In October 2000, British Airways Executive Club launched BA Miles, which now exists alongside the more familiar Air Miles. They cannot be combined, so do you know the difference?
The Air Miles scheme is continuing as before but beware that flying with British Airways will now earn you BA miles instead of Air Miles. Some other Air Miles partners have also pulled out, for example Vodafone. Although it is early days for the new scheme, it appears to me that Air Miles will become the poor relation to BA Miles.
So what are BA Miles? Basically, they are the miles you now earn by flying with British Airways. You also earn them on qualifying expenditure with a variety of partners, mainly business expenditure, for example Avis, Hertz and many hotel chains. However, you can earn BA Miles at Sainsburys. One reward voucher (£2.50) earns you 400 BA Miles.
So, it seems the BA Miles scheme is more focussed on the business traveller flying with British Airways. Executive Club members now get one BA mile for every mile travelled, with more for flying in a premium cabin:
World traveller plus x 1.25 Business/club x 2 First x 3 Concorde x 4
Unfortunately, if you are travelling on a discounted economy fare, you only receive 25% of the BA miles. For example, we flew from London to Delhi on a discounted ticket (as part of a package holiday) and received 1042 BA miles for a single journey. Not a lot, but better than the nothing you would have received in Air Miles. And, the Executive Club is free to join.
So, how many BA miles do you need for a free return flight from London? BA has grouped its destinations into 8 zones. Here are some examples: Zone 1 - 13,000 miles (Paris, Milan) Zone 2 - 20,000 miles (Venice, Rome) Zone 3 - 25,000 miles (Athens, Moscow) Zone 4 - 30,000 miles (Cairo, Tel Aviv) Zone 5 - 40,000 miles (New York, Dubai) Zone 6 - 50,000 miles (Hong Kong, Rio) Zone 7 - 80,000 miles (Tokyo, Singapore) Zone 8 - 100,000 miles (Sydney, Auckland)
There are ways you can get there faster:
For £25 you can open a household account, which means you and up to three other members of your household can collect and spend miles together. I'm not sure how useful this will be to many people.
BA also say they will be offering selected routes at a discounted mileage - you can check for special offers on their website.
However, the mileage required seems pretty frightening. I'm not sure I'm going to get very far with the few BA Miles that I earned from my flight to India. But, I'll keep saving, and you never know. I've had three free flights from Air Miles in 10 years (and only had to pay the Airport Tax). If I can get some more free flights, I'll be happy.
how is everybody managing to write these ops? When i try and write anything about travel or make-up, theres nothing there, I have had these problems for two days now.
Dizz 03.06.2001 21:08
Thanks - I did not know BA had their own scheme and found the information you gave very useful. Cheers!
Defiler 03.06.2001 20:05
From the sound of it this isn't much use to me as I rarely fly and it would probably end up taking me 80 years to get a free flight :)
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Splendia, a unique selection of luxury and design hotels with character in the most beautiful locations: Marrakesh, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Dubai.... Book directly online or contact our customer service available any day of the week.
Record Rent a Car is present in the main spanish airports and has a very wide fleet. We offer: exceptional discounts, free additional drivers,
unlimited mileage... subscribe to our Club Record and take advantage of special offers.
Jun 3rd, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
