partners can do the job for them?

If BA felt it could withstand the political and public outcry I think they’d probably rather like to dump SYD as well. It would free up a couple of airframes at least for other routes.

BA is the only European airline I can see that flies to SYD using its own metal.

Doesn’t that tell you something about the economics of the route.

Every other airline requires a change either onto a separate flight (like QR or CX for example) of its own metal or onto a partner somewhere else (usually in Asia).

It may be correct but it’s not particularly insightful. JDB’s comment below is both.

[Holidayguy]

I’ve used B&Q many times and it’s always tracked.

[Holidayguy]

Romeo-Juliet wrote:

Your flight to SIN will go from either B or C. Always use B lounge on a long haul outbound as much nicer. Take the lift down from A. to -4 & take the walk it’s not far then hit the lift up to departures. If you’re going from C as I was last week back down to -4 & short walk again.
When I flew in from KUL the other day we were bussed to A didn’t have a massive amount of time but noted we were unusually going from B, so nipped in for 15 mins for a coupe of the nice sausages.

R-J I’ve watched all the YouTube clips and most people confirm what you say, that B Lounge is the nicest but to be honest as a first timer they all look ok to me! Most complaints about the North lounge seem to be that it’s almost always full, but is that the case after 6pm? All we’re after is a comfortable seat for a couple of hours and a nice coffee or two.

[Holidayguy]

ianwardz wrote:

Morning, checkout speedbird dot online (flights).
Enter your flight number and you can see typically which gate the flight goes from.
I think you will probably be going from C gates, so IMO the B gates lounge is probably best for you.
Just make sure you are clear how to get back to A gates if needed (via walkway).

Thanks, used Speedbird to check the last 3 months of Wednesdays and it’s a fairly even split between B and C with one solitary A.

[Holidayguy]

ianwardz wrote:

Morning, checkout speedbird dot online (flights).
Enter your flight number and you can see typically which gate the flight goes from.
I think you will probably be going from C gates, so IMO the B gates lounge is probably best for you.
Just make sure you are clear how to get back to A gates if needed (via walkway).

Thanks for the info. My flight is Wednesday January 7, so I checked every Wednesday back to September 3 with Speedbird. It showed 6 using B,4 using C, 1 using A and to unrecorded.

[Holidayguy]

Thanks for all the advice folks! Neither of us are considered “at risk” unless being aged 66 is a factor? We visit family in Australia every other year and to be honest our 2024 trip was the first time that the journey took a toll on us. It was actually the reason I started down the points path and now we’re preparing for our first BC experience.

[Holidayguy]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

Depends on a number of risk factors for DVT and if they apply to you.

Being laid down for hours can be just as bad as being sat up for hours.

But being in Club means easier to get out of your seat and do a few steps.

Talk to a pharmacist in the first instance.

As far as the points angle is concerned buy them from Boots for advantage points and airtime

rewards. Check your CC for a boots cash back offer.

Thanks for the advice and thanks for taking my query at face value. It constantly amazes me how some people on here can’t help being condescending and/or sarcastic.

[Holidayguy]

JDB wrote:

Holidayguy wrote:

My daughter is aiming to take her family of 4 to Oz via 2 Companion Vouchers. She’s not sure if this is possible because the vouchers will be in her hubby’s name and he would have to occupy a seat on each voucher. I think it can be done if it’s on one booking and he’s present. Who’s right? He’s just about to trigger his first voucher so if she’s right he could recommend her for a BAPP and the cancel his.

Your son-in-law as the voucher holder doesn’t need to occupy a seat for each voucher but has to be part of the booking for four people. If the family had two vouchers in different names, then the flights would need to be on two different bookings, one for each voucher.

There are pros and cons for each approach. There will probably be an enhanced welcome bonus on the BAPP soon so that might be worth considering for your daughter.

Good info on the potential bonus, thank you!

[Holidayguy]

Lynx wrote:

You are correct, it has to be done as as single booking using both vouchers. There are more details in this article:
https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/2025/01/03/how-do-british-airways-american-express-2-4-1-vouchers-work-3/

Thank you Lynx, I love it when I’m right!

[Holidayguy]

NorthernLass wrote:

Is your daughter fully clued up about being on the phone at T-355 when the seats are released – it’ll be slightly more complicated if using 2 vouchers as well?
SYD is probably the most in-demand destination for avios/241 bookings (unless she’s happy to travel in economy, but even these can go quickly at peak times).

Thanks for the info NL, she’s well aware of the ins and outs having listened to me for the last two years(she says I’ve dragged her hubby into the cult of Avios). I think she’s probably going to Singapore and then Scoot or Jetstar to Perth and I think she might be thinking of Economy.

[Holidayguy]

Rob Burgess wrote:

If there is an offer (and we haven’t heard of one) it will only be available via ba.com. Amex won’t publicly advertise it and we will be restricted from publicising it. Amex is desperate to get people off the cobrand cards.

Rob could you elaborate on Amex being desperate to get people off the co-brand cards? I have a BAPP plus a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard. I’m interested in only one thing, travelling Business Class to Perth to visit my daughter every January. Why are these cards under threat?

