Guide to the BA Executive Club - 2024 Version

[@malcolmmckenzie9027]

Great update and critique Matt. BAs EC definitely can work to the advantage to both parties. I live in Scotland and flying from Glasgow and Edinburgh for nearly all long distance flights requires an airport transfer. That being the case when I’ve flown west to USA / Canada I’ve been happy to fly KLM, Virgin, Aer Lingus and BA. Flying east to Singapore and KL or Manila I’ve flown KLM, Singapore airlines, Emirates, Qatar. For the eastern flights I’ve benefitted from changing flights in Amsterdam, Dubai, Doha. Changing in Dubai or Doha split my flights into two roughly equal 7 hour flights giving 2 generous meals and drinks on both legs of the flight - in economy. This was quite good fun but I never earned enough Airline status worth having - any points often expired. My internal flights were split between BA and Easyjet. After watching Matts vlogs I last year chose only to fly BA and gained Silver status. Now my wife and I enjoy arriving in plenty of time to enjoy a relaxing breakfast and a couple of Prosecco’s before flying economy to London and beyond. Ergo BA has gained more flights from me and for no real extra cost I have gained free seat selection, priority boarding, lounge access etc. So definitely a win for both parties.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks Malcolm - if you manage an Exec club membership on your terms it can indeed be win win! Thanks for sharing

[@morgy1916]

I think BA, should give Matt some commission as I am ditching those budget airlines too, to earn status with One World

[@dospalmascb]

Look at the prices for your trips leaving Inverness on BA, you'll be surprised at what you save. Even if you choose to stay overnight.

[@steve-marsh]

Top video. You’re better with words than me, but I’ll say it’s fantastically fantastic.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks mate - not sure I agree with you on the words - I benefit from spending a week scripting what I say on camera - you do it ad lib!!!!

[@munrobagger2823]

Your simple tricks got me silver, I've always been happy with blue and used multiple carries, which just resulted in wasted money, a little bit of time and effort has made a massive difference thank you so much Matt

[@MattsPlanet]

Silver is an excellent place to hover!!! I think I talk about gold a little too much but silver delivers the bulk of the benefits (certainly overseas) for 40% of the tier points so good for you!

[@VP-1964]

Another cracking video Matt. That household tip at the end was definitely worth knowing about. Hope you’re keeping well.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks! All good here thanks for asking!

[@paulmk5841]

Great video as always Matt. I'm a hoarder of Avios, but use them as & when needed (mainly for the wife). As you rightly say, there is no devaluation on the horizon, but we never know. Just booked her a flight to LAX out of LHR using Avios. Used 125k for Club, added a Gold upgrade voucher for 1 which took her into first. £850 in taxes. I think I'm right in saying each Avios was worth 2.91 pence, as the Club price before tax was £3644 if you bought the ticket cash. If I can get that all the time I will be happy. Keep up the grand work. Regards Paul. GGI member for 3 yrs. Ps. You still get Avios on the old scheme if you go through BA Holidays. Also Double tier point offer onging until June 25..... for now).

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks Paul - avios just get better and better if you can use them with GUFs!

[@BWIATriStar]

Hi Matt I am finding your videos very useful and fairly easy to understand. As a new joiner to the EC back in Jan ‘24 ,(and a leisure traveller), none of the Avios/TP meant a great deal to me but now I can see what can be achieved and how to try and achieve it. Just found you on YT, not sure where you have been hiding? 😂 but you now have a devoted subscriber 👍🏻👌🏻😉 Thanks Stu 🇬🇧

[@MattsPlanet]

Hiding in plain sight!!! Thanks for finding me and enjoy the videos - quite a back catalogue to explore as I've been doing this for a few years now!

[@red.guevarra]

Watching Daddy Matt's new video on board a commuter train in Dublin, instead of my desk in Omaha, is surreal! BAEC running...I'm on it! Running via American Airlines (and to a lesser extent, Alaska) flights is a whole different animal, but together we'll tame it. 🤣

[@MattsPlanet]

Fantastic! Have a Guinness for me.... If you can afford them as they're not as cheap as they used to be, in Dublin at least!

