Update: As commenters point out, this pricing is intentional. After booking dozens of BA flights you’d think I’d realize this by now, but if you book at least 2 BA partner airlines on the same ticket then the pricing will be based on the multi-carrier award chart which is completely different than the low per-segment Avios pricing we’re used to.
At any rate, the lesson remains the same, book one-way (or one-segment tickets) if needed to avoid that situation.
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Related: The Chase British Airways Visa Signature offers 50,000 Avios for spending $2K. Points are also transferable to BA from Chase UR, AMEX MR, and Starwood.
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DDF techie wiz BAHayman asked me why the following round-trip itinerary is pricing out at 90K Avios and frankly I’m stumped:
When booked as 2 one-ways the price is correct at 64,500 Avios total.
Tel Aviv-Berlin is 10K, Berlin-JFK is 20K as it should be:
LGA-Philadelphia is 4.5K and Philadelphia-Tel Aviv is 30K, as it should be:
I was able to replicate this for several dates. Anyone have any idea as to what the BA.com pricing logic might be?
In the meantime as I wrote in the BA knowledgebase (albeit for other reasons), book one-ways when using Avios. Sometimes you’ll even have to book the ticket above as 4 separate tickets to get BA.com to show the flights, but the price will still be 64.5K Avios.
Dunno I had the same problem
when you mix more then one airline with BA and its 2 or more airlines that are not BA metal then it prices based on distance and therefore would be more expensive.
@Anonymous:
Same routing or different routing?
@Afight4ever:
But every segment has a set price in Avios, which is why booking all 4 segments separately will be the same amount of Avios:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/32467
MECHAVEN TO TSONGAS IN SHKALIM!!! Taiko!
Dan,
I tried booking a round trip from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv in Nov and Dec (Direct using US Air) I checked almost every day in those 2 months and only found 2 that had direct flights ( most had flights stopping in London with a $700 fuel charge. Am I doing something wrong, or is it that there is very few flights.
@DZ the Telzer:
Airlines open up award seats when they don’t think they can sell the seat.
It’s too far in advance for that, keep checking as it gets closer to the flight. Award space is very fluid.
phl to vce one way is 25000 avios instead of 20000
@sos:
25K is correct,
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/42827
Actually Dan if you include 2 or more oneworld airlines BA does not price each segment separately but instead falls under the “Multi-Carrier” award which is quite similar to AA’s former oneworld explorer award, but at a much higher price.
Being that the above itinerary is TLV-TXL-JFK/LGA-PHL-TLV , which is Approximately 11,620 miles, that would fall under the avios 10,001-14,000 range which would price the award at 90k avios roundtrip.
This has been around for quite sometime and have had to book as 2 separate awards in the past because there was no way even for phone agents to override the system. Aflightforever is correct.
i’m looking from tlv to nyc on june 15- jly 9 any good price ?
last week I searched a few dates and it was 20000
@M:
If that’s the case then why is a flight from CLE-LHR on 05/11 on USAirways and BA price out at 24.5K?
@M:
And if you want a round-trip example, CLE-LHR-CLE from 11/09-11/19 on AA and BA is pricing out at 49K (4.5+20+20+4.5), so per segment pricing with 2+ carriers.
My bad correction: There needs to be 2 oneworld carriers excluding BA or BA +2 oneworld carriers that’s why you are seeing 24.5 and 49k.
@DZ the Telzer: Your best (only?) hope to get to Israel without surcharge fees is to go airberlin through Germany, which doesnt charge any fees. I am not sure where airberlin flies to from philadelphia, or if you can fly out of one of the new york airports or do a connection somewhere. But try berlin. munich, dusseldorf. you will have to buy each segment separately (i.e., philadelphia to munich, munich to tel aviv, tel aviv to munich, munich to philadelphia). But you could do the whole trip for very low fees if you find dates that work out.
Dan: Its not just for “round trip”. Its any itinerary with 2+ non-BA airlines. For example, Philadelphia to TXL one way on September 17 (US airways to FRANKFURT, then airBerlin to FRA-TXL) prices out at 60,000 avios whereas if you book each trip separately (PHI-FRA on Usairways for 20k, and FRA-TCL on airberlin for 4.5k) it is only 24,500 avios.
hey dan this is an amazing sugya if only i knew the gemora as good as you know travel, my rosh yeshiva would truly love me!
Dan: I’m with you on the limited/fluid award availability, but I’m not finding anything in the next three months for PHL-TLV, which seems to be a huge boon. Is there a method other than just plugging in the dates at ba.com (or is there a post explaining this)?
@Stimpy:
It doesn’t make a difference to me to fly from Philadelphia or New York but officially com Philadephia I can get a direct flight to Tel Aviv without fuel charge.
Another pro to booking one ways, is shortage of points with a spesific airline, or a better routing option with different airlines…
I found on united that booking 2 adults with infant on lap one way from London to NY was more taxes then all taxes on a round trip to London e.g. One way is 60,000 miles and $638 as $502 taxes + $136 for infant and round trip to London from New York is 120,000 and $537 as $527 taxes + $10 for infant
On united when booking award travel for 1 adult plus 1 infant on lap it cost more in $ on 1 way than round trip e.g. round trip New York to London is $388 ($64 for infant + $324 taxes) round trip London to New York is $334 ($10 for infant + $324 taxes) BUT one way London to New York is $438 ($136 for infant + $302 taxes)
Can you explain this as without an infant it’s $2.50 for the New York to London and $200 fir the London to New York no matter how you do it
@Stimpy: Munich – it will end up costing you more Avios than going through DUS or TXL
I had the same issue a couple of days ago. Booking June-July ONE-WAY from PHL (maybe it was NYC) to TLV 5 seats plus infant (unfortunately I don’t remember every detail) should have been 153,000 but came up as 306,000.
I am trying to replicate your TLV-TXL-JFK itinerary above. BA.com is not showing me any availability when I try to search for the whole itinerary. If I break it up into segments, I can see the TLV-TXL AirBerlin flight, but its not showing me any TXL-JFK AirBerlin flights, only BA and AA flights with an LHR stopover. Am I doing something wrong?
TIA
Dan do you realize that booking by segments(ie tlv Munich and then Munich PHL) will result in higher taxes than booking a one way tlv-munich-phl?
i’ve been searching these flights for months and have never found anything. how do you keep coming up with availability?