can one ever say "おいかがですか？"

Question

I have almost always added 美化語{びかご} to "いかが" (making "おいかが"). However, a native speaker just told me that "おいかが" sounds unnatural. I'd like to double check this.

Is it ever natural to add 美化語 to "いかが"?

Answer 1

「おいかがですか？」("How are you feeling?") should probably be avoided even though some native speakers actually say it.

The reason for that, however, is not that there is already 「です」 in there expressing politeness. Rather, it is because the word 「いかが」 is already on the pretty polite and formal side. Adding the honorific 「お」 to it does make it sound overly polite. The non-polite forms of 「いかが」 would be 「どう」、「どのよう」、「どんなふう」, etc.

This is why it is completely "correct" to say 「おいくらですか？」("How much is it?") using an 「お」 as, unlike 「いかが」, 「いくら」 is non-polite.

Answer 2

おいかが(ですか) sounds unnatural. いかが(ですか) is already polite so you don't need to add お.