One of the best Avios redemptions gets twice as easy to find

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• Malcolm says:

  13 Feb13 February 15:03

  “You only tend to see two seats per flight released for Avios redemptions, so this is not one that is suitable for a family unless you fly in Economy.” Unless you have the kids fly in economy, have you not seen Home Alone 2?

  In other news, am I correct that you cannot use BAPP 241 on Air Berlin?

  • louie-m says:

    13 Feb13 February 15:29

    @ Malcolm – yes, BAPP 241s can only be used on BA’s own planes.

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 15:30

    Correct, only BA planes.

    Ironically, though, given the tax saving it is still attractive going via Berlin at full rate instead of doing a 2-4-1 with BA at 80k plus (between 2 people) £1000-£1100 of tax!

    • Callum says:

      13 Feb13 February 22:08

      I must apologise as I normally hate it when people correct grammar etc. on the internet, but this is a (ridiculous!) bugbear of mine. It’s not ironic that going via Berlin could be attractive, nor is it ironic that Air Berlin fly from Dusseldorf!

      Though I can’t really criticise people for misusing the word “ironic” when the Alanis Morissette song exists – not one single event sung about actually being ironic! I like Ed Byrnes quote on it – “the only ironic thing about that song is it’s called ‘Ironic’ and it’s written by a woman who doesn’t know what irony is”.

      • Brendan Sweeney says:

        13 Feb13 February 23:07

        I’m pretty sure it’s ironic that it’s twice as expensive to use British Airways’ own frequent flier currency to fly on a British Airways plane than it is to fly on a different airline.

        Under the definition:
        “a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result.”

        I think that qualifies…

      • John says:

        14 Feb14 February 03:40

        That was the entire point of the song! Anyone who needed it explained to them on the internet didn’t understand what it was about.

• Rob says:

  13 Feb13 February 15:31

  Thanks Paul. I will take a look and add it to the list. That would make 34 airlines I think that accept Avios!

• Volker says:

  13 Feb13 February 16:07

  What is the actual duration of the flight TXL-AUH (how many hours)? Thanks.

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 16:10

    I’d guess 5+ out and 6+ back but easy enough to check!

    • Volker says:

      13 Feb13 February 17:20

      Thanks, I know, I am just very busy at the moment and thought you might know without further research as you go East regularly 🙂

      • blot-bang-rub says:

        13 Feb13 February 18:14

        We’ve (me, wife, 8 month old) just got back from doing this route on Tuesday and can tell you that the flights were 5 and a half hours out and 6 and a half back. There are no bassinet positions in Business so junior shares a seat, but on the return there was an empty seat that I moved to after the crew suggested it. At AUH you’re bussed to and from the terminal which is fine on arrival as there’s a special bus for C pax, but on the way home it was a scrum with the rest of the punters through gate 15. At Tegel we were bussed to terminal C (Business pax bus again), so for a connecting flight home, you’ve got a 5 minute walk to the A terminal. The limo service is easy to book and if you have an infant, they will probably give you a Mercedes mini van to carry all your gear in, but ask to make sure. Hope this helps.

        • Volker says:

          14 Feb14 February 08:21

          Yes, it does, thanks. I noticed on several occasions in December (travelling between LHR and Germany) that BA obviously provided a separate bus from the plane to the terminal for us Club Europe passengers. A stewardess briefly stopped the economy pax at the exit door till we had got on the bus and departed. From the disturbed looks of my three fellow CE travellers I got the impression that this was something new (4 passengers on a 12 meter bus really felt a bit awkward). As I said, this happened several times – does anybody know anything about that?

• andy stock says:

  13 Feb13 February 19:09

  25000 avios plus £50 is excellent value in economy.

• Be bus says:

  13 Feb13 February 21:04

  Great information as ever raffles , can I ask the lucky so and so how’s in Phuket how he got there from dxb?
  Thanks x

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 21:33

    airberlin flies on from Abu Dhabi to Phuket on certain days. 80,000 + £30 tax return in business.

• Daniel says:

  13 Feb13 February 22:47

  I swear I have seen this somewhere on HFP, but is it true that if you order foreign currency on BA using Amex gold rewards, it doesn’t count as cash advance AND you get membership rewards as well? I know that a friend did this using BA credit card but not sure about Amex gold?

  • Rob says:

    14 Feb14 February 10:23

    Yes and No. It ONLY works if you order from Amex (travelmoneynow.com) and use an Amex-issued Amex.

• Brian says:

  13 Feb13 February 23:00

  Yes, I’ve done that – most recently Berlin to Vienna for 4,500 Avios plus 27 euros, I believe, if my memory serves me correctly. I’ve flown both Niki and Air Berlin and there doesn’t seem to be much difference in the service, to be honest, so neither is ‘lower-cost’ than the other. Getting reward seat availability on either doesn’t seem to be a problem, either.

• Daniel says:

  14 Feb14 February 00:19

  ^^further to this, what about MBNA? cuz MBNA amex earns 2.5 miles per 2 pounds so that’s even more than Amex issued amex cards?

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