[@brianhappydays2023]

Hi Matt, another informative and entertaining piece. A couple of comments: 1/ our business flight to USA in May using reward flight and companion earns zero tier points - probably fair enough. 2/ our booked holiday return flight to USA Sept. ( in business ) will earn 280 tier points if I understand correctly - so not enough to maintain our Bronze status, bit mean of BA given the high ticket cost. 3/ Going to Rome last week our cabin cases were tacked at LHR to guarantee storage on plane, non Bronze holders bags were going in hold. Also boarded plane first; so Bronze does have its benefits!

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks - 280 for a direct round trip is certainly stingy, especially if its a West Coast destination.... That's when you start to think about LHR-JFK-LAX.... Which would be 560 round trip.... And if you can stand that, consider LHR-BOS-JFK-LAX which is 640 round trip which is silver.... Its a slippery slope.... And you have to convince the +1 its a worthwhile diversion!!!!

[@sergeyontheroad]

A brilliant video Matt! Loved how you've managed to get the balance of info / review / update into a video of a bit-size length for the audience. It's like you've got a pro Producer working for you. Very impressive!

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for that - very kind of you to say so.

[@ahumpage]

Thanks Matt. Just got status matched (Gold) to my Flying Blue status for 6 months and I am told by BA: "you’ll need to book a qualifying return flight in business or first class and travel during this six month period by the 13 November 2024. Once you’ve returned from your trip, we’ll extend your Gold membership to the end of your next membership year." Were that to include European travel I'll be jumping through hoops but I suspect they MEAN transatlantic or long haul trips.

[@MattsPlanet]

The key is qualifying! Well worth finding out what that means before buying any tickets!

[@mikewarde2802]

Matt great updated video. I always wondered if I would bump into you on your travels. Yesterday 17 / 4 / 24, I did! It was great to hear of your trip to Bangkok, via here there, and everywhere! I hope your trip is going well, and look forward to the videos. Mike

[@timlewistcf]

Good to update the guide! Definitely will be on people refer to a lot I'd guess!

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks - I hope so! Lots of lovely views!

[@matthewcorps3626]

Another thoroughly informative and enjoyable video. I think having this example of what might happen when things go wrong on a tier point run has made me want to do one even more. Is that weird? Probably, but with a little jeopardy to spice things up it’s not so bad having the knowledge you’ve shared on what to do if things don’t turn out as planned. Looking forward to more fantastic content from you, Matt! 😊

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks so much! I did actually half hope that things would go wrong on this trip to be able to make a video like this! And when they did, I wished it had all gone to plan....

[@whyyoulidl]

Me too 🙂

[@MarkWood-m4c]

Thanks Matt very much appreciated , hope you getting better

[@steveb1086]

These are great updates Matt thanks. I use BA Amex and also the Avios Barclaycard , prefer that to get the BA cabin upgrade voucher, ill only use it on Economy to upgrade to Club Europe. We build the Avios to get to say 60,000 and have a family CE trip.

[@MattsPlanet]

Glad it was helpful. Sounds like a great way to use a voucher to me!

[@steveb1086]

@MattsPlanet thanks, it's only through reading up and these vlogs 👍 On a previous vlog u went from Boston on BA A380, we r looking to do this next year from UK and visit NYC fly back on American just for something different, do u recommend?

[@dag4390]

Excellent. Informative and entertaining as usual.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for watching!

[@JamesBlackburn-ed1nd]

Helpful , informative and enjoyable video, thank you. Heading to Argentinia in August on BA so it was useful

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks! Buenos Aires is really high up my list of places to visit so I'm jealous! Have a great time - and take warm clothing!!!

