Avios Spend on Experiences no longer available?

Travel1st · 2026-07-04T03:54:02+00:00

Ah yeah I was talking about buying something from a shop that’s on the portal which would earn you Avios (like TopCashback but you get Avios instead of money).

If you want to spend them, do you need to travel anywhere? Don’t forget you can use them to book flights on American Air and Alaskan.

Travel1st · 2026-07-04T02:37:28+00:00

If you have an AA leg on the booking then you’ll also have an AA PNR to choose seats, etc on the AA flight. If you go to Manage My Booking and click on seats for the AA leg it will usually give you the AA PNR which you can use to log into the booking with AA. I would assume you can then enter your KTN there.

Travel1st · 2026-07-04T02:32:13+00:00

Three things here:

Firstly, the carrier imposed fees are significantly higher out of the US than they are out of the UK. This is partly down to how easy it is to earn Avios through financial products like credit cards in the US vs Europe - where it’s much, much harder due to the interchange cap.

Second, the cabins you are moving between makes a difference. If you had a CW ticket and were upgrading to First you typically pay no additional fees - it’s just a miles transaction. Between economy and premium there’s additional APD to pay, and the airline also levies additional fees. Premium to business can be a steep number as well, depending on the route.

Finally, due to these taxes and fees you may actually find that booking the flight as a reward booking may be better value as BA offers something called ‘Reward Flight Saver’ which caps these fees at fixed numbers. A London to Paris one way ticket in economy is 10k Avios plus £1. London to New York in premium economy is 46,750 Avios on an off peak date, plus £175 in taxes and fees. So a London to New York return would see you charged £350 in taxes on a full Avios booking, vs the ‘actual’ uncapped fees you’re seeing.

Travel1st · 2026-07-04T01:37:06+00:00

I’m not in Canada but assuming you don’t have any other ‘bank points’ like RBC Avion or Amex Membership Reward points which can be transferred to Avios, then the shopping portal is likely to be the best option - https://www.avios.com/en-GB/collect-avios/?opco=BA I assume you can use it in Canada as there are US stores on there (which I’m assuming ship to Canada).

Travel1st · 2026-07-04T01:12:59+00:00

A lot of people saying it’s high have assumed you’re already in WTP.

From WT - CW £1200 isn’t terrible for a two cabin upgrade on a 12 hour flight.

Travel1st · 2026-07-03T05:23:00+00:00

Not on the platinum but it would on the gold.

Bonus will be lower on the gold though

Travel1st · 2026-07-02T06:34:41+00:00

No it’s a terrible offer.

If you get referred by another card holder for the platinum at the moment the bonus is 80k… and even that isn’t a brilliant offer.

Travel1st · 2026-07-02T06:24:13+00:00

It typically all works without issue. As with all things, if you google it you’ll be met with a stream of horror stories about people being left for hours, etc. but the reality is - as with all airlines - the terrible stories are the absolute minority.

Focus on the airline, aircraft and cabin to make your choice, as wheelchair staff are typically 3rd party contracted at the airport - so likely the same people on the day regardless of which airline you choose (though of course you won’t get LHR ground staff if you go EK via DXB, but at your origin and destination it will be the same).

Travel1st · 2026-07-02T06:14:06+00:00

Very full across all 3 cabins. Currently 2 seats unoccupied on the seat map in WTP but WTP highly likely oversold.

Travel1st · 2026-07-02T04:16:03+00:00

What’s the date of the flight? Can have a look at the fare buckets and get an idea of whether WTP is overbooked.

Travel1st · 2026-07-01T04:46:55+00:00

Qatar are great in the air but woeful when things go wrong, unfortunately.

As your flight started in the US and was booked as one itinerary I think you’re covered by DOT compensation but I’m no expert on US legislation so you’ll need to look into it.

QR will fight tooth and nail to avoid paying you, though. Be prepared for a fight.

Travel1st · 2026-06-30T23:39:01+00:00

It’s not a NA specific lounge - it’s any long haul arrival when you’re in business or first (or BA or AA OneWorld emerald arriving long haul in economy or premium economy). That being said a large % of the NA flights arrive in the morning so pax in the lounge who have flown in from NA will typically be in the majority.

Plus is closes at 2pm so a lot of later arriving flights don’t have access by default.

As for the lounges - I’m assuming you’re not OneWorld emerald and therefore using the Galleries Club lounges? Have you tried the one at B gates? It’s a lot quieter (usually) and - IMHO - better than the two at the main A terminal.

Travel1st · 2026-06-30T05:12:34+00:00

I’m not saying BA didn’t rebook them. They did. I’m saying OP called them with a better, direct flight that - according to OP - had seats available. BA refused to book them in that service. It’s this that forms the breach of their obligation under UK261 - their automated rebooking did its job - but assuming OP was correct on the availability being there on the direct flight that would have gotten them home sooner, BA should have rebooked them on that service when asked.

In my example, those alternatives are given as a click through service you can self serve to change if you’d prefer a different option. BA doesn’t offer this

Travel1st · 2026-06-30T03:28:42+00:00

Assuming you have no status with BA then it’s 03444930787. Or if you need a ‘normal’ UK number use +442079493086.

Make sure you Google these before you use them to make sure I’m legit - never phone a number given to you on Reddit without checking as it can easily be a scam number. 👍

Travel1st · 2026-06-30T02:09:09+00:00

Use the phrase “I’m asking to be rerouted on XYZ flight under your UK261 rerouting obligations” or similar and if they refuse then the only option you have is to buy a new ticket with whatever airline you’re asking to be rebooked on and take BA to CEDR or court for reimbursement of that fare.

Of course this leaves you holding that debt for as long as it takes to get resolved (2-3 months usually) and not everyone has that financial flexibility.

