Discussion
I am wondering if anyone has experience of using air miles and if they are worth collecting?
AMEX have been onto us saying we can use their card to spend with suppliers and collect the points which can be turned into air miles. Are they actually worth it (i.e does it equate to free flights) or is it all a bit of a con?
AMEX have been onto us saying we can use their card to spend with suppliers and collect the points which can be turned into air miles. Are they actually worth it (i.e does it equate to free flights) or is it all a bit of a con?
DanL said:
I don’t have a huge number (120k) of Avios, and I’ve yet to book a flight with them. Just used 55k (I think, maybe 50k?) to knock £300 off the price of a flight with BA. It’s quite possible I’ve been doing things wrong, but I’ve not found them too handy...
That’s a terrible use of avios.We went to Tokyo first 2 years ago. We went to LA and back from Houston last year. We went to New Orleans and back from Austin this year and we’ve for next year to New Orleans and back from Vegas all in business. Get a BA Amex, get a companion voucher (basically a buy one get one free) and you need only pay taxes. Each of the above cost ~£500 per person.
The secret is book early, be flexible with destination if possible (not usually a problem if you book early enough) and use companion vouchers.
120,000 is a decent amount to spend.
djc206 said:
That’s a terrible use of avios.
We went to Tokyo first 2 years ago. We went to LA and back from Houston last year. We went to New Orleans and back from Austin this year and we’ve for next year to New Orleans and back from Vegas all in business. Get a BA Amex, get a companion voucher (basically a buy one get one free) and you need only pay taxes. Each of the above cost ~£500 per person.
The secret is book early, be flexible with destination if possible (not usually a problem if you book early enough) and use companion vouchers.
120,000 is a decent amount to spend.
You seem to be using them in America? That is by far the best use I have had out of mine. Flew from Los Angeles to Hawaii for £15 and some Avios.We went to Tokyo first 2 years ago. We went to LA and back from Houston last year. We went to New Orleans and back from Austin this year and we’ve for next year to New Orleans and back from Vegas all in business. Get a BA Amex, get a companion voucher (basically a buy one get one free) and you need only pay taxes. Each of the above cost ~£500 per person.
The secret is book early, be flexible with destination if possible (not usually a problem if you book early enough) and use companion vouchers.
120,000 is a decent amount to spend.
In the UK, you pay lots of tax on a flight when you can get them. Business class to North America will cost you £600-800 in tax + the Avios. BA have got much better in the last two years and I can find some flights that I want finally.
boxst said:
You seem to be using them in America? That is by far the best use I have had out of mine. Flew from Los Angeles to Hawaii for £15 and some Avios.
In the UK, you pay lots of tax on a flight when you can get them. Business class to North America will cost you £600-800 in tax + the Avios. BA have got much better in the last two years and I can find some flights that I want finally.
No I use them to get to America never used them internally.In the UK, you pay lots of tax on a flight when you can get them. Business class to North America will cost you £600-800 in tax + the Avios. BA have got much better in the last two years and I can find some flights that I want finally.
The good thing about Amex is that you aren't just able to use BA
The trick I use is I buy normal tickets for where I want to go then use points to upgrade
Emirates Manchester to Dubai - the upgrade from economy to business is 36k points and about £150 taxes
Virgin Manchester to JFK - the upgrade from economy to upper class is 35k points and about £150 taxes
Both those tickets are £3k. But I paid around £350 for the standard plus points
Ironically th spend value of those points on the Amex website is circa £225
If anyone wants a card pm me for a referral link. You get more points than normal (35k on platinum) and I get so,e too
The trick I use is I buy normal tickets for where I want to go then use points to upgrade
Emirates Manchester to Dubai - the upgrade from economy to business is 36k points and about £150 taxes
Virgin Manchester to JFK - the upgrade from economy to upper class is 35k points and about £150 taxes
Both those tickets are £3k. But I paid around £350 for the standard plus points
Ironically th spend value of those points on the Amex website is circa £225
If anyone wants a card pm me for a referral link. You get more points than normal (35k on platinum) and I get so,e too
Greg66 said:
If you are reasonably flexible with your dates, quick off the mark, and have some alternative options around your target destination airport, they are excellent for long haul business and first class travel.