[@JamesBlackburn-ed1nd]

@@MattsPlanet , thank you, we are on to Brazil after that so just been watching your Brazil videos. Flying with LATAM, GOL and Aerolinias Argentinas - mainly LATAM which now looks a good choice judging by your review. Just caught your health scare video too, I hope you are well, best wishes

[@jimmyjames6492]

Thanks for the detailed information + video!

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks as always for the comment!

[@danielszweda6473]

Thanks, another great video Matt, very informative and loads of info I didn't know! As I typically only use BA for leisure travel I've found the double tier point promotion for BA holidays useful to retain status. I also hold status with Virgin so would love to hear your view on how they compare - albeit virgin don't operate to nowhere near the amount of destinations.

[@MattsPlanet]

I'm on Virgin again in September so will cover them then.... Virgin is a distant second for me when it comes to their network....

[@morgy1916]

A great remind and refresh, video for me. Thanks :)

[@MattsPlanet]

Hope it was helpful!

[@morgy1916]

@@MattsPlanet Awesome, as always

[@lynseycobden203]

Yay! I’ve been waiting for this one x

[@MattsPlanet]

I hope you it delivered what you hoped!

[@alfaa_44]

Thank you so much Matt I needed this video!!!! Also I am silver with British airways and I am wondering what advantages I will get with Iberia as I am flying with them in July.

[@gordonyuen6302]

Oneworld Sapphire Privileges

[@alfaa_44]

Thanks also do you know if you can add your Iberia booking onto the BA app

[@MattsPlanet]

As Gordon says, Sapphire privileges apply across all oneworld airlines. Assuming this is a paid ticket (rather than a redemption) you'll be able to apply a BA frequent flyer number to the booking to earn into the BA scheme. That should be possible in the Iberia app but certainly will be on the Iberia website

[@alfaa_44]

@@MattsPlanet thank you for your help

[@ukdavepianoman]

Excellent summary as usual. Maybe BA should rebrand "Executive" - although that might cause chaos for a while. What worries me (slightly) is that trying to get TPs early in the membership year is going to be April to, say, summer when BA airfares don't seem to be the best value. As for AMEX card for TPs, £15K for 100 TPs is £150 / TP....vastly more than the circa £2 / TP target that can be achieved e.g. using a BA holiday.

[@zaphod4245]

The thing with the Amex offer is that it’s £150/TP but on general spending. Like sure it’s absolutely not worth spending £15k just to get the points, but if you’re spending that much anyway then you’re getting 100-200TP for nothing, just making sure you use the Amex where possible. Whereas doing a TP run you’re spending money that you otherwise wouldn’t have spent, so you are basically “buying” the TPs, so the rate of £/TP is important.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks Dave - Zaphod is right about the Amex offer.... If you're spending £10k to get the twofer its "only" another £5k to get 100 tier points.... I think that's how I'm going to think about it and its possibly quite a smart move by Amex to stop people turning off their spending the second they hit £10k... In my other video I talk about the impact of the April grace period but I don't think it'll be a massive impact in 2025 but will be a "right pain" from 2026....

[@ukdavepianoman]

I get that it's 100-200TP for "free" if you're spending £15K-20K anyway but if someone had only spent, say, £12K it wouldn't be worth spending £3K more to get the TPs...when the same number of TPs could be obtained at a fraction of that. I've been motivated by Matt (and Grey Gap guy) to get Gold status for as little as possible (£3-4K max) so I'm taking interesting trips (often with double TP with 5 days in hotel) to get Gold status (so far avoided a pure TP run).

[@charliebrown5]

Thank You ✈️

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for watching

[@whyyoulidl]

Thx Matt. Highly informative as usual. One thing occurred to me: With the changes to the TP earning year, my old/existing year end date is 8th June 2024. I have 2 X BA double tier points earning trips (one now as I type, One in June , returning on the year end date!). These should get me the 2 X 320 = 640 TP to retain silver. My concern is whether the bonus (double) points will drop in time. Have you come across this scenario before? Thx in advance. ps, I'm tempted to do a TP run to attain gold status - that Asia hop you done looks interesting 🙂

[@MattsPlanet]

From what I've seen, it can be very hit and miss as to when those bonus tier points post.... BA is better than they used to be but lots of people seem to have needed to call BA to force them through to get the status they were expecting. No first hand knowledge as I've never actually done one myself, but be prepared to chase! And Jakarta is good fun....

