At what point is a reward ticket not a reward anymore?

Published: December 11, 2009

Most of you are probably familiar with the British Airways Visa card which offers a 100,000 mile sign-up bonus. I’ve convinced my dad and brother to sign up for the card as well, so when all is said and done we should have 300,000 miles in our household account, plus any miles from spending. A cool benefit of the card is that if you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year you earn a companion certificate whereby someone can fly with you for free. In other words, it’s a “two for one” on a first class British Airways award. In theory that sounds nice, as I’ve always wanted to fly British Airways first class and that certificate (along with the ridiculous sign-up bonus) ease the pain of paying 200,000+ miles for a first class award ticket.

But here’s what really stings — the “taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges.” On an award ticket from Los Angeles to Delhi via London Heathrow (I’d love to visit India, so realistically this is an award I’d be looking at), the cost comes out to about $900 per ticket. Now, that’s still a great deal given that this is first class, but seriously, $900 for an award ticket?! And with two people traveling that’s $1,800 (still have to pay taxes on companion ticket).

This is where my mileage whoring ways start to kick in. For $900 I could probably buy a coach seat and earn another 30,000-40,000 miles for the trip, not to mention plenty of elite qualifying miles.

So the only other practical option, the way I see it, is to use the miles for a partner award ticket and forget about the companion certificate. Apparently you don’t pay the ridiculous “fuel surcharges” for partner awards, so maybe it’s time to visit South America in a premium cabin on American or LAN?

As it is I hate not earning miles on award tickets, but when I paid $40 total in taxes and am flying one of the top airlines in the world you won’t find me complaining. But if I’m spending $900….

More discussion »

Conversations (17)

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Comment as a member

Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.

Loading comments…

Recent Comments

The latest from the OMAAT community.

Jeremiah Johnson Guest

July 20, 2011, 6:36 am

Unfortunately no matter what you do they are going to get you. At the fees alone you are almost paying for your ticket (not in first class of coarse). This reminds me of the time I went to a "time share" sales pitch where they were going to give me an all expense paid vacation. The catch was, the fees and taxes were going to cost as much as the trip. The sugar coating is not so sweet once you get through the frosting.

‼ 0

imm2b Guest

December 14, 2009, 11:44 pm

Thanks for the info guys. I definitely will wait after the Jan 1st to spend the 30K. BTW, with the impending BA strike and them losing 1000 pounds/minute, wondering how much longer BA will stay solvent.

chitownflyer Guest

December 13, 2009, 1:28 pm

With regards to Chase credit cards, the one year timeline is defined as an actual calendar year from January 1 to December 31. If a rep tells you otherwise, you are being given incorrect information. This is NOT a rolling calendar year like Hilton HHonors used to have. So those planning to spend 30K on the BA card would be wise to wait until January 1.

lucky New Member

December 11, 2009, 10:21 pm

@ echohorn -- I was told the same when I called, but I just don't trust them. The T&C's online clearly state calendar year, so I don't want to "waste" too much additional spend with them this year if it's a gamble. I always trust what I read in writing over what a CSR says.

echohorn Guest

December 11, 2009, 10:18 pm

@Lucky- actually, I called Chase last week, and among other topics of discussion was the calendar year v/s year from when you got the card. According to the Chase CSR, the 30K spend clock starts when the account is opened, not on a calendar year basis.

At what point is a reward ticket not a reward anymore?

Support OMAAT

Save posts to read later