Author Archives: bookingbusinesstravel

BA On Business Registration Site Down

Posted on by

The registration site was down when we checked on Friday 3rd October and a phone call to BA confirmed that they were “aware of the problem and working on it” with a suggestion that we try again on Monday.

Today Thursday 9th October and this is still the “fail” response that greets us after submitting all the required information,

Unfortunately the On Business systems are not responding, so we are unable to process your request at the moment. We apologise for this inconvenience and suggest you try again later.

GOOD NEWS , the site is now working as of November 2014

To register for BA On Business rewards programme, you will need your company registration number which can be obtained from the UK Companies House website if you don’t have it.

You’ll also be asked for a figure of your travel spend over 12 months and your anticipated spend for the next 12 months

You can also nominate a travel agent if you use one. You’ll need their IATA number.

Qatar Airlines first Airbus 380 service from 10th October

Posted on by

The first flight departs Friday 10th October from Heathrow to Doha and has proved to be very popular.

At the time of writing there are only 7 economy seats left available for sale, business and first are sold out. And on Saturday there are just 2 seats remaining! And this is out of a total of 517 seats.

The flight departs Heathrow at 15:05 and arrives Doha 23:50
Good for connections on the early morning (01:00 – 03:00) departures to Bangkok, Singapore, Delhi, Dubai and Shanghai

The aircraft have the following number of seats

8 First Class Seats
48 Business Class with 1-2-1 configuration.
56 Economy Class Upstairs 2-4-2 configuration
405 Economy Class Main Deck 3-4-3

The airline does not offer a premium economy class cabin

British Airways New Route London to Split, Croatia

Posted on by

Split is fast gaining popularity.

During summer 2015 it will be served by easyJet, Norwegian and Croatia Airlines from Gatwick.

WIZZ from Luton and now British Airways from Heathrow Terminal 5!

Outward flights begin:

Sunday                3rd May Heathrow to Split departing 13:15 arriving 16:50
Wednesday         6th May Heathrow to Split departing 07:30 arriving 11:05

Return schedules:

Sunday                 Split – Heathrow Depart 17:35 arriving 19:15
Wednesday         Split – Heathrow Depart 11:55 arriving 13:35

Aircraft used: Airbus A319

One way fares begin at £79 and return fares from £127

Remember that you will not find cheaper fares anywhere other than on the official BA website.

Please visit our British Airways page for more information and bookings

British Airways Company Reward Scheme

Posted on by

British Airways Company Reward Scheme

Most travellers are familiar with individual frequent flyer schemes but there are additional company reward programmes that are less publicised but that can be equally rewarding!

There are four programmes relevant to companies based in the UK:

British Airways “On Business”

Star Alliance “Partner Plus”

Virgin Atlantic “Flying Co”

Air France KLM “Blue Biz”

British Airways On Business

OVERVIEW

The programme is simple to manage and collection of points is fully automated. Simply enter the On Business membership number when prompted towards the end of the online booking process. Provide the number to your IATA travel agency and bookings made via them will also automatically accrue.

If you or your colleagues forget, you can manually retro-claim if you have BA ticket numbers up to four months prior. Ticket numbers for BA always begin with 125

You can earn points from BA codeshare flights as long as the flight number begins with the BA prefix.

REGISTRATION

Online enrolment takes just a few minutes.

You need your company registration number.

This is essential for BA to verify your application. You can look up your company number via Companies House.
The scheme is targeted at commercial enterprises that are registered but I know of registered charities and even a European Institution who did not have a UK Company registration number but we used a Regulation (EU) number of the European Parliament and of the Council of Europe which seemed to be acceptable.

You should nominate a travel agency and enter their IATA number

If you normally book online at ba.com, and avoid agency fees, you may be missing out on the On Business member discounts which are unavailable online but can be accessed via participating travel agencies. Contact me for more information.

You must register before booking a British Airways Flight

You cannot claim points for tickets if you were not a member when you booked your travel

Spending On Business Points

Points can be used to buy tickets on British Airways services or to arrange upgrades. The availability of seats is much better than that of the air miles scheme of the BA executive club, “Avios”

For more information and to register, please visit my British Airways Page

British Airways extends cancellations to Freetown and Monrovia

Posted on by

The airline has now suspended flights to Freetown and Monrovia to the end of March due to the “public health” situation namely the spread of Ebola infections.

The number of casualties is doubling every two weeks which, if sustained will result in over 1 million cases by January 2015

Outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria are relatively contained, according to WHO

Ghana and Kenya appear

British Airways is permitting ticketed passengers to re-route to Lagos, Abuja, Accra and Nairobi

When do airlines announce sales?

Posted on by

The title of this post could also be, “When is it best to book flights?”