[@scott4393]

Another good one Matt 👍

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks!

[@cincinatti_matt21]

Great watch Matt! 🙌 What is your preferred method of finding BA redemption flights of good value?

[@MattsPlanet]

I've been using seatspy lately although all of the third party sites have problems from time to time as BA doesn't make it easy for them.... I also find aa.com to be a good place to look - has better search capabilities than BA.com

[@RichardJHJ]

Another great video - on the avios, looks like they’re harder to earn now so a devaluation would be a double blow :/

[@MattsPlanet]

Absolutely - and a reason why I think its unlikely. It was announced today that it will be more expensive to earn avios through the Amex card as the annual fee is going up (and the voucher will be triggered at £15k rather than £10k of spend) so it very much looks like earning avios is going to get harder across the board

[@RichardJHJ]

@@MattsPlanet I just saw the increases!! Hoping to do some redemptions soon :)

[@BrightLightsandSandyShores]

Another brilliant video Matt! I have just seen the news in the change for the BAPP card and eagerly await your video explaining it. So will preempt that video and ask if when using the companion voucher it says you have to pay with an Amex card. Does this have to be the same card that triggered the voucher or can it be paid from another card to help towards their voucher (they will be travelling on the trip)

[@MattsPlanet]

I don't think it has to be the same one, although as the BA Amex earns 3 avios per pound spent on BA purchases versus 1 MR point on another Amex it would make most sense to use the BA card

[@SireMoon]

Another very useful update as ever. I have what may be a stupid question about Tier Points. Is there any significance to the order in which you accumulate TPs and take the eligible flights? For instance, suppose you accumulated 600 TPs without taking any eligible flights. Obviously at this point you are neither Bronze or Silver. Is it then the case that when you subsequently take two eligible flights you go to Bronze? Then two more and you get to Silver? Ie do you have to do the four eligible flights as part of the process of getting to 600 TP or does the status kick in as soon as both TP and eligible flight conditions are satisfied irrespective of the path that gets you there? I assume the latter but there are so many Ts & Cs connected with this stuff it might not be. Thanks

[@MattsPlanet]

No worries - its an interesting question. I've never tested it but I believe it would work as you explain. If you got 3,000 tier points but no eligible flights, you'd be blue. Then take a return to Manchester for 10 tier points and you'd jump to bronze. Then take another return and you'd go straight to Gold, as Gold and Silver both require 4 eligible flights

[@SireMoon]

@@MattsPlanet Thanks. I agree that's how it ought to work in a reasonable world but you never know! I'm looking at a possible trip on FinnAir which would rack up 600 TPs. I think though the safest option would be to do a couple of cheap n' cheerful BA economy round trips beforehand.

[@RandomLifeProductions]

It’s a flipping pain in the neck, I can say.. I have to replan my trips over the next8-9 months to work on getting to gold that lasts at least a year and half. I am worried though because I think there is going to be a move to money based tier point collection base. Luckily however I have managed to find a club world flight to LAX for 1500 quid. I saving my AVIOS POINTS until when I’m broke. I however am taking things as they come up. It’s not worth the panic.

[@gordonyuen6302]

another great video! thank you

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for watching - and for helping out with the comments!

[@KendenParking]

Great content

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for watching

[@wv_]

I use Executive Club infrequently as I usually fly between the UK and Prague on Ryan and then to Asia on Lufthansa (as what’s the point of flying in the opposite direction) Anyway, I recently flew from Tokyo to Prague via JAL and Qatar in business in March and this took me above the bronze minimum but I had no eligible flights. I flew to Heathrow on BA last week but didn’t get bronze as they wiped my tier points. I contracted BA and without replying I got bronze, they moved my Tokyo to Prague flight to May somehow I only have a couple of BA flights a year, typically to the US, no never had enough tier points until now 🎉

[@MattsPlanet]

Those qualifying flights can be tricky... Shifting a couple of trips to Prague from Ryan to BA might pay off if you can get or retain status?

