British Airways offering Avios instead of cash for flight delays
The EC 261 Directive provides customers with financial compensation in the event of travel disruption caused preventable events. You can even download an app to keep in your device to remind you of your rights.
Now British Airways are playing an interesting card by offering Avios to affected customers instead of cash.
While suppressing cashflow by giving Avios instead might help their bottom line, I would warn all passengers to calculate the price per Avios being offered prior to responding.
One Flyertalker was offered a measly 38 000 Avios instead of €600, representing a buy-in 1.58 eurocents or 1.34p each. This is not a good trade at all! As a guideline you should consider buying in Avios if you can get them for under 0.75p each, or approximately 68000 Avios in the above situation.
The only time I would accept Avios at above 0.75p is if I had a specific redemption in mind and had to get the Avios quickly.
As a general side note, if you are offered Avios instead of cash, you can work out the value of each Avios by doing the calculation as follows:
Value per Avios in pence = (Cash price in pence, e.g. £500 = 50 000p) / (Number of Avios)
Should you ever be so unfortunate to be affected by travel disruption on British Airways you can see their information page here.
Have you been offered Avios instead of Cash for EC261 claims? Share your experience with us below!
I booked Aer Lingus BOS-DUB using Avios. Flight cancelled and passengers re-booked on charter plane. Anyone know if I use BA or AE to get compensation? Both are initially claiming I need to file through the other.
EU261 covers award flights and you are entitled to get the same compensation. If AE was the operating carrier, AE should be responsible. BA only issued your ticket, they are not on the hook.
Neat little try by BA. Unfortunately I suspect that many once a year flyers will take the points, after all Thirty Eight THOUSAND points sounds a great deal! Anyone who knows anything about point collecting will just laugh!
For a delay entitling me to €600 under regulation 261, they offer me what they described as an “enhanced offer” of 38, 000 avios. Seems like a poor deal to me and I am going to take the cash. As I don’t know when I will want to next use Avios, plus Avios can expire with no account activity and in theory they could close the scheme! Cash is the safer option in my view.
I took the enhanced amount instead of £250 offered, no matter how I try to use them I cannot get more than a £160 saving