If you are intending to book travel in say 10 months’ time, it is very difficult to judge when is the cheapest time to book your flight?

This article applies to long-haul flight-only travel and not to short-haul or “low-cost” airlines.

If you book as soon as the flights are “loaded” in computer systems you may pay too much as the airlines are likely to reduce fares once they have monitored demand.

There are two or three things that you have to consider when trying to work out when is best to book flights in advance.

Demand for seats

Is there an event going on at the time you wish to travel?
A trade show or something similar?
If that’s the case then seats will be taken irrespective of the fare and the cheapest prices will not reappear.
In which case, book immediately!

Flexibility 

If the dates or timings are fixed and of importance then it may be safer to book immediately.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Historic Sale Dates

We have monitored the sales of both airlines over several years and the following pattern has emerged. NB Both BA and Virgin have a tendency to match fares and sale dates….

SPRING SALE

From mid to late February to early March

WINTER – CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR SALE

Around 20 December to 3rd January but often extended to mid to late January

SUMMER BUSINESS CLASS SALE

During the first week to 10 days of June, to encourage you to fly business class during the low (corporate travel) summer season

SUMMER SALE

1st week or 10 days of July.

(Far too late for summer bookings of course, but is an enticement to forward book)

AUTUMN SALE

Early September to the 23rd or 24th September

Also the 1st week November. This year, (2014) British Airways started their Business Class sale a little earlier, from 23 October to Wednesday 12 November

British Airways to cancel services to Colombo Sri Lanka

Posted on by

The airline currently operates 3 times a week from Gatwick but March 27 2015 is the last outward flight, and March 28 is the last inbound, following a “review” of services.

Flights to Male, Maldives are also cancelled from the above dates for the duration of the summer and will commence October 25th

I wonder if the airline will offer any spectacularly cheap one-way fares for the last few days of the schedules? (Seat availability should be very food for the last few days as there will no longer be the option of purchasing a return ticket)

How to extend the British Airways Sale Deadline

Posted on by

I recently posted an article about the new function on the BA website where you can hold a seat for £5 short-haul and £10 long-haul.

I waited until today to check if this facility can be used in effect to extend the payment deadline during a sale period. Normally, when an end-of-sale deadline is given, it applies to reservation and ticket issue by a certain date. And ticket issue of course implies full payment too.

The British Airways Sale ends Tuesday 22nd September 2014 and if you are booking via a travel agency, that is still the very latest booking, ticket issue and payment date.

However, the online function mentioned above can still be used to gain up to an additional 72 hours before having to commit to a booking (with full non-refundable payment)

Changes to the booking cannot be made during this hold period however. Any change would require a new booking – and at new prices.

The £5 or £10 hold fee is deducted from your balance payment.

For the guaranteed lowest fares, book directly at the British Airways website here.

British Airways Upgrade Offer 2014

Posted on by

British Airways is offering a free upgrade from Business Class to First Class. It’s not what we’d normally think of in terms of an “upgrade”. For that, you’d normally buy a cheaper ticket and afterwards be rewarded with the upgrade.

The current offer is in reality a lower price for first class at the point of sale. I have seen examples where to fly in first class in one direction and business in the other, can be as much as £300 cheaper than buying a business class return fare.

The upgrade offer is for reservations booked on or before September 30th 2014 and for travel – departures up to 31st December 2014

If you are a member of the British Airways On Business Scheme you may also qualify for a 5% discount off the air fare and additional flexibility (refundable and changeable without charge)

This offer is not available online and if you need assistance do use the contact us form and we’ll recommend a company to you that can facilitate this for you.

Should you use Avios to discount your British Airways flight?

Posted on by

You can now use Avios to reduce the cost of a flight booking but is this a good value?

Discount £10 Costs 1,500 Avios
Discount £20 Costs 3,000 Avios
Discount £30 Costs 4,500 Avios

BA has recently increased the offer so that On longer European routes, if you are booking two or more travellers, you can save up to £100 total:

Discount £60 Costs 9,000
Discount £100 Costs 15,000

Longer routes include London to Athens and London to Istanbul

The redemption value is 0.666 p per Avios (That’s £0.006)

If you’ve converted Tesco Clubcard points to boost your AVIOS you will have actually paid 0.4 p per Avios

So you are in profit – but not by a great margin.

And consider that for 9,000 Avios you may be able to buy a return flight ticket that may cost as much as £200

In which scenario you’d achieve a value of 2p per Avios – which is much better. But finding availability can be difficult, and the discount offer applies to any flight that has an economy fare available.

If you are booking business travel, the Avios discount will be more attractive than attempting to find a completely free ticket.

To obtain your discount, book flights as you would normally on ba.com and after selecting your preferred schedules, you will be offered the opportunity to choose the discount.