[@laurencesnashall]

The line about getting to silver in economy is a slog made me chuckle but i'm one of those who got to gold with economy a couple of years ago when I was flying a lot more than I am now. Did a ridiculous amount of miles that year.

[@MattsPlanet]

That is really hard work - my congratulations and simultaneously my condolences!

[@TheWestAnglian]

I’ve recently started flying with BA and joined the executive club, however I don’t have that much money to my name and I’m trying to get to bronze mostly on economy but I do have a business flight booked from LHR-ARN in a couple of months. Is it worth going on tier point runs purely in economy or should I give up

[@MattsPlanet]

The benefits of bronze aren't that exciting so I'd probably not go out of my way to achieve it.... If you can get to silver then it gets exciting.... BA Holidays are probably worth a look to get TPs

[@RichW3440]

Thanks for another great video. I have 1 slightly off topic question if I may ask? I was doing some research into a trip to Melbourne to go to the Grand Prix (next year) and found Qatar airways business class to be more than £2.5k cheaper than BA. As I have BA silver status (oneworld sapphire), would Qatar match it if I made an account with them or would I have to book it with BA to get the perks but spend £1,000 more than going direct to Qatar? Oddly I found flying from Birmingham rather than Heathrow to be the cheapest option hence the overall figures give a £2,500 difference. I hope that makes sense and thank you.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks and no probs asking questions! All benefits earned on one OneWorld member apply across all OneWorld airlines. So if you have silver with BA, you can book with Qatar directly (or through BA.com if you prefer - the pricing should be the same) then add the BA number to the booking. The Silver benefits will transfer across so you'll get lounges, baggage etc. And the points you earn will accumulate into your BA account. No need to match accounts - indeed Qatar probably wouldn't match you anyway

[@Jacqui-e2o]

Thanks again Matt. Just wondered if you had a view on the merits of process of buying Avios points by a monthly subscription. 200,000 a year for £2,400 a year. Regards S

[@MattsPlanet]

BA keeps sneaking the price up.... That's good value if you need a lot and have a use for them in mind.... Its better value to boost what you already earn, assuming you have an existing turnover of avios available to boost. But BA seems to lock in the subscription price year on year so it doesn't seem to go up even if BA increases the price for new subscribers

[@Jacqui-e2o]

@@MattsPlanet Cheers Matt

[@rickreid8572]

You don't have to pay for your seat selection in business, you just have to wait until the last minute so might not get the seat you want. So it is still free.

[@MattsPlanet]

I missed the words "in advance" but you are right

[@ss-xy2im]

Thanks, great video, very informative, 2 questions. 1. Did I understand correctly that when I pay for my redemption ticket's taxes using ba premium amex card I only get the 1.5 avios instead of the 3x? 2. I heard you say i can move avios back to BA earned on other airlines but can i move avios from BA to other airlines? If yes is there a fee?

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks. 1 - I believe its 3x as its a payment to BA, even though its for taxes. 2 - you can move avios in either direction to another avios scheme - Qatar's is by far the easiest. Immediate (with Qatar at least!) and no fee either way

[@ss-xy2im]

@@MattsPlanet thanks for the response, so you were referring to the avois earned on the actual ticket (flight) i guess (years since i had to pay more than taxes on tickets, so no tier points for me 😜)

[@legionnairegonk4425]