If you can’t tick all those boxes though, prepare to be disappointed.
This.If you can’t tick all those boxes though, prepare to be disappointed.
I've had the Amex card for years, usually earn the companion voucher plus have >300,000 unspent Avios in the account.
I've never used the companion vouchers so they have expired, and I've never been able to use the Avios on flights I needed to book. There are very few "rewards" seats on flights so you need to book early (as in >6 months ahead) and be flexible. If you happen to be going on a trip and fancy using your miles to make it cheaper or upgrade or get a "free" seat, prepare to be disappointed.
I'm not a big spender or anything, but have an AMEX card for our day to day spending and the points soon add up, especially if converting Tesco and Shell points to them also.
We managed to get 3 x return flights from Birmingham to Florence with BA for October half-term for 20,000 points this year (paid the taxes which were less than £90 as one was a child ticket). I am sure many will say it wasn't the best way to convert points etc etc, but at the end of the day, it allowed us a holiday which would have been out of reach otherwise and all we did was make our usual day to day purchases using a credit card rather than cash. Always try to get something for nothing!
We managed to get 3 x return flights from Birmingham to Florence with BA for October half-term for 20,000 points this year (paid the taxes which were less than £90 as one was a child ticket). I am sure many will say it wasn't the best way to convert points etc etc, but at the end of the day, it allowed us a holiday which would have been out of reach otherwise and all we did was make our usual day to day purchases using a credit card rather than cash. Always try to get something for nothing!
djc206 said:
DanL said:
I don’t have a huge number (120k) of Avios, and I’ve yet to book a flight with them. Just used 55k (I think, maybe 50k?) to knock £300 off the price of a flight with BA. It’s quite possible I’ve been doing things wrong, but I’ve not found them too handy...
That’s a terrible use of avios.We went to Tokyo first 2 years ago. We went to LA and back from Houston last year. We went to New Orleans and back from Austin this year and we’ve for next year to New Orleans and back from Vegas all in business. Get a BA Amex, get a companion voucher (basically a buy one get one free) and you need only pay taxes. Each of the above cost ~£500 per person.
The secret is book early, be flexible with destination if possible (not usually a problem if you book early enough) and use companion vouchers.
120,000 is a decent amount to spend.
ClaphamGT3 said:
Only if that's what you want to do. I collect Avios points on my Amex through the year and use them to subsidise flights to and from our place in France over the summer. Yes, I could go further but I have booked all my flights for this year and saved £600.
My response was to say 50,000 avios for £300 is terrible value. The reward flight savers within Europe can be very good value. Generally a cash + avios booking will represent poor value for money as the avios are massively undervalued by that system.djc206 said:
ClaphamGT3 said:
Only if that's what you want to do. I collect Avios points on my Amex through the year and use them to subsidise flights to and from our place in France over the summer. Yes, I could go further but I have booked all my flights for this year and saved £600.
My response was to say 50,000 avios for £300 is terrible value. The reward flight savers within Europe can be very good value. Generally a cash + avios booking will represent poor value for money as the avios are massively undervalued by that system.djc206 said:
ClaphamGT3 said:
But it's only poor value if you have an interest in using them differently. 70000 points to save £600 was good value to me
Which is a much higher rate of return than 50,000 for £300 no?
I’ve tried looking at reward flights, and I can’t seem to go anywhere interesting to me in a comfortable seat for the miles I have - any tips? In April I’m off to SFO in first thanks to the sale, but open to suggestions for autumn. Would want to head west from the UK somewhere warm - heading east I’d rather travel with Emirates.
DanL said:
See, I knew I was doing it wrong.
I’ve tried looking at reward flights, and I can’t seem to go anywhere interesting to me in a comfortable seat for the miles I have - any tips? In April I’m off to SFO in first thanks to the sale, but open to suggestions for autumn. Would want to head west from the UK somewhere warm - heading east I’d rather travel with Emirates.
