3 Updates - BA Holidays, My Tier Points and Exec Club Year Ends

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Күн бұрын

Three updates today - not 6! The video was long enough with just these three...
BA has closed some loopholes which people were taking gratuitous advantage of... Specifically the BA Holidays double tier point offer. That has impacted on my plan to renew my gold status. And the timing of that renewal had been carefully planned to take full advantage of how the BA Executive Club's year end works... All of which I will explain in this video!
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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1.46 - BA Holidays
6:16 - My Renewal Strategy
11:47 - Exec Club Year Ends Explained
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you. This video may not be copied or reproduced without written permission.

Пікірлер: 138

@steve-marsh Жыл бұрын

Even though I have zero investment in this subject, I still love these videos for some reason!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

You really need to get out more!!!

@ethanjwarren Жыл бұрын

Really looking forward to your ITA Matrix update video, have noticed a lot is different now to your old video. Best of luck on the trips you mention in the months ahead

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks Ethan. There are some changes to Matrix - not all good.... Its one of those videos that I look forward to finishing - it'll probably be a right pain to make it!

@gazzis Жыл бұрын

Great video as ever Matt. I also have a TP-run booked to west coast USA in the Autumn and then the Jakarta run in Jan. I have to admit, inspired to do so by your videos (and amazingly having obtained permission from my wife). I think I may also have to make a bash at vlogging it, again inspired by yourself and others.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Jakarta should be fun.... Go for it and video it - its fun even if you do get the occasional funny look!

@pranjalpande2833 Жыл бұрын

Matt, congratulations on the 10,000 subscribers. Having seen the channel since Day 1, your progress has been meticulous and remarkable. Did have a look at Avios Boost? The 10% extra until August is a great feature too. Cheers and waiting for 20k :)

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Sadly (for me!) the avios boost bonus coincides with my lowest avios earning month for years so its a bit of a non-event for me but is a great opportunity if you've been busy!

@richardstreet7518 Жыл бұрын

Looking forward to your North American trip!!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Me too!

@saintchris0 Жыл бұрын

The graphics makes the understanding very clear. Thanks.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@VicTheflyingDentist Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the lovely and informative video . I managed to get to the silver status this year. Will try for the Gold run this year, fingers crossed 🤞🏼

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Congrats! Welcome to lounge life... Even if gold is out of reach, silver's not a bad level to settle at!

@irishinusa1615 Жыл бұрын

Excellent information 👊👍 Thank you for the clarification ☺️

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm interested in the stats of this video to see how many watch the last third!

@Charlie-vw9ur Жыл бұрын

Great video Matt, I haven’t been watching lately as no travel plans but now I find myself in a similar situation to yourself. I have been looking to book some redemptions but there seems to be a serious lack of availability… can get somewhere but can’t get back ! Keep up the good work !

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks Charlie. There's a known bug currently that reward inventory isn't showing up on BA's site for flights back to the UK so there may be more out there than you think... Seatspy gives a 14 day free trial so have a look on there and report back!

@Charlie-vw9ur Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet excellent info as always Matt, will look at that and your Patreon offer

@Lakesider52 Жыл бұрын

"If you call BA....." I've never had BA pick up the phone to any of my calls!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

It may be a little easier if you're calling the Gold line...

@Nova-gk1wl Жыл бұрын

Thanks for covering this - imagine there may be some who might otherwise be caught out...

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Hopefully this might save a few people making an expensive mistake

@timtony7153 Жыл бұрын

Great video!!! I am so glad that when it comes to BA, I left the rat race for "status" years ago. It is so liberating to be lucky enough to fly J and F on any airline I want. Status becomes less important as all perks included. Last year I flew QR, GF, AF, KL, WY, LH, SN, all long haul!! And guess what. As a total package, each one of them is better then BA in my opinion. As per the HFP article on Bill, the unhappy Gold card holder with BA. Why on earth would you worry about the colour of your membership card of unhapiness, when the product does not make you happy to start with??? I was unhappy with B I left them, and the attached status! Any membership that is based on loopholes, churning, foolery, with BA just squeezing more and more everyday to me does not come across as a company that values me as afrequent traveller. So glad I left it all behind!!!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Good for you! Fortunately there's some who haven't, who still want to watch my videos!!! But I actually fly BA relatively little - but I get BA status as it's the easiest OneWorld status to get if you live in the UK and its quite helpful when you travel on other OneWorld airlines. But if you can afford business travel, status is a bit irrelevant!