[Holidayguy]

aq.1988 wrote:

Holidayguy wrote:

Could you please explain what you mean by “registered for special assistance so I can book seats for free.”? My wife and I are flying to Singapore this January in BC. BA are looking us to pay £125 each to select our seats. My wife suffers badly from arthritis (Blue Badge Holder) and I want to make sure that we are sitting together in a middle row. My intention is to be online as soon as check-in opens but it would be great if I could secure the seats before that.

You’ll need to call the BA accessibility helpline (open Mon-Sat to 8-6pm). Whilst you can indicate on MMB that your wife has a disability, it won’t open up free seat selection. For that, you’ll need to call. They are very quick to answer, and very helpful in my experience. They have even allowed us to link separate bookings to choose seats together (as often the case with us, as a family of 3 using a separate Barclaycard upgrade voucher).

Just letting you know that middle pair is not that useful if you will need to physically help your wife in Club Suites, as you will have to walk around. As mentioned, we travel as a 3, and always choose to be on the same side of the aisle, for easy access to our child. If it’s just the two of you, then two consecutive windows (but not best for talking to eachother), or an aisle and the adjacent window work. Note, some aisle and windows are slightly off-straight, so you can check on aerolopa.com for the seat map, to choose seats that are aligned.

Thanks for the info!

[Holidayguy]

Could you please explain what you mean by “registered for special assistance so I can book seats for free.”? My wife and I are flying to Singapore this January in BC. BA are looking us to pay £125 each to select our seats. My wife suffers badly from arthritis (Blue Badge Holder) and I want to make sure that we are sitting together in a middle row. My intention is to be online as soon as check-in opens but it would be great if I could secure the seats before that.

[Holidayguy]

Thanks all for the input. I’ve actually done Perth-Doha-Dublin a few times but only in economy. Perth-Doha has always been on time and we’ve always had time to wander round the airport and still arrive at our departure gate early, so I’ll hope for the best.

[Holidayguy]

memesweeper wrote:

20k/year from https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/avios-plus

That’s great, thanks for the prompt reply, she should be eligible no problem.

[Holidayguy]

e14 wrote:

Holidayguy wrote:

Cheeky, but here goes… we’re flying into Changi in business class then on to Perth 14 hrs later. We’ve booked a transit hotel room but would we be eligible to visit the BA lounge for an hour or so when we get off the plane upon arrival, or is it just for departure passengers?
</
If your onward connection to PER is in business on QF you might be allowed access per One World.
If it is just your inbound on BA being in business then the answer would be no.

Thought so, but I know there’s an arrivals lounge in T5 so I was thinking maybe…

[Holidayguy]

executiveclubber wrote:

You can often get decent fares on Scoot too. We’ve also never managed to get Avios PER-SIN flights!

Yes, Scoot was a bit cheaper than Jetstar but the time of flight didn’t suit. Next time I’m hoping to have a short break in Singapore so it may be the best choice.

[Holidayguy]

HampshireHog wrote:

I’ve found QF award availability very poor PER-SiN when I was looking at Feb 26 booked Jetstar for cash in the end. Interestingly domestic reward availability on Virgin Australia booked via Qatar seemed pretty good.

Thank you

[Holidayguy]

QFFlyer wrote:

You can generally book QF flights easily with Avios via BA. Exceptions are Qantaslink and those otherwise operated by carriers such as National Jet Systems, Sunstate, etc. – they’re all QF flights, but BA won’t book them online – you can however book them by calling. You can book Jetstar with QF points, but not Avios (QF own Jetstar, QF elites also get additional benefits such as lounge access on JQ, 3K etc. flights, which are outside of the Oneworld ecosystem). QF’s availability is very variable though, especially to Singapore – as John says, to/from PER will be more likely to be available, and a transcon domestic (in Y at least) should be easy enough to find.

Using QF points on the other hand; QF have very poor availability of QR award inventory, even in Y – there is an ongoing feud between the two, QF lobbying our government to prevent QR gaining more slots in/out of Australian airports (hence the partnership between VA/QR, a way around it).

Thanks for the great info. I’m pretty new to the points game. I booked my first big points trip to Australia for this January and although I’m happy with the results I know now that with a bit more knowledge I might have done even better. It never occurred to me to look on BA for any Qantas flights, never mind award flights.

[Holidayguy]

phantomchickenz wrote:

Qatar tend to be 360 days in advance, but in my experience that sometimes fluctuates a few days depending on class of travel.

Thank you.

[Holidayguy]

John wrote:

What do you mean by generous?

Availability tends to be low on QF int’l routes although SIN-PER may be better than east coast

John wrote:

What do you mean by generous?

Availability tends to be low on QF int’l routes although SIN-PER may be better than east coast

Hi John, what I meant by generous was how do they compare to other airlines re points required to book flights. For instance BA will charge 13,250 Avios plus £0.50 taxes for an economy seat to Gran Canaria or 27,250 Avios plus £12.50 taxes for a BC seat during peak season. That’s a journey that’s more or less equivalent to Singapore/Perth. If Qantas award flights were costing anywhere near that in points it would be like paying £350 for two economy seats or two BC seats for less than £600. Bear in mind I paid £670 cash for two Jetstar economy seats.