When in autumn? For the school holidays and popular destinations such as Vegas/San Fran/LA you need to book reward flights for anything other than world traveller as soon as they’re released really. NY tends to have plenty of availability but it seems a bit of a waste when the return flight is only 6 hours. I’ve tried looking at reward flights, and I can’t seem to go anywhere interesting to me in a comfortable seat for the miles I have - any tips? In April I’m off to SFO in first thanks to the sale, but open to suggestions for autumn. Would want to head west from the UK somewhere warm - heading east I’d rather travel with Emirates.
One thing we’ve found is that the newer routes tend to have better availability. New Orleans and Austin had plenty of club seats available when we booked. BA are starting Nashville in spring so that may have decent availability as fewer people realise they fly there. Oakland might be better than San Fran for availability although I’m not sure on that one. Basically the more niche destinations.
The other thing you can do which a lot of colleagues do is book a seat in WT or WTP and keep checking for club availability and when seats are released phone up to upgrade and pay the small change fee. I think it’s £35/person.
Someone at work just booked Santiago which is about as much bang for your buck as you can get I reckon!
DanL said:
Honestly, any time from October to December. No kids, so no need to go during the holiday period. Will want to be somewhere warm by then though!
Early October is a great time to go to New Orleans. It’s just cooling down a bit after summer which can be stifling. This year we went out to New Orleans in mid September and then flew up to Nashville, drove to Memphis, flew to San Antonio and drove around the area finishing in Austin and flew back from there the second week in October. Bloody lovely, bloody hot still and as I say we had no trouble getting seats in club. Next September is already booked back to New Orleans, that’ll be our third visit in 3 years, can’t get enough of the place.
djc206 said:
Early October is a great time to go to New Orleans. It’s just cooling down a bit after summer which can be stifling.
This year we went out to New Orleans in mid September and then flew up to Nashville, drove to Memphis, flew to San Antonio and drove around the area finishing in Austin and flew back from there the second week in October. Bloody lovely, bloody hot still and as I say we had no trouble getting seats in club. Next September is already booked back to New Orleans, that’ll be our third visit in 3 years, can’t get enough of the place.
Interesting, thanks for the recommendation! I’ve not been, and could well be tempted. This year we went out to New Orleans in mid September and then flew up to Nashville, drove to Memphis, flew to San Antonio and drove around the area finishing in Austin and flew back from there the second week in October. Bloody lovely, bloody hot still and as I say we had no trouble getting seats in club. Next September is already booked back to New Orleans, that’ll be our third visit in 3 years, can’t get enough of the place.
I don’t really do “beach” holidays - I tend to get bored, rather than relaxed!If you can collect enough; if your travel patterns fit with availability; if you travel to the "right" places; they are great.
I travel predominantly with BA; have a BA AMEX; use BA for holiday bookings. Currently have around million avois.
I don't need to travel at peak times.
I used a lot to fly my wife out to Kuwait when i worked there, availability was really good in all classes. I've used them with AMEX 2-4-1 vouchers to fly two of us to New York on Concorde both ways for 125K Avios (few years back). They are great to use in some countries where there are no taxes or surcharges. So spent 50k for 2 domestic flights in Oz that would have cost 2k a piece.
If you have enough FF status with BA you can break free Avios seats on any flight in any class at a higher redemption rate,
I travel predominantly with BA; have a BA AMEX; use BA for holiday bookings. Currently have around million avois.
I don't need to travel at peak times.
I used a lot to fly my wife out to Kuwait when i worked there, availability was really good in all classes. I've used them with AMEX 2-4-1 vouchers to fly two of us to New York on Concorde both ways for 125K Avios (few years back). They are great to use in some countries where there are no taxes or surcharges. So spent 50k for 2 domestic flights in Oz that would have cost 2k a piece.
If you have enough FF status with BA you can break free Avios seats on any flight in any class at a higher redemption rate,
DanL said:
I don’t have a huge number (120k) of Avios, and I’ve yet to book a flight with them. Just used 55k (I think, maybe 50k?) to knock £300 off the price of a flight with BA. It’s quite possible I’ve been doing things wrong, but I’ve not found them too handy...
The current going rate is for spending Avios to the west coast is 170k plus £700 return off peak in First. If you have an AMEX 2 for 1 voucher, you can get two first class tickets worth £12k plus for 170k avios and £1400. That’s a pretty good deal - it’s less cash expenditure than two economy tickets to the west coast. Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff