NEWS & OFFERS: New handy Avios tool, Flights offers Bangkok from £1163 and On business back but still issues

New handy Avios tool compares Avios prices across airlines and value for money

If you would like to know what value you are getting for your Avios and whether it is worth using Avios for a flight, then a new free tool will come in handy. It is also extremely useful for knowing how much a flight will cost on Avios (using the RFS rate, not the other combination of Avios and taxes). I often browse Google flights when considering flying somewhere and then think, I’m not paying that and then consider using miles. This will show you the Avios price at the same time as the cash price so you don’t need to head over to ba.com to find out. 

The tool works for a variety of airlines, not just BA, which is really useful.

• British Airways
• Iberia (direct)
• Finnair (direct)
• Japan Airlines (direct)
• Cathay Pacific (direct)
• Aer Lingus (direct)
• Qatar Airlines (beta)

It will show whether the Avios prices are for booking via BA or via the airline’s website. 

To use it you will need to be using Chrome as your browser and then install the Smart Redemptions Chrome Extension. When you first go to Google Flights, you may need to grant permission to use the extension. If you find it doesn’t show the prices straight away, try manually refreshing your page, and it will usually show within a minute or two. 

Here is an example of what you should see for British Airways:

It will show you the Avios value and whether the flight is worth using Avios on. Obviously, I would treat the advice with some caution, as Avios flights also come with extras such as being changeable and cancellable up to 24 hours before (for a £35 fee), which adds a lot of value, in my opinion. 

For partner airlines, the taxes and charges are not showing yet, but you can see the Avios amounts:

Here is a short video showing how it works:

You can find out more about it by downloading the extension on the Smart Redemptions website or searching for it via Google Extensions.

Flights offers – Bangkok from £1163

It’s been a while since I’ve done a full roundup of fares, but there are a few excellent deals around that I thought I would quickly cover.

Prices in business class return:

• London to Dubai £1126 on Swiss or Lufthansa
• Stockholm to Bangkok £1481 on Finnair
• Oslo to Bangkok on Swiss £1163 – cheapest price on Booking.com or £1463 on Swiss
• Dublin to Singapore £1694 KLM
• Etihad has another promotion (until 28 June) with some good ex-Europe prices
  • Copenhagen to Maldives £1423
  • Copenhagen to Colombo £1276
  • Dublin to Maldives £1699
  • Dublin to Phuket £1685
  • Dublin to Bali £1698
  • Frankfurt to Maldives £1656
  • Frankfurt to Colombo £1274
  • Frankfurt to most Indian cities £1274
  • Frankfurt to Bangkok, Phuket and Bali £1699
  • Vienna to the Maldives £1434
  • Vienna to Kuala Lumpur £1586
  • Vienna to Seoul £1695

BA On Business back but still issues

After over a year, BA’s On Business is back, but not without issues. On Business is BA’s loyalty program for businesses of all sizes, although you do need to be VAT-registered to take part. You can earn On Business points with American Airlines, British Airways, and Iberia, which can be redeemed for reward flights and upgrades. The person flying still earns their own personal Avios as well. 

The website had been out of service for over a year, and although you could still access redemptions by phone, it was very inconvenient not being able to look at your account. Now, a lot of people are discovering that many flights have not been credited and are past the cut-off date for claiming. If this is the case, I would recommend contacting On Business and, if not resolved, filing a complaint. The other issue that is common with normal Avios bookings is being unable to make any redemption bookings and receiving an error message. No matter how much it happens, I am still staggered that BA continues to have such appalling IT, which surely has cost them millions over the years with lost bookings and loyalty. 

You can find the On Business page here.