So here is my confusion Matt. If as I did recently take the one trip of 4 flights booked via BA originating from Manchester, to India via Qatar, two of which had BA flight numbers and two of which had Qatar numbers but were all operated by Qatar should I have gotten two flights of tier points awarded (which I did) and two flights worth of Qatar's Q points? Because I didn't get the latter - and I had Qatar membership too before I booked. I am reading on forums that code shares for BA / Qatar are a real IT or reward scheme bug fest with the systems often not recording your awards correctly? Some flyers have said they won't do code shares anymore because of it, whilst others code sharing with Finnair report no problems at all. My avios came through all ok btw. My confusion was compounded by the fact that I could (and did) punch in the booking number into the Qatar app and it came up with all four flights and allowed me to book meal preferences on just the 2 Qatar flight numbers, but seats on all 4! It's hard to see where 'ownership' of the flight rewards lies. It's not the end of the world obviously, just for future reference.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for the question. A few overlapping things here! Each booking carries one frequent flyer number. And all flights on OneWorld will earn tier points into the scheme of the lodged number. So you should have gotten tier points for all 4 flights into your BA account even though 2 of them were flown on Qatar. And the posting of the partner airline tier points can take ages. If they don't show up in a couple of weeks its time to lodge a claim which you can do online at first instance. It is very buggy - I've got a flight with a flight number that doesn't correspond to the ticket number, which is the situation you're in with the Qatar flights and I had to call to get it unclogged and was promised the points within 28 days, which is really poor... So having a Qatar account is irrelevant for this trip. Separately, you can see pretty much any oneworld booking in any oneworld airline so you would have been able to see this booking through the Qatar website to pick seats, meals etc. Oddly, you'd probably have been able to do that through Finnair and Royal Jordanian too... But this was a BA ticket so BA owns the booking. Cheers!

[@Whoeverwhateverwhenever]

I have a question: I flew with BA some days ago and while boarding one of BA staff said to all passengers: "the plane is full, we need to check-in some of your hand luggage" and she chose which bags would be sent to check-in. Can they really do that, just like that? What if a passenger refuses to send his / her hand luggage to check-in?

[@MattsPlanet]

They usually make a call at the gate to invite passengers to voluntarily check bags in - they usually offer priority boarding in return (which irritates people greatly but that's another story!!!). And if there's no space for more bags, they'll deny you boarding if you refuse to check a bag. That'll be rare but if there's no room, there's no room!

[@timtony7153]

So the executive Club is a reward scheme, that cost money to enrol in to a degree that becomes beneficial, and is created to be as difficult as possible for the customer to get any kind of advantage? Advantages that are free to start with with many other airlines out there. BA is very smart in cutting benefits away to then introduce them as a benefit to people,......willing to pay for them, as valued members of the EC.... and then go on and say, jeeeeez all these advantages you get with the club,.....amazing. Go figure! Thank you so much for another master piece! Stay well!! Thomas

[@MattsPlanet]

Wow - your glass is half empty today!!!! But in some areas (ahem, seat selection) you are absolutely bang on!!!

[@timtony7153]

​@MattsPlanet BA listened to me and decided I as a customer desired a glass that was half full in stead of full. They...." enhanced a half glass of milk away"😂 All joking aside, I trust you are keeping well Sir!

[@MattsPlanet]

@@timtony7153 Doing good thanks!

[@timtony7153]

@@MattsPlanet that is all that matters to me!

[@sin8430]

One devaluation or revaluation i have seen in the last 2 years is the increase avios needed to fly to japan. It used to be 90k one way but this years bookings for next march has increased to 100k. Payable portion has stayed largely the same amount.

[@MattsPlanet]

They sneak them in every now and again - rarely announced as they hope people won't notice.... Headforpoints is usually quite good at spotting them. Thanks for this

[@sin8430]

@@MattsPlanet news just come in on the BA Amex card changing its requirements and fees. More devaluation in a different way

[@harshilpatel684]

Japan is now a 14 hr flight instead of 11 hrs given you can't fly over Russia anymore! The additional distance could well be why!

[@richardpym5346]

How long do tier points accrued on other one world airlines take to appear in your account. I’m flying Srilankan in a couple of weeks and wondered when I’d see them ?