@timtony7153 Жыл бұрын

@MattsPlanet I watch all your videos. They are very good, informative, dare I say funny?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@timtony7153 Sometimes I even mean to be funny!!! Thanks for watching!

@wingitoneworld Жыл бұрын

Great Video Matt. I booked 3 BA Holidays with, old T and C’ s however the car hire and the hotel are all booked in between the flight dates. I shall checkin for day 1 and day 5 for the hotel as I’m off gaining star alliance renewal as well during the trips. You said the renewal in 1500 points per every other year. That means it will be just over 46.5 years to get lifetime gold. I really don’t think I’ll be around then lol😂

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Well done on taking advantage! 46.5 years is quite a long time!

@cincinatti_matt21 Жыл бұрын

These videos are great - brilliant watch 🙏🙏🙌

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks Matt

@VicTheflyingDentist Жыл бұрын

Lovely video Matt. So BA has changed its Avios policy like Iberias , of earning Avios not based on distance , but the cost of the ticket 🙁

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks Vic. Indeed they have... It was inevitable but is still annoying... Although I earned 1.1% of my avios from flying in 2022 so it may not be as bit a dent as it first seems, for me at least

@rtb5365 Жыл бұрын

So, you've got to now use your hotel or car booking, and the booking have to make "sense". Not terribly surprised. Your former teacher is correct - if the system gets ...exercised...? enough in a not intended manner, the rules for the system get changed. Its one reason I havent tried the Rocketmiles trick for AA status as espoused by Inside Flyer UK. (Short version - sign up for Rocketmiles, attach AA FF number, book hotels you dont intend to use, pay to plus-up points, points arrive at the end you your supposed stay - gets you to AA Platinum Plus - Gold equivalent - relatively inexpensively) When you add these changes to the 18 October Avios change...all we can do is grin and bear it. Though admittedly, I dont believe the 18 October change affects tier points earned...? Looking forward to the updated ITA Matrix video as I've not really seen a good in-depth video of the way it works now.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks. Tier points are indeed unchanged. As I've said in videos before, its not our scheme and it needs to be profitable for BA. Loyalty is a game of us finding the opportunities, and using them until BA notices and changes the rules!

@CongletonMike 9 ай бұрын

Some information that your viewers might find useful - I booked a 5 day BA holiday in business class from London to Tenerife, as part of my tier point run. My return flight was cancelled and I was rebooked leaving from Tenerife North on Iberia via Madrid - and was downgraded to economy both flights. When I got home, I found that they had only given me the economy Tier points and Avios. I phoned the Silver Exec club number - but the agent said I could only get the points for the cabin I flew in and she couldn't do anything and refused to escalate it to a manager. I raised a complaint case - and 8 weeks later - they restored the tier points and Avios that I should have got for the Business cabin including the double points. I'm now GOLD!! (I'm still waiting on another case for delayed arrival on EU261)

@MattsPlanet 9 ай бұрын

Persistence pays off! Too many agents don't know their own rules... not allowing an escalation where they are wrong is very poor though...

@wessexTim Жыл бұрын

Thanks for an important update Matt. Got a BA Holiday to Athens in October with a car we do not intend to pick up......this could be interesting.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks Tim. As long as you booked before the tail end of June you should be fine... I snagged an image of the terms and conditions that would have prevailed if you ever need them!

@wessexTim Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Thanks booked a few months back in the last sale, so hopefully ok.

@richardstreet7518 Жыл бұрын

NEW SPEND BASED AVIOS FOR BA COMING !!! AAAAAAGGGGGHHH!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Indeed.... We knew it was coming and here it is...

@peetbothma6982 Жыл бұрын

Nice one Matt. In my trade we have a saying: "Hope is not a strategy"😂😂😇🇿🇦

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

I wholeheartedly agree with that philosophy!

@davidbalcon8726 Жыл бұрын

If you are planning to be in the western US, you might consider some inexpensive AS short hops in F/J, like LAX-SJC-SEA rtn for 160 TPs (40x2=80x2=160).

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks David - great airline to fly on too! I did have a bit of a look and it was decent but not exceptional value - travelling in September though so still relatively peak. I think I'll get all I need this time from just the core run. Going to resist the urge to push on to GGL this year!

@davidbalcon8726 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Understand, it is an expensive time to travel in the US. I’m doing four AS segments to lock in AS Gold (my alternate OW elite program mainly for generous mileage earnings and award redemptions, and now reciprocal AA benefits) at the end of September but not started on my BA requalification which runs a month ahead of yours. But your strategy has suggested I’d be better off following your strategy and leveraging that grace period to start my flying and lock in two years of Gold (even if I drop down to Silver for a few months). Your TP run resembles my flights/airlines with the addition of a Malaysian r/t to Australia on a pretty good J fare. Anyhow appreciate your TP tips and I’ll join up with your own “elite” group this week.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@davidbalcon8726 Thanks David. Heard a few good things about the AS scheme - I might have to take a look

@MH_1-9-9-6 Жыл бұрын

I find myself in the unfortunate trap of being disgruntled with BA but tantalisingly close to silver😂

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

You and 99% of other BA customers!!! You can earn TPs on other airlines and the status works across OneWorld...

@santorini8423 Жыл бұрын

im getting pissed off with BA. 4 days my luggage was delayed in Lisbon, it was delivered to Lisbon the next morning but Groundfarce, their agents, couldnt even be bothered to find it. The only airline ive never had hassle with, believe it or not is Ryanair.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

The true test of an airline is not how well things go, but how bad it gets when things go wrong... Have you ever lost bags or had another disaster on Ryanair?

@santorini8423 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Ryanair have been fine, print your tickets up, do as they say and no problems, havnt flown Sleazyjet for 12 years since they stranded me in Tenerife for 6 days, didn’t get any compo either

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@santorini8423 I don't think there's an airline anywhere that excels when things go wrong... But I agree that Ryanair does really well when things go right

@barbarawissinger Жыл бұрын

Thanks again. I have reached Bronze level due to two PE round trips MUC-LHR-USA, but lost all my tier points. I will survive somehow.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

The tyranny of the 9th of the reset month... There's always the next year!

@CEJDOTAza88 Жыл бұрын

Hi Matt, great video as always thanks for the useful info! Could you advise which site/s are best to use to browse for the best prices and offers to spend your avios points on? I am finding the BA Exec club app to be particularly clunky. Thanks again!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks. I only ever spend avios on flights but would look at seatspy as it has some interesting features to find reward seats. aa.com is the least clunky way of searching for redemptions through the airlines - still clunky but less clunky than BA. You can't buy through AA, but if you find a seat it should be available on BA

@Tohan1 Жыл бұрын

Great video, thinking about the CGK run myself for quite some time now... oh and btw... maybe it's time for another BAEC video, just got an email today from BA that they finally change the way of earning avios for booking from October 18th on... Would love to hear your thought on this... Cheers for now#1

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Lots of talk about BA changing avios earning.... I think a video is likely!

