{"id":2847,"date":"2015-12-13T20:35:30","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T01:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guruoftravel.com\/?p=2847"},"modified":"2015-12-13T20:35:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T01:35:30","slug":"an-update-on-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guruoftravel.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/13\/an-update-on-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"An Update on Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Happy Holidays to everyone – it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post an update, but in the mean time, we’ve taken a number of exciting trips.  <\/span>You may have seen a few recent posts on Twitter<\/a> or Facebook<\/a> about the trip we just took to Hong Kong, Thailand, and India, which was a fantastic time.  <\/span>We also had a great time down in South America, and I never finished our trip to Greece, so I have plenty to catch up on.  <\/span>I’m planning to cover our Asia trip first, since that’s the freshest in my mind.  The travel highlight of that trip was definitely the Etihad First Class Apartment that we took from Abu Dhabi to New York:<\/p>\n

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Etihad First Apartments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Etihad First Apartments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Etihad First Apartments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In other news, there have been a few recent announcement in the miles and points world that are important to be aware of:<\/p>\n

Changes to British Airways Award Pricing<\/h3>\n

British Airways has had one of the absolute best deals around when it comes to redeeming points for short flights.  <\/span>While most airlines in the US charge a flat number of points (usually 25,000 roundtrip) for flights within the US, British Airways determines your price in points based on the distance that you fly.  <\/span>I give more details in these 2 posts here and here, but unfortunately, starting on February 2, 2016, they’ll be changing their award chart a bit – but only for flights in the US.<\/p>\n

As of now, the first tier on their award chart is for flights between 1 and 649 miles in distance, and those flights cost 4,500 points one way (or 9,000 points roundtrip).  <\/span>The next tier is for flights between 650-1,149 miles in distance), and those flights cost 7,500 points one way (or 15,000 points roundtrip).  <\/span>As of February 2, they’re effectively eliminating the Tier 1 price (4,500 one way), so that all flights between 1-1,149 miles in distance will cost (7,500 points one way).<\/p>\n

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Current British Airways Award Chart (until February 2, 2016)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is hugely disappointing, though not entirely unexpected.  <\/span>The Mrs. Guru and I have booked dozens of short flights using British Airways points – living in North Carolina, we are within 650 miles of Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Cincinnati, and even the Bahamas, and have taken full advantage of booking flights to these destinations for only 4,500 points each way.  <\/span>The only good news is that British Airways at least announced this change with plenty of advance notice, so you have between now and February 2 to book flights at the current rates.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that you can book flights up to 11 months out, so you could even snag flights for the holidays in 2016 before they eliminate the first tier.  <\/span>Also keep in mind that British Airways awards can be cancelled at any time, and all you lose are the taxes you paid for the flights ($5.60 for each segment).  <\/span>So even if you booked a roundtrip flight now, if you needed to cancel later on, you’d only be out $11.20.  <\/span>You can bet that I’ll be booking a number of potential trips throughout 2016 between now and February 2.  <\/span>As long as I’m relatively confident that we’ll need those flights, it’s worth locking in the 4,500 point pricing for short trips for a very minimal risk.<\/p>\n

Changes to American Airlines Award Chart<\/h3>\n

Unfortunately, there was another recent “devaluation” announcement, where American Airlines will be changing (increasing) the cost of most of their international awards, particularly in First and Business Class as of March 22.  <\/span>As a few examples (all prices are one way):<\/p>\n