You will also earn additional Avios on the booking which will increase the overall value of the deal.

How to find the Avis Car Hire Sale prices

Posted on by

Avis is offering 20% off their normal rates for cars rented up to Friday 12th December 2014
Bookings can be made up to and including Monday 29th September

The Avis website looks slick but can be difficult to use.

If you click-through from a cashback site or if you just search from their main page (Avis.co.uk) you will NOT be offered the sale prices! You must visit their sale page and click through from there.

Here is the Avis Sale link which will pre-populate the savings code box with this code: L627900

I picked up an Audi A1 recently, 3 days for £117, and was very impressed.

You can earn BA Avios too if you supply your executive membership number

Major improvement to BA Services at Heathrow Terminal 3

Posted on by

Yes, Terminal 3 !

Not all BA flights leave from T5!

Until now, flights departing from Terminal 3 needed a bus to ferry travelers from the terminal to the aircraft.

This has meant lengthier boarding time and earlier gate closures too.

This was always a pain. I always thought it to be expected of a budget carrier such as Ryanair but not of British Airways.

Over 95% of British Airways flights will now have direct pier-walkway connections

This is possible due to airlines moving to the new Terminal 2 from Terminal 3

According to the Heathrow Departures Board, BA flights leaving from terminal 3 include the following destinations:

Prague
Lisbon
Vienna
Budapest
Warsaw

Plus of course, codeshare flights (flight numbers prefixed with BA) where Finnair (Helsinki), American Airlines (to New York, Dallas etc.) and Japan Airlines etc. are the operating airlines.

Hold that last British Airways seat for just £5

Posted on by

One major drawback of booking flights online rather than via a travel agent has been the necessity to book and pay at the same time, all in one transaction. If only one seat is left, you’d have no alternative but to book it immediately. And many low fares are not refundable so you’d lose out should your travelers’ plans change.

Alternatively, travel agents have been able to hold a reservation without any commitment on your part. Some fares only allow seats to be held for one day but most allow this for 3 days or longer, before tickets have to be issued.

British Airways now allow you to hold short-haul bookings for £5 per person and long-haul for £10 per person when booking online. The deposit is deducted from the balance payment. If you do not make the balance payment, you only lose the deposit.

Travel agents can still offer additional benefits though:

Some agents, especially “business travel” agents, will hold seats for you without requiring a deposit, so you have nothing to lose if plans do not materialise

If cheaper seats become available between reservation and ticket date, the agent can re-book at the lower fare and reduce the price you pay. (Naturally, if you’re sure you have already found the lowest possible fare on those flights then that will not happen).

You will however incur a “booking fee” on top of the air fare as travel agents do not earn commission from British Airways

You have to decide whether the travel agent service is worth the additional booking fee and this may change according to the circumstances of each trip.

We think the deposit scheme will be of benefit in some situations.

For more information and terms and conditions visit the British Airways page here.

Earn reward points for your stay at Hyatt and the Andaz London Liverpool Street

Posted on by

The Hyatt Gold Points rewards scheme gives you 5 points per dollar spend at the restaurant or for overnight accommodation.

The website says that only published rates will accrue points. So, bookings made via Expedia or other 3rd party sites are excluded.

But what if you are a business traveller paying a reduced – negotiated – corporate discounted price?

We’ve checked, and the Andaz sales people say that these rates are eligible for reward points

3 nights at £330 per night should earn approx 3,000 points in total

https://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/benefits/join.jsp

Hyatt Rewards can be redeemed for free nights but the cost depends on the category

Category 1 Cost 5,000 points           No Europe / UK Hotels
Category 2 Cost 8,000 points           Armenia, Egypt, Warsaw
Category 6 Cost 25,000 points         The Andaz London is in this category

So you’d need approximately 8 or 9 stays at the Andaz London in order to earn just 1 night but by my calculation that is equivalent to a 4% cash-back which is pretty good is it not?

Better still, until 31st August, you can earn bonus Avios instead. Enroll with Hyatt Gold Passport using promotion code BA14S and select British Airways Executive Club Avios as the earning preference and provide their Executive Club membership number at time of check-in
More information here:
http://hyatthotels.hyatt.com/content/partnerlandingpage/en/14air-britishairways.html

Choose British Airways as your preferred airline at check-in and you can earn up to 21,000 Avios!

BA Upgrade from Business to First Class at no extra cost

Posted on by

British Airways offers this promotion to most long-haul destinations (except to the Caribbean).

I use London to Dubai as an example of how the upgrade works;

The lowest business class return fare to Dubai is £2,310 but that fare is non-refundable and non-changeable – even for a fee. A minimum stay of 3 nights is required and availability is limited.