@stevecraven3502 Жыл бұрын

Matt. 1. Where did you fly from to Belfast and who with to get 80 TP? 2. I know you said you had individual tickets, but did you use ITA Matrix multi city to put this run together, or did you just look at individual flights. 3. What do you have to book or look for to avoid the P class fares on Cathay pacific. 4. If you took a five night holiday including a hotel to say Bucharest, could you not do the flights to Tai Pei and back to Bucharest during that 5 day period, if you where only interested in reaching BA Gold status. Just a thought. I know you have interesting videos to make about your trips. Cheers mate. Steve. C. YNWA

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Belfast is 40 TPs each way to 80 in total as you position in and back at the end of the trip. Google flights found the opportunities - matrix was helpful but for this one its lots of separate tickets which are tricky to matrix up! The P fares are tricky to find and to avoid... That does involve matrix... Bucharest to Doha to Abu Dhabi to Colombo to Jakarta to Hong Kong to Taipei and back again takes longer than 5 days! Looks like Hendo has decided that a sack of money is more valuable to him than his reputation....

@madds6678 Жыл бұрын

Nice one Matt, it definitely can be confusing BA’s scheme, I dropped from silver to bronze & within a couple of months got back to silver but I swear that I’ve gained a month to my tier point year end, I’m sure it was oct but now is nov or I’m losing the plot 🤪. I’m looking at doing a Sophia trip combined with the BA holiday double points offer is Sophia interesting enough for a 5 night visit ?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks! You may be the first to ever get a year end shift but you may be remembering the membership year and seeing the end of the grace period... Sofia is nice enough - 5 nights might be a bit of a stretch but its excellent value... Summer is better than winter....

@jochenschulz6690 Жыл бұрын

Hi Matt, as always thanks for your thoughts and ideas! Have you found a way to find the booking class on Cathay flights in the booking process? The lower fares don't earn any tier points unfortunately (at least in Qatar Privilege Club). And while exploring the lounges in HKG might sound interesting on its own, tier points would be at least half of the motivation to spend some money on Cathay flights.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

I've not found it on Cathay's site or on any online booking engines... What I do is duplicate a booking I've found in ITA Matrix and if I get the same pricing there, I can drill in to see the fare bucket. Usually P! And if you use the filter f: ~bc=p (which means fare booking code excludes P) it'll show you the next best price. You'd have to call Cathay to book it as it probably wont be available on the site (they show lowest and fully flexible business) - and its a bit of a faff - but it works...

@jochenschulz6690 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet You're the best, thanks a lot for your reply! I will try ITA then which I should learn anyway I guess! Last time I booked Malaysia Airlines (which also doesn't credit points in lower fares) I checked the fare every day until it reached the price/fare that promised points and then booked. Calling might be the easier alternative, thanks for mentioning!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@jochenschulz6690 There's a matrix video on the channel with another one coming. It's not hugely user friendly but if you like computers, its not too hard to figure out

@philipteague8629 Жыл бұрын

Great video as usual Matt. Do you know if the hotels and or car have to be booked at the same time as the flights to qualify for double tier points?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

They do. But doing so means its a holiday from day 1 which means you only have to pay a deposit when booking.

@peterbrown6224 Жыл бұрын

Hi Matt, I've considered the car option, but there is no way known that I'd jump into a car after a flight, unless I knew the language and laws. Even then, if it's an evening flight after work and various other stuffing around, it would be better to pick up the car the next day. One interesting topic you might be able to look into (as an accountant), is - what do EC/UK261 claims cost BA every year? I mean, quite aside from the usual hotac & other expenses for passengers when things go wrong, it must be quite a bit. I've used the six-week window to keep status before, but it can be hair-raising if nesting flights are cancelled and you run out of time. Your advice about tacking on a few post hoc is very sound.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks Peter. I have just about finished a video on EU261 - my longest and dullest video yet! Which is saying something... Didn't cover this angle though which is interesting.... I was triggered to make it by a claim I made and I reckon Iberia had a €90k liability for the delay... But they only actually pay out a fraction of the liability as they don't tell anyone they're eligible for compo and seem to blanket deny all claims when they first come in... It's a really big cloud hovering over operations...