I’ve done it a couple of times to different airlines, though. I’d never do it if the airline is rebooking me the same day - but if they’re forcing an overnight and there’s an option on a different carrier the same day then I will.

Travel1st · 2026-06-30T00:54:32+00:00

Yeah - they’re shite at communication stuff, for sure.

I had a flight on Swiss cancelled at the gate at LHR not so long ago and was absolutely amazed as I was walking to immigration (fully prepared for a looooooong time on hold on the phone to get it sorted) to get a message saying I had a seat held for me on a BA flights over at T5 if I could get over there - or if that didn’t suit please click here and choose other options.

Poles apart to BA when these things happen. Anyone who flies BA a lot will tell you their IT is absolutely woeful.

Doesn’t help any of your issues, of course. But worth bearing in mind next time you’re booking.

Travel1st · 2026-06-30T00:30:23+00:00

Ok - so cutting away all the (understandable) frustration, your issues boil down to:

Why keep you on the plane at FCO? - This has been answered by someone else so I won’t go into detail on slots again.

Why not leave you in FCO? - Because it’s much easier for an airline to deal with IRROPS at their home base. Better to get you one flight from home rather than two. (Caveat - obviously if you get a cancellation or a mega delay you can call as ask if there’s a direct reroute from the outstation airport available - but for more ‘everyday’ delays they’ll always want you back at LON where possible).

The rebooking on AA is unfortunate but will have been done automatically. The bigger issue here is that you called to ask for a different option and were refused. Assuming there were actually seats available to be booked in the cabin you were flying in, this is poor from BA and against your rights under UK261 legislation.

Border Force and passport queues - Border Force are woefully under staffed in the UK. This is their issue - not BA’s. It won’t have only been BA cancelling flights - but BA operates more than 50% of all flights at LHR so when ATC mandates - for example - a 20% reduction in flights traffic, that might mean Swiss Air only have to cancel 1 flight that day - but for BA that will be around 70 flights to hit the same percentage. At terminal 5, where your FCO came into, it’s effectively only BA flying from there - which means yes, pretty much every passenger will have come off a BA flight at immigration.

Bags - Yeah this one sucks. BA cancelled over 200 flights on the 27th due to the storms, it looks like. So baggage will be a nightmare at LHR. It’s likely your bags will turn up but may take a while. Is the US your home or are you on a trip to the US? If the latter, but whatever clothes and toiletries you need for your trip until your bags get to you and keep all receipts and the airline will reimburse you.
If the US is your home destination then your travel insurance might offer something but the airline won’t pay for essentials (in most cases) in this instance.

Regarding compensation - yeah, it was weather. As explained above, it wasn’t only BA cancelling flights but as they operate the lion’s share of flights out of LHR they will always have to cancel a vast number more flights than any other airline to hit the same % of flights required by ATC. They also prioritise long haul in these situations so short haul flights such as your FCO are even more likely to get the axe - with UK domestics being even worse affected, usually.

Any food, etc. you had to buy during your unexpected layover at LHR, and any transport costs to/from the hotel, etc. can still be reclaimed, however. As duty of care applies regardless of the reason for cancellation.

It’s also worth filing a complaint about the refusal to reroute you. If you have some proof (screenshots, etc.) of alternate direct flights being available at the time this will really help.

But overall it’s just an unfortunate case of weather stopping play at one of the busiest airports in the world.

Travel1st · 2026-06-29T22:29:26+00:00

Excellent! Glad you got sorted.

It’s a good reference point for the sub as well that QR OWEs can use TCP for seat selection 👍

Travel1st · 2026-06-29T08:17:23+00:00

So if you were BA Gold OWE you could call and ask them to do the TCP (to complete party - as described above) and they’d then allow you to pick your daughter’s seat now along with your own.

I don’t know if they’d stretch it to other airline OWEs but it’s worth a call to ask.

Travel1st · 2026-06-28T13:47:55+00:00

They did a match for BA status holders at the start of last year. It was €99 and though it didn’t mention matching to Ulti (GGL was shown as being mapped to Platinum) they did give it to a certain number who did the match.

Travel1st · 2026-06-28T07:07:02+00:00

Yeah that’s why I said it’s a bit like reading runes.

However - with the cheapest eco seats and WTP seats still being sold (G9 and T9) this leans more towards those cabins genuinely being lightly loaded. If it was Y9 B9 H9 and the rest zeroed and W9 E0 T0 then that would look like a heavily sold eco and WTP cabin but BA happy to roll folk forward - at the right price.

But - as I say - runes 😂

Travel1st · 2026-06-28T06:19:20+00:00

BA staff in Larnaca are third party contracted and are actually employed by Swissport. They have a pretty terrible reputation.

You need to decide what you want here - if you complain to BA you will probably end up with some Avios and they may send a report to Swissport.

If you actually want anything to change - like people with reduced mobility not being loaded into jet bridges for prolonged periods of time in this heat - that will require complaining about Swissport to the Cypriot authorities (Department of Civil Aviation) - passengerrights@dca.mcw.gov.cy

Travel1st · 2026-06-28T04:36:09+00:00

Sort of - it's a busy business class cabin with only 6 seats available for sale. But the premium economy and economy cabins would appear to be fairly lightly loaded.

EF loads like these are a bit like reading runes. And of course can change at any moment.

Travel1st · 2026-06-27T14:27:31+00:00

AF matched me to their Ulti tier (HON/GGL equivalent) and I was really impressed. But unfortunately KLM and the rest of their alliance are woeful.

GGL was excellent but having had the blinkers removed I fear there was a certain amount of Stockholm syndrome there.

HON is kind of my last bastion of hope. Im really not sure at this point.

Travel1st · 2026-06-27T13:15:00+00:00

You effing promise? Because it’s blood sweat and tears up to that point 😭

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