File this in the “book now or regret it later” category. Also file this in the “you probably read this somewhere else but just in case” category!
When US Airways joined Oneworld at the beginning of the month, they announced that they would be applying fuel surcharges to British Airways award tickets just like every other Oneworld carrier. The key words are “would be.” In news that surprises absolutely nobody, US Airways hasn’t gotten their IT together yet. The news was known to some, but I wasn’t going to post about it because it’s the kind of thing that will get killed quickly once it starts getting exploited. But now it has hit all the major blogs, so no sense in keeping things a secret anymore!
In case you are unawares, British Airways charges HUGE fuel surcharges on their flights, and even bigger taxes if you’re departing from London. It’s not uncommon to see $500 of fuel surcharges in coach, $800 in business, and over $1000 in first. So even though British Airways has a great product, I’ve never redeemed miles to fly them, it’s not worth the extra cash outlay.
So this is the time to book British Airways premium cabins if you’ve always wanted to. We grabbed a couple first class seats to Europe for 125,000 miles each and $260 in taxes and fees, but there are a lot better deals out there. I’d recommend flying to North Asia through Europe for 120,000 miles in first class. You could connect from London to Thailand, or London to Hong Kong, or wherever. The possibilities are endless!
Just don’t wait.