@peterbrown6224 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet You're right, don't ask, dont get. My one and only EU261 was against BA, and they paid up - but being young and naif, I didn't know that their downgrading from CE to ET also deserved something. Thinking about your EU261 video, perhaps another on what to do when it's IRROPS - whether you should queue up for a while to try to be allocated a hotel, or go your own way immediately, and send the bill to BA. More experienced travellers than I have done the latter - has this happened to you?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@peterbrown6224 I have covered irrops and the active/passive debate in the EU261 video. Coming soon to a screen near you... The thumbnail has a movie theme... I've been lucky to never have had anything too awful happen to me but I would 100% sort myself out as soon as I knew I was in trouble...

@stevecraven3502 Жыл бұрын

Hey Matt. unlucky on your your 1500 TP run (interesting trip plan) but I'm sure you will get there. My question doesn't relate to this video, but to what BA are doing to move Avios collecting to a monetary system as you figured they would in an earlier video. How is it going to affect you much, as you do use a lot of Avios points during your travels for flight redemption. Still love the videos. Steve. C. YNWA.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Cheers Steve. First game of preseason today... Think we still need some midfield reinforcements! In 2022 1.1% of my avios came from actually flying so this change will be annoying but its unlikely to be catastrophic for me... Its a case of where we probably were doing too well under the old scheme... I travel a lot on avios redemptions - its only really every 2 years that I do a lot of paid flying. And its not entirely clear but I think AA flights stay the same...

@stevecraven3502 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet need some midfield and we sell Henderson to an Arab team for 12 million plus add ins and he still had 2 years left on his contract. Still if he’s getting the reported 750k a week, tax free, at 33 you can’t blame him. Keep up the good work. Steve.C YNWA

@RichW3440 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for another enjoyable video, can I ask if you'll be covering the new way avios will be earned from the 18th of October? I'm wondering if you book flights + hotel if you earn points on the booking as well as the journey itself? For example, book a package for £1,500 and get that back in points as well as the 4,000 points for the return journey? Also paying with American Express would be an extra 1,500 points. 👍

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Not sure I understand the question... You'd earn avios when you take the flights - under the new equation. If you book a BA Holiday there's bonus avios available for making a booking through them. And points if you use Amex too.... So you can effectively triple up, although the amounts from each source will differ.... Head For Points has an excellent article on the BA changes - if I made a video it would look like I'm just repeating what Rob says as I agree with him completely!

@RichW3440 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet that's what I mean, you get bonus avios booking a holiday via BA and then more on the flights themselves. At the moment I stand to get close to 14,000 avios when I go to America next month, under this new system it would be 6,000 putting my amex card in the mix, if the bonus is kept then it would be 9,000. Either way it doesn't seem a great deal for loyalty. 😞

@sergeyontheroad Жыл бұрын

Hello Matt! Thanks again for all your content and work you put in - a big fan of your style and appreciate what you do, I learn and benefit from it, and enjoy as well! I have two questions - I have recently booked a BA holiday GLA-LHR-PHL-DEN-DEN-LHR-GLA with a car (8 nights) in May 2024. All in Club Europe/World (just under 3k GBP, which with a car, actually feels like a good deal. Question 1. Tier points. For some reason, the booking does not tell me the amount of base tier points. According to my calculations, I should be getting 40+140+40+140+40 which comes to 400. All on one booking, picking up the car in DEN. So, it should then double to get me a total of 800. Does this sound right? And why doesn't BA show the Tier points on the booking, isn't this a bit odd? Question 2. Is it a good deal? I paid (or will pay) 2,780 GBP, 150 GBP deposit, which I paid with Avios 23,875. Aside of the factors specific to my situation a) my membership year ends 7th May, so I want to renew my Gold between 8th May and 30th June (thank you for advice!) b) DREAM to explore Colorado, b) had almost 200k Avios that I was struggling to spend otherwise and c) dates that I can actually plan for that far ahead - would you say it's a good deal? Thanks in advance!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Hi there. If there's an AA element to any of the flights (which PHL-DEN will be) then the AA part of the booking often won't show up in BA. Its annoying, but that's BA IT for you! And the doubled TPs won't show up in the booking either... But you should be good for 800 overall - I think your calcs are correct. As for value - that's good for an ex-UK premium fare but its still an expensive way to harvest TPs. DEN is a tricky destination as you can't get a domestic 140 TP leg into any routing so it'll never be great for tier points. But if your dream is to go to Denver, that may not matter so much. As for the avios, I never recommend spending them on this sort of thing as you'll be getting probably 0.5p each and you can do better than that shipping them across to nectar and doing your shopping with them. But if you have a lot of avios and are likely to get more, then I can see why you'd use them. Have fun - a while to wait but it'll come round quickly!