[@MattsPlanet]

Shouldn't be longer than a week but they'll be dated as of the date of travel... I did Srilankan earlier this year and they turned up in 3 or 4 days. Have a great trip!

[@sharonparsons5375]

Feasibility check re transferring between loyalty schemes: I have 18,000 Asia Miles from trips this year with Cathay Pacific. It looks like I could convert those to 9,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, and then convert again into 3,000 Avios (I am more likely to fly BA than CP). Or would this transfer not work for some reason?

[@MattsPlanet]

I'm not an expert on hotel schemes but I know a couple do allow you to move points in and out. You're going to lose value when you do so as their transfer rates are going to be in their favour.... 3,000 avios is not a lot - but it will get you £20-30 off a flight at some point so its better than letting the points expire in Cathay if you'll never use them over there

[@gamesmaster90]

Your Avios is more valuable with Qatar airways. For example, if you upgrade using Avios Qatar, your Avios will be worth 47,000 more than BA. Taxes and charges are a lot less too. So, if you were to book a business class flight from London to Doha with BA it would cost 90000 Avios but if you book with Qatar airways it is only 43000 Avios and Qatar’s Qsuite business class is one of the best in the world. Only thing is stopping over, unless your actual destination is Doha. But that’s minor in comparison.

[@MattsPlanet]

There are certainly opportunities.... With Finnair too I've heard, although I've not investigated it for myself

[@wannaknit]

I'm very new to all of this. So I just flew Air Baltic to Riga return to Gatwick, I booked through Air Baltic but my flight also had a BA flight number. Can I claim Avios from BA? I've already got Air Baltic points for what that's worth.

[@MattsPlanet]

You would have needed to travel under a BA flight number for it to have counted - Air Baltic isn't in OneWorld. The fact that it also operated under a BA number doesn't help!

[@SireMoon]

I received an email from BA yesterday which announced a widening of the range of discounts available on "cash" fares from trading in Avios. It even mentioned options to go as low as £1 + Avios on a "cash" fare. As a newbie this looks very much like a major blurring of the distinction between a "cash" fare and a redemption. Given the availability of TPs on the former, why would anyone go for a redemption assuming the number of Avios required for the "cash" + discount option wasn't significantly higher? As BA rarely does anything without an ulterior motive, is it possible this is the beginning of the end of the redemption option? If so does that also inevitably lead eventually to the withdrawal of TPs from "cash" + discount fares? I'd be interested in your thoughts as an experienced BAEC and other loyalty scheme observer. Thanks.

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks Sire... If you do the maths you can quickly and easily calculate that BA is offering to buy your avios at 0.42p each. Which is terrible - you can get a better rate trading them in at Sainsburys. So this is a brilliant deal for BA and that's their motive for doing this!! With a redemption, the flight cost is fixed but the cash price you're avoiding varies. So on a short haul, economy flight where seats are cheap, you may end up getting a similar value to this. On a long-haul, premium flight, you will certainly do much, much better... I'm getting close to 4p per avios on my redemptions which is 10x the rate BA is offering here. The only advantage of buying a seat then reducing the cash paid with avios is that the seat is still "purchased" so earns tier points and avios when a seat bought as a redemption doesn't. BA is trying to blur the distinction so they can confuse you into making a bad decision so they get your avios back at 0.43p each

[@SireMoon]

@@MattsPlanet Thanks for the comprehensive reply. That makes perfect sense now. I knew there must be an ulterior motive but hadn't spotted what it was.

[@howardcane5442]

Don't forget that if you book your flight through BA holidays you receive more Avios. Obviously you will need to book at least one night's car hire or hotel.

[@MattsPlanet]

Absolutely - had to draw the line somewhere in this video!!!

[@phil1506]

Do you get constant spam from the wine flyer?

[@MattsPlanet]

I don't actually! I signed up with Laithwaites before BA moved to the new mob and I get a lot of stuff from them, but I don't mind as I really like Laithwaites and was happy to stick with them even if I didn't earn avios!

