Advanced Avios Presentation
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Transcript Advanced Avios Presentation
Tim Lai
Points to be Made
www.pointstobemade.com
Photo © Kevin Marshall
Total beginners
Basic BAEC knowledge
Advanced knowledge
Hopefully everyone learns something today!
Explanation of Tier Point system
Collecting Tier Points
Use of Avios on British Airways
Other uses
◦ LHR-DME in First Class
◦ CX around Asia
“Give a man a fish, feed him for a day…
Teach the man to fish, feed him for a lifetime”
You get some fish, but also learn how to do it!
Advanced Tier Point running (20 mins)
Taxes, Fees and Surcharges (15 mins)
Maximum Permissible Mileage (5-10 mins)
Free form discussion (15 mins)
Feel free to ask questions any time!
Relies on combination of “Instant Upgrade”
and cheap business class fares.
ALWAYS consider auxiliary cost.
◦ Hotels/accommodation
◦ Food
◦ Opportunity cost – annual leave, time with family.
Keep referring to Flyertalk.
◦ Bit.ly/BATPruns
American Airlines and US Airways
Best origins are big cities that aren’t hubs,
but close to one.
◦ [ Removed. For participants only ]
Best destinations to look for… Anywhere with
bad safety!:
◦ [ Removed. For participants only ]
If East to West coast (and v.v.), ignore flights
stopping in DFW.
VERY short Minimum Connection Time
◦ AA does not have to give you First Class if rebooked.
◦ You can request fares and Tier Points from original
routing though!
American Airlines main hubs
◦ DFW, LAX, JFK, MIA, ORD
US Airways main hubs
◦ CLT, PHX, PHL
Buy during Premium Fare sales ex-Europe (Easily
1000+ TP for around €1500-2000).
◦ Ask Kevin about his DUB-LCY-SNN-JFK-PHX-HNL-PHXJFK-LCY-DUB adventure. 1340TP for £1368 = £1.02/TP.
Find your itinerary on ITA Matrix and book by
phone. You’ll go crazy booking it online.
Watch out for AA/BA/IB/AY/US codeshares on
domestic USA flights. VERY important to put it
into AA/US marketed flight.
Prices more stable and easier to find than
Americas
Cathay Pacific
◦ [ Removed. For participants only ]
Malaysia Airlines – Kuala Lumpur
◦ [ Removed. For participants only ]
CX/MH business class service is FAR superior
to AA/US.
Each destination in Asia is interesting in its
own right. Can’t say the same about USA.
◦ [ Removed. For participants only ]
Most TP Runs in Europe go through LGW, and
often through JER.
◦ JER-LGW-AMS-LGW-JER
◦ JER-LGW-MLA-LGW-JER
◦ AMS-LGW-AMS
Airports like JER, AMS and FRA do not
separate inbound and outbound passengers
at gate. Very easy turnaround
Not as lucrative as America, Asia and Europe.
British Airways 5th Freedom
DOH – BAH in First class
Qatar Airways
◦ [ Removed. For participants only ]
Next topic…
Anywhere between 5-99% of the airfare!
Most people call YQ or YR “Fuel Surcharge”,
but it’s called “Carrier Imposed Fee” by BA.
You have to pay them if redeeming Avios.
◦ Some notable exceptions…
Intra-Americas journeys
Intra-Asia
Domestic Japan
Free positioning flight to Jersey, UK
Aer Lingus and Air Berlin for TATL
Air Berlin for Germany -> Abu Dhabi
◦ New York to Toronto
◦ Any flight under 650 miles.
◦ HKG to most of Far East Asia is max 10,000 Avios each way in Y.
◦ No Taxes!!!
◦ No Air Passenger Duty payable ex-JER
◦ AB is £1 in tax!
Raised by price of fuel, hardly ever lowered.
Still some regions or cities where YQ is low
No specific pattern, but in general…
Europe <-> North America
◦ AB and EI
◦ IB no surcharge! Transfer BA Avios to IB.
Europe <-> South America
◦ IB no surcharge! Transfer BA Avios to IB.
North America <-> South America
◦ No YQ
Europe <-> Asia
MH, CX, QR usually lower than BA
Intra - Middle East
◦ Nearly all routes low YQ (under €100 for r/t)
Europe <-> Middle East
◦ QR and BA usually lowest
Next topic…
In a nutshell, how far you’re allowed to fly on
a single ticket.
MPM exists because not everywhere has nonstop flights between 2 cities.
Easy to understand and exploit.
Good place to start “travel hacking”.
Economy class sales!
◦ Typically base fare is <€100. I have seen £1 before!
◦ MPM does not affect YQ, but might add extra
government/airport charges.
◦ Best to do as many transfers in USA as possible.
◦ Limit EU transfers. (Taxes too high)
Ticketed Point Mileage = Great Circle distance
between two cities.
E.g. AMS-SFO
5473 miles
Maximum Permissible Mileage = TPM + 20%.
MPM of AMS-SFO = 5473 x 1.2 = 6568.
IB/BA/AA/US/AY Europe <-> USA flights
governed by MPM Rules.
Use KVS tool or Expert Flyer to find routing
rules
MPM of AMS-SFO = 6568
MPM+5% = 6896
MPM+10% = 7225
MPM+15% = 7553
MPM+20% = 7881
MPM+25% = 8210
Just pay additional X% to the BASE FARE
E.g. if Base Fare is £50, and you fly
MPM+25%, you pay an extra 0.25*£50 =
£12.5
Total 8085 miles <1.25*MPM
Valid routing!
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Any questions?
Feedback always welcome
Contact me any time:
[email protected]