@sergeyontheroad Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Thank you for feedback Matt. This makes sense. Noted re: Avios value. I have been using them as a 'God's gift' that basically reduces my cash spend, as some times, I just want to minimise my net spend. But you've given me food for thought, given that I can get better value out of them through converting to Nectar. Colorado is not a dream as such, ok, I've exaggerated that a bit, but a road trip in Colorado is something that I really want to do. Given it's 800 TP (with the holiday bonus) on something that I would actually do anyway (except wouldn't have booked Club), doesn't make me feel bad. Thanks again!

@emmaturner2558 11 ай бұрын

Could you hire the car for the 5 days and then pay for secure parking? Or pick up the car and take it back early (before the 5 days) - surely even if BA's system were intelligent enough to know if you'd picked it up it wouldn't know when you brought it back?

@MattsPlanet 11 ай бұрын

Q1 - absolutely. I gather you can park at the Sofia Ibis for £5 a day... I;m sure something similar can be sniffed out elsewhere... Q2 - that's the big question! I very much doubt they'll ever know but is it a risk you want to take?

@emmaturner2558 11 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet I’d pay the £5 a day!

@emmaturner2558 11 ай бұрын

Hi Matt have you ever heard of BA allowing people to change their year end date? The person that I travel has a year-end of 8 September, but mine is 8 October. So to follow your advice above for tier runs it we'd have to do it separately?

@MattsPlanet 11 ай бұрын

Never heard of a year end shifting... Your close though so if you did something between the 9th and 31st October it would count into both of your new years... Not ideal, but better than a lot of people who's year ends are months apart

@Alex-om1be Жыл бұрын

Matt, this may be a random comment…. but this video did a great job of distracting me from the pain of a bee sting I just received😂

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I've heard that some of my videos are really helpful for insomnia, but never for bee stings!

@Alex-om1be Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanethaha what are you trying to say!

@xAKIMBOCURLYx Жыл бұрын

Is it still the case that you can start your journey from Jersey and have that still count as a UK-start? So for instance, I'm looking at a trip to Lima via JFK and Miami that I would want to double all the tier points on.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Jersey is in the UK for BA holiday prices. Can be really quite reasonable in a sale too... Good luck!

@jonathancassar939 Жыл бұрын

Guessing you wont be booking a BA ticket post 18th Oct? Book an AA ticket instead for your next run!

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Indeed! All a bit annoying...

@jonathancassar939 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet yes and no. Gives you content for another video!!

@xandrios Жыл бұрын

I’m maintaining status in two alliances but do so by travelling a mix of economy and business class flights. This means that there is a solid opportunity to enjoy the benefits on those cheaper economy flights. From what I gather you don’t fly one world too often having only collected those 20 tier points. Is it actually worth investing into a 1500 tier points run if, besides that run, you don’t use the status much?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

I use the status a lot!!! I carried gold through the you-know what and the end of the extensions will be August 8th. As long as I had gold, I travelled a lot on OneWorld but mostly on redemption tickets and spent my money getting status elsewhere... When I drop from silver that'll be time to put effort into getting it back, knowing it will then last for 2 years.