[@journeyingjohn3275]

A great marketing scheme to try to lock travellers into BA despite their unreliable and inconsistent service (which can be fine but isn't far too often).

[@MattsPlanet]

In essence, yes!!!! It makes sense for me and a lot of others by getting that status for a fraction of what BA thinks you need to spend to get there! The psychology of loyalty is fascinating though!

[@journeyingjohn3275]

@@MattsPlanet Absolutely agree with you but as someone who has been let down FAR too often in the past decade, I actively avoid wherever possible. Yet to come across another long-haul provider who runs out of the advertised catering, (& fails to load preordered special meals half the time or more) but most seriously; doesn't reliably communicate with customers about schedule changes and regularly does no/little notice cancellations with zero support; in person, online or by phone. Then takes months and many hours wasted arguing to pay back expenses, let alone legally due compensation. These are repeated experiences, admittedly not on their American services but there's a world out there East and South of the UK and MUCH better carriers intra Europe. I know Walsh and his pet Cruz-ifier are the main culprits but the fact remains that today what BA deliver is simply a Madrid registered multinational harvesting cash from a historic reputation they don't even attempt to deliver and inherited slot dominance at Europe's only true hub (for now). The way they exploit their employees, especially when sitting on record profits and a $9billion cash reserve is also a "national disgrace" - UK parliamentary Transport Select Committee.

[@dospalmascb]

The Tel Aviv route had been downgraded for business class from Club world to Club Europe. I believe they will be returning it to Club world when the situation changes. Planes have now been downgraded from 787/A350/777 to A321 Neo! very likely to loose them a huge amount of business as the route was extremely busy and nearly always full.

[@MattsPlanet]

Indeed - plus a stop in Larnaca on the way out as they don't want their crew to have to stay over in Israel I believe.... Lots of lost business....

[@jimbojimbo6873]

I didn’t realise that the conversion rate for avios to nectar was now 1:1 and i transferred on muscle memory Fuming

[@MattsPlanet]

Avios to nectar is 1:1 - nectar to avios is now 0.625....

[@jackmcbirney8558]

Will there be a video on the Amex card increase?

[@MattsPlanet]

A few people have asked but I'm not sure it merits its own video! First instinct is that its not the end of the world....

[@wilfbanfield9623]

excellent

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks for watching!

[@KendenParking]

I wonder if you could assist please. My membership year under the old scheme expires 8th January 2025. I am looking to book flights to the Boeing factory in March 2025. Do the tier points a achieved for that ( 1120 ) count for the membership year 1st April 2025 to March 2026 ? Best wishes

[@MattsPlanet]

They'll count into the year 1 April 24 to 31 Mar 25 - your old membership basis will have transitioned by March 25. That may work for you but travelling in April would get the points into the new new year.... The Boeing factory is astounding by the way!!!

[@harshilpatel684]

10:27 surely the number of niche tier point runners is in the 10s not 1000s?

[@MattsPlanet]

I've got 15,000 subscribers, a great number of which take trips largely for the tier points... By no means all of them but I'd say thousands....

[@Fat_Cat_747]

I wish they'd run a prize draw every year to win a Lifetime Gold. Sort of like Willy Wonka.

[@MattsPlanet]

That would be fab wouldn't it!!! Some 50 year old with 200 lifetime tier points would probably win and would never appreciate what a blessing lifetime gold is!!!!

[@Fat_Cat_747]

@@MattsPlanet I would consider that funny. He'd be booking MAN-LHR in economy and gorging himself in the Concorde Room every time just because he can - LOL !

[@trimley]

Sorry Matt - I’m sure I didn’t need to watch all of this so I skipped along

[@MattsPlanet]

I'll forgive you!!! I've long since come to terms with the reality that not everyone is going to be interested in every second of every video!!

[@trimley]

@@MattsPlanet but it still got a like - keep up the great work!

[@mars2100]

Great video

[@MattsPlanet]

Thanks!