So for business travel, it is likely that the more flexible fare of £2,773 is the only available price for the trip. This fare has better availability and allows changes and refunds for a fee of £200. This is the price on ba.com

If you book through a travel agency however, you could be upgraded to First Class in one direction – at no extra cost!

This upgrade offer applies to reservations made up to Friday 23rd May and is for departures up to 31st August

If you are On Business members, you are entitled to a discount of 5% off the actual air fare, reducing the total to £2,660

And you’ll benefit from free cancellation and no change fees

On any of these fares the individual traveller will still receive the usual Avios and Tier points.

However, if you take the On Business discount, your company will not receive any On Business Points. The booking will appear on your statement as “ineligible corporate deal”.

The points you would normally receive for a Business & First Class trip total 1,920 and I suggest a value of between 7p and 15p for each point in redemption terms so you’ll lose between £134 and £288 worth of points. Use a BA American Express corporate card and you’ll earn a 50% bonus.

So it may be better to pay the additional £113 for the higher fare – but that depends on what degree of flexibility – if any, is required!

Where to book the London Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard

Posted on by

Today, the hotel has officially started to accept room reservations from the opening date which is the 6th May

But as of this morning, you can only book as follows

We searched on our recommended comparison site and also Expedia.com, Hotels.com and HRS.com and the hotel did not feature on any of them.

It may be a deliberate policy of the hotel to not offer bookings via online companies.

Online rates are £450 Superior Room with south-facing rooms. NB South Facing is not exciting!

£500 gets you a Deluxe Room and £550 a Premier Room

Travel agents earn 10% commission so you may wish to contact your agent to handle the booking.

They also have access to packages which include breakfast costing £20 and tickets to the “View from the Shard” floor, for another £20

All bookings include Complimentary Wi-Fi Broadband Internet access and VAT

The Shangri-La website allowed a reservation to be made with no credit card required to hold the booking.

British Airways Business Class Sale ends midnight Tuesday 11 March

Posted on by

Book by Tuesday night 11th March to take advantage of the BA sale

Example prices:

Dubai £1,650 return – travel even in December!

Mumbai £1,169 return

Beijing £1,767 but only in August, expect to pay £2,000 for most other dates

Shanghai £1,780 July & August, expect £2,400 for October to December

Details of the sale are available here.

It is unusual for a BA Sale to include travel for dates so far in advance so if you can plan in advance, you may achieve significant savings.

If you require an overview of BA prices I recommend using the excellent “Low Price Finder” on the BA website here.

What date does the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard open?

Posted on by

I checked the official website to find an answer to the question, “What date does the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard open?”

The hotel group does not appear to want to promote the answer online as I had to telephone the direct London-based number, 020 7234 8000

They advised that the opening date will be Tuesday 6th May 2014

Reservations are not possible until Monday 17th March 2014

Here is the official site of the Shangri-La and from the above date, specific reservation enquiries should be possible.

For those of you who book via Travel Agents, I also asked if they would have access to reservations via their GDS systems but they were unable to say.

The Shangri-La does not yet appear in the search results of our recommended comparison site but we will monitor that.

In the meantime we suggest checking directly here.

£15 OFF British Airways flights – book by Friday 7th March 2014

Posted on by

A voucher code is available, providing a £15 discount off return fares to Europe

This offer is targeted at members of the Living Social deals club but appears to be available to anyone who enters the voucher code into the ba.com booking page.

BA state that the discount only applies to Gatwick departures but when we tested it the reduction was also applied to flights from London Heathrow.

Outbound travel must take place between 1st March 2014 and 12th April 2014

Full details and bookings are available here

 

Change to regulations regarding taking liquids through UK airports

Posted on by

With immediate effect Duty Free liquids purchased from any airport (including non EU airports) may now be taken through UK security screening points, provided it is in a Security Tamper-proof Evidence Bag (STEB) with the receipt sealed inside the bag.

This applies to both transfer and direct Passengers.

Hence, customers are able to purchase Duty Free even if taken landside providing they are in a STEB

The restrictions regarding other liquids still apply:

  • 100ml maximum size containers
  • In one bag maximum 1 litre and resealable 20cm x 20cm (8in x 8in)
  • Must be able to seal and remove from hand luggage for separate screening

 

Business Traveller Magazine – Sign up and earn 2,000 Avios

Posted on by

If you buy 2,000 AVIOS as a BA executive member, the cost will be £47

We recommend that instead, you buy a three year subscription to Business Traveller Magazine via the BA executive club page and you will receive 20% discount and 2,000 AVIOS for FREE!

The 3 year subscription costs £92, so if you take the value of Avios into account, you’re paying just £45 for 30 issues

You can go direct to the offer via the Business Traveller Publisher or via the British Airways Executive Offers Page.