@xandrios Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanetAh redemption tickets..yes that makes sense. Is redeeming in Economy a good deal with BA? With Skyteam (and some extend *A) the business class redemptions are often only a slight premium over economy - making those the better deal.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@xandrios I wouldn't redeem for less than 1p per avios - economy is usually a decent deal and business is usually good to ourstanding. But adding the status on top, redeeming on BA for a positioning flight to Dublin may be more expensive on paper than a Ryanair flight, but with the lounges etc its a better option for me

@divyamoditongya Жыл бұрын

Can you do a video like this on Air India’s loyalty program?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

That's a big ask... I only know this stuff as I'm a BA member and think about these things most days... Not sure I could do the same with a scheme I'm not a member of, sadly....

@divyamoditongya Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanetNo Problem. Loved the vid though!

@jamespaul4421 10 ай бұрын

Hi again Matt and sorry to bother you again! Wife and I are looking at present tier points currently 280-our tp collection year finishes on 8 Jan 2024 and our card expiry is 29 feb 2024. We are looking at doing a Jersey to Italy CE Run in Feb 2024 and booking a hire car to get double tier points so 80 there and 80 back- 160 times 2=320 tps. Can I check would that then make us silver for remainder of 2024 and then as far as feb 2025? As always the time you take to answer these questions is always greatly appreciated! And if I may a supplementary-would IATA cancellation code FCRY trigger Eu 261 compensation-that’s fly crew rest I believe! Thanks

@MattsPlanet 10 ай бұрын

No worries James. Your TP balance will reset to zero on 9 Jan so points earned in Feb will go into the new year. The card remains valid for 2 months after the end of the collection year as a courtesy to give you a hand with the renewal. The trip you mention would get you 320 TP towards silver. If you can get the other 280 in Feb too, then you'll renew for the 2 years. And I think crew rest is not necessarily a basis - whatever caused them to go out of hours is the key and if that was an external factor then tough. Although if it was an ex-London flight you can argue that BA should have been able to roster replacement crew in... At an outstation you can try to claim BA should have had replacement crew hanging around for that eventuality but it probably won't work...

@db7312 Жыл бұрын

I’ve got a LHR > DOH > DPS > DOH > LHR trip coming up - ideally want double TP’s for it to try to retain gold. If I book premium economy and upgrade to business at a later date, will this affect things? I’m also planning on being away for 8 weeks but would consider paying 5 nights in a hotel if that got me double TP’s. Any advice please 🙏🏻🙏🏻

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Its possible... Must be booked as BA flight numbers. Which may make it quite expensive... And it must be booked through BA holidays, so you won't be able to upgrade it before travel. And a hotel for 5 days within an 8 week trip is fine, but you should be using that hotel for the 5 nights you've booked it for. Unless you're a gambler....

@Maur1ce. Жыл бұрын

Tier point runs seem to take a lot of planning and also bringing you to places you may not be particularly interested in… is there an advantage to these rather than doing a few long distance flights to a place you want to visit over a few months on the cheapest dates you can find?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

When you put it like that, it is a bit bonkers!!! I enjoy the flying itself and pick a destination that I'm not going to hate... But getting the status as low cost is then very beneficial to me - I do a lot of reward flying in economy where having gold really helps boost the experience... But going somewhere you actually want to go is obviously preferable if its not wildly more expensive!

@Maur1ce. Жыл бұрын

I didn’t mean to criticise a tier point run, was just wondering is there any reason not to do a couple of long hauls instead

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@Maur1ce. No criticism implied!!! They're just cheaper - you can add multiple legs into a single return fare and get twice the tier points... So double the points at half the cost of taking two trips. But each to their own!

@cianfinlay2793 Жыл бұрын

I wonder what time of the year would be the BEST time to join the Executive club to make the most of cheapest travel for optimal renewal? Cuz my schedule is flexible

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

An interesting question... I worked out only today that even though I joined in December, I didn't take my first flight until July which locked my renewal month as August... Don't know whether its changed, but it was the first flight rather than joining date that counted for me... But August isn't terrible as domestic US business travel is lower over the summer so prices are also lower... November isn't a bad month either as Thanksgiving has low pricing as does December, as business travel is again down in both months

@cianfinlay2793 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet thanks for the reply!! If you were joining the Executive club for the first time all over again would you still opt for August or would you choose something like February?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@cianfinlay2793 it's so hard to say. Febs not a bad shout, nor is Jan... It's a choice for life too so what works now may not work in 5 years...

