Does use of 200,00 miles justify high fees?
 

We want to go to Rome in the fall. Have over 2000,00 miles AA. Finally found a trip BA that fits (one change) but then has fees of over $2,000. Is this typical? This is spoiling the whole idea for us. We are seniors on a limited budget.
Thanks
jryan

BA's fees are higher than most other airlines. Can you find a different routing?

Can't you buy a ticket for that straight out!! Geez.

First, I'm guessing you mean 200,000 miles or 200K, right?

Second, yes <b>this is typical for BA</b>. This is not how AA or any of the other OneWorld airlines work (as far as I know).

There are various fees and taxes for all flights including security, government, and other fees. There are landing fees for the airlines, but those are often rolled into the ticket price.

Where BA differs is that it separates a per ticket FUEL FEE from the price of the seat. And this is where you get screwed.

For a $1200 ticket on AA, the ticket consists of the base fare, security fees, various government taxes, etc. The taxes and fees may total up to $300 or so.

The same itinerary on BA will consist of the SEAT fare, security fees, government taxes, AND A FUEL CHARGE. The fuel charge is a fee that BA applies to all fliers and is 70-80% of what other airlines view as the base fare (for BA the seat + fuel). And that's the screw job - BA remits only the seat fare in exchange for miles awards, you pay the rest.

So the answer to your question is YES, this is typical for BA and a reason to avoid it whenever using frequent flyer travel. It is NOT typical for AA.

Your solution is to get the next best itinerary on AA and use the miles as appropriate.

To be clear: on AA you will still pay the government taxes and security fees. These vary by country (our round-trip to Tokyo cost less than $120 each, the UK cost is higher). You will not be charged the fuel cost. This will be a difference (savings) of about $500-700 per ticket, if not more.

AA will be much cheaper. We used our miles on AA to fly into Milan and then took the train.
You don't say where you are coming from, but you may need more than one plane change (one in U.S. and one in Europe). We flew American to Milan with a plane change in New York. We could have made a connection then to Rome, but we wanted to see The Last Supper in Milan.

Those BA fees are very high. I would look again at the website and change the dates around if possible. You should also call the AAdvantage customer service and have them check.

This is an accounting game we have to deal with most airlines. Airlines have latitude in defining how the programs work. This allows airlines to advertise attractive programs, yet make it hard to earn and use rewards by minimizing the portion you can apply the rewards depending on different airlines. I don't know where you are coming from. For example, a straight round trip DFW-FCO in September for two is about $2600. So, yes, you get hardly nothing out of the program using BA: no ability to hunt for better fares on other carriers, and perhaps restricted on a kind of itinerary you can get with your reward miles. It is not by accident.

As previous poster mentioned, you would need to expand the scope of your search to be able to use your miles more effectively. That is the life of using miles, cannot easily get desirable flights to desirable destinations on specific dates unless you are at the very top tier of the program. This is a lot of web searching, unfortunately.

Even more maddening is that they can substitute a different itinerary after you bought the tickets due to "schedule" changes. What it means that you might had to pay more for a desirable itinerary only to be rebooked on a different itinerary you could have booked cheaper.

After 1,000 years with AMEX Delta card, I have chucked it because of their outrageous changes. Besides severe limitations, Delta wanted 90,000 for round trip to Amsterdam. Two years ago we only needed 70,000 for Turkey. For years we went to Europe on 40,000, 50,000. I understand that they want to raise it but double?

We now have a card were can apply the miles as we see fit and get 2x the amount for every dollar spent.

All airlines charge you something when using FF miles on those international trips, I believe, but I have never heard of any one who charges the astronomical fees that BA does, which can amount to about the price of half the ticket.

OMG, that's insane! Good thing you asked about the fees before committing.

We have used Mileage Plus several times for long-haul flights, and their fees are reasonable for United airlines and all Star Alliance brands.

Keep looking. Good luck with it!

Post your question also in the Airlines forum.

I could not figure this out from a quick look at the website, but can you use AA miles yet with USAirways? Their fees are not too bad, but I am not sure where you live and whether USAir flights are an option. They certainly fly into Rome.

IMDoneHere, you may want to look at a 'cash back' type card rather than an air miles card.

I used to belong to frequent flyer programs but gave them up years ago as poor value for your loyalty. We currently use a credit card that provides us with MONEY as a reward rather than points.

If you put enough through your card every month, they upgrade you (just like air programs upgrade you) to double the money per dollar spent. They also have 'bonus' periods where for example, if you spend X dollars at the supermarket they give you 10 times the amount back.

Using such a card for all day to day buying we estimate that we receive more in cash than any air miles points is worth in flight cost savings.

But for me the REAL advantage is not the futile attempt to try and value air miles (one flight cost $1000 and another carrier offers it for $500, how much are the miles therefore worth, $1000 or only $500?) but instead the simple fact that CASH can be spent on anything you want. It is not limited to hotels or air travel. There are no blackout periods or difficulty finding a flight that suits your plans etc.

So having got tired of miles with Amex Delta IMDonehere, I suggest you do some looking in to giving up on MILES altogether and look for CASH.

IMDoneHere, you may want to look at a 'cash back' type card rather than an air miles card.

I used to belong to frequent flyer programs but gave them up years ago as poor value for your loyalty. We currently use a credit card that provides us with MONEY as a reward rather than points.

If you put enough through your card every month, they upgrade you (just like air programs upgrade you) to double the money per dollar spent. They also have 'bonus' periods where for example, if you spend X dollars at the supermarket they give you 10 times the amount back.

Using such a card for all day to day buying we estimate that we receive more in cash than any air miles points is worth in flight cost savings.

But for me the REAL advantage is not the futile attempt to try and value air miles (one flight cost $1000 and another carrier offers it for $500, how much are the miles therefore worth, $1000 or only $500?) but instead the simple fact that CASH can be spent on anything you want. It is not limited to hotels or air travel. There are no blackout periods or difficulty finding a flight that suits your plans etc.

So having got tired of miles with Amex Delta IMDonehere, I suggest you do some looking in to giving up on MILES altogether and look for CASH.

Also note, CASH can be used with ANY airline.

We use our AA frequent flier miles regularly and ALWAYS avoid BA. There are other carriers to route with in the one world system.

I feel your pain OP. BA is notorious for its fees and taxes on a FF award. As others have suggested, look at other One World carriers.

Was this $2k for business class?

Thanks to all of you. Fortunately we have not purchased that ticket and will not. We planned to fly from Boston but will go to New York if need be.
Which cards offer the CASH option?

You should ask this question at Flyertalk. Those guys know how to maximize their mileage redemption.

Seems silly to fly out of New York if it only saves a few hundred bucks.

<i>Which cards offer the CASH option?</i>

A bunch. Start googling.

And to the folks mentioning other miles programs - the programs do not charge fees, the airlines do. BA's fee schedule minimizes the savings from FF awards; AA's does not.