@STARZldnlyfe 7 ай бұрын

So what happens to avios does it just stay until you use them

@MattsPlanet 7 ай бұрын

Avios will just sit in your account. You need activity at least every 3 years to keep the accounts active but they'll sit there indefinitely if you do

@jamespaul4421 11 ай бұрын

Hi Matt-just a quick one-wife is silver and I’m gold both of us expire 29 February-which was all fine with our March 27 flights to Singapore as we’d both be able to access lounges as I become silver and bring in wife as my guest but just been informed daughter’s boyfriend just booked on our flights to Singapore too leaving us with a dilemma-do we all go lounge-less or does one of us become the sacrificial Lamb to sit in Pret A Manger for two hours! Do you think BA would extend wife’s silver for 27 days? Any advice? Thanks as always!

@MattsPlanet 11 ай бұрын

From what you've said, you'll be travelling in the grace period when the expiring status will still hold? Just - there'll be a couple of days spare and you'll struggle coming back, but you should still be silver and gold when you travel... But in general they're pretty strict about letting people in unless its really quiet...

@jamespaul4421 11 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Thanks Matt-29 February is the grace period I think-actual expiration is 8Jan-I’ll email them BAEC and let you know how we get on!

@irishinusa1615 Жыл бұрын

Question....if we book in USA but start trip LHR. Will this loophole still work for us? Do we have to begin and end in UK?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

Qualifying trips have to be booked through BA holidays and must start in the UK. And I also assume it must end there... So if you can access BA Hols from the US you should be ok....

@irishinusa1615 Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet thank you. Great video 👍👊

@quietjourney Жыл бұрын

Do you recieve tier points the moment you book, or the moment you fly?

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

The basic tier points arrive a day or two after travel. Sometimes a little longer if its a partner airline. Bonus tier points seem to be arriving about 2 weeks after travel is completed

@quietjourney Жыл бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Thank you!

@garyworden6816 5 ай бұрын

Anybody else want to commission Matt to do TP earning research for them? I do. What would be a fair no-quibble fee?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Make me an offer!

@dm7325 Жыл бұрын

Very informative video, thanks for that. To clarify if my year end is the 08/09/23 ( currently on gold) I then gain 1500 tier points by say the end of Nov 23 ( via planned trips) my gold status would renew and run, ignoring any grace periods to the 08/09/25? the rest of 23 through to Sep 24 then a full year from the 08/09/24 until the 08/09/25? I think via your explanation I've got it but please feel free to correct if I've not. Keen to join your whatsapp group and I feel it could be useful.

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

That would be true if you got 1500 between 9/9/23 and 31/10/23 - entirely within the grace period. You'd have 0 on the morning of the 9th. Then gold will last until 31/10/25. Sign up on Patreon and I'll see you in the WhatsApp!

@dm7325 Жыл бұрын

Thank you. So to clarify if I don't gain 1500 points in the period 09/09/23 to 31/10/23 but gain them after the 31/10/23 my gold status would expire, assuming no more trips by the 31/10/24. I always thought that if you achieved gold status part way through the year. We won't hit it again until Dec 23 then that ran for the rest of the year plus the following year. Apologies if I've got that wrong and yes I'll look up the WhatsApp. Thanks again for your help and reply

@MattsPlanet Жыл бұрын

@@dm7325 You're over thinking it! If you can get the 1,500th TP after 9/9 and before 31/10 you'll never drop to silver. If the 1,500th TP comes on the 7/11, you'll go straight back up to Gold but will drop to silver for the 7 days between the end of the grace period and the date you get 1,500 tps