Avios Redemption University – Lesson 7 – Using your BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher

(This is Lesson 7 of the Avios Redemption University series, aimed at answering the eternal question – ‘What is the best Avios points redemption?’. Click here for links to earlier posts on redeeming Avios for hotel rooms, redeeming on Aer Lingus, using Avios to upgrade, using ‘Avios and Money’, redeeming on airberlin and Reward Flight Saver).

This post is part of the Avios Redemption University, a series of posts aimed at explaining some of the most important things you need to know when planning on redeeming your Avios. It is NOT about the Lloyds TSB American Express 2-4-1 voucher – this will be discussed in a future lesson.

It is not an understatement to say that, used properly, the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 is the biggest perk of any loyalty credit card in the UK.

If you want mathematical proof of that, take a look at this post! The voucher from the Premium Plus card should get you at least £750 of value if used ‘properly’, which is 7.5% of the £10,000 you spent on the card to earn it.

If you do not already have a British Airways American Express card (see the ‘Credit Cards Update’ tab for the latest offer), here are the key details. There are two different cards available:

The BA American Express card has no fee, earns 1 mile per £1 spent and generates a 2-4-1 voucher each year when you spend £20,000. The voucher lasts for 1 year.

The BA Premium Plus American Express has a £150 annual fee, earns 1.5 miles per £1 spent (3x on BA flights) and generates a 2-4-1 voucher each year when you spend £10,000. The voucher lasts for 2 years.

In my mind, it is pointless having the basic, free BA Amex if you plan to earn a 2-4-1 voucher.

Why? Well, for a start, triggering the voucher means spending £20,000 on the free BA Amex. And if you are spending £20,000 on the card, you’d earn 10,000 extra Avios by spending the same £20,000 on the Premium Plus card, because of the higher earnings rate! That alone is almost enough reason to pay the £150 fee.

However, I wouldn’t do that. Instead, what I would do is get the Premium Plus card and just spend the necessary £10,000 on it. I would then use my additional annual spending to open more credit cards and meet the spending target required to trigger their bonuses.

Or, if I had a partner, I would get them their own BA Premium Plus Amex and get myself a supplementary card on that account. I could then spend £10,000 on each card (my own card, then the supplementary card on my partners account) and earn TWO 2-4-1 vouchers each year.

In reality, we go with the latter option. My wife has her own BA Amex and I am a supplementary cardholder on that account. Between the supplementary card and my own BA Amex I can get through £20,000 per year to trigger 2 x 2-4-1 vouchers.

It is also worth remembering that the one-year expiry on the voucher on the free card is very inconvenient. I have just booked some flights to Dubai for next Christmas. It would have been virtually impossible to use the voucher from the free BA Amex for these flights, as I booked the full 355 days ahead (as you must, for Christmas flights) and the outbound flight must be taken within 1 year of the date the voucher is issued.

How do the vouchers work?

It is a simple and transparent process. Every month, your card statements shows your spend to date (well, your spend total up to 6 days before the statement was printed).

Once you have hit the £10,000 or £20,000 target, you will receive an email from BA and the voucher will show prominently in your ba.com account when you log-in.

What small print should I know about?

The year-to-year dates for the spending target are based on the date you applied for your card. It does NOT run on calendar years.

Certain sorts of expenditure, eg cash withdrawals, do not count towards the £10,000 / £20,000. These are the same items which do not earn Avios for the transaction. The £150 card fee on the Premium Plus card also does not count towards the £10,000.

The voucher can be used for a one-way redemption, as long as it is from the UK.

You must pay taxes and charges on BOTH seats, even though you only pay the Avios needed for one seat.

If one person cannot travel, you cannot remove that person from the booking and get your voucher back. You would need to cancel the whole booking and rebook for yourself, which may not be possible if Avios seats are no longer available.

Standard BA cancellation terms apply (all Avios and taxes refunded if you cancel up to 24 hours before the flight, £25 per person fee unless BA Gold) and you get the voucher back in your account to re-use. The expiry date does not change

How do I redeem?

For standard return or one way (ex UK only) flights on BA, you can use the voucher online at ba.com.

Remember that you CANNOT redeem for codeshare flights or partner flights, even with a BA flight number.

(This is often an issue if trying to get to Cape Town via Johannesburg, as the Johannesburg to Cape Town connection is on Comair, a BA franchise. The planes look like BA planes and have BA flight numbers, but they cannot be used with the voucher.)

For mixed class bookings, you need to call BA.

For open-jaw flights (flying to one airport and returning from another) you need to call BA. A valid open-jaw flight is one where the distance between your arriving and departing airport is shorter than either of the flights to or from London. London-Boston, New York-London, for example, is clearly OK because Boston-New York is shorter than either of the transatlantic flights.

You must use an Amex card to pay the taxes and charges on your 2-4-1 redemption booking. However, this can be ANY American Express card – it does not need to be your BA Amex.

If you are booking for a very busy destination, there is a ‘trick’ you can use to help ensure your seats. Using a 241, you would wait until the return seats open up at 355 days in advance as you cannot book each leg separately. However, by that time, the outbound seats may have gone. What you can do is book the outbound you want as soon as it comes up at 355 days out, and book a return flight for the same day! When the return flight you really want opens up, you simply change your return flight to that one. Unless you are BA Gold you will pay the £25 per ticket change fee, but it ensures that you don’t lose the outbound seats.

Who can I redeem for?

The main BA Amex cardholder must be one of the booked passengers.

There is one formal exception – where the member has 2 active vouchers. (A Premium Plus cardholder could have this, as they earn 1 voucher per year and they are valid for 2 years.) In this case, both vouchers can be used together to make a booking for a group of 4.

There is also one unofficial exception. Assuming that the loophole still works, a member of a BA household account can use a voucher to book for any two members of that household account.

Does cancelling my BA Amex cancel my voucher?

There is NO risk of losing your flights if you cancel your BA Amex after booking a flight with your voucher. However, if you later cancel the flight you may not get the voucher back.

You MIGHT lose your voucher if you cancel your BA Amex before you have used your 2-4-1 voucher. If you don’t want to pay another £150 for the Premium Plus card, then ask Amex to downgrade you to the free basic BA Amex instead. Your voucher will retain its 2 year validity.

Is the BA Amex for everyone?

NO.

It is easy to give the impression that the 2-4-1 is the greatest deal in the world. However, you still need to be able to generate a lot of Avios each year to take full advantage of it.

If you want to fly to the US once a year in Club World on your 2-4-1, you still need to be able to generate 100,000 Avios per year on top of being able to spend the £10,000 on the card.

Of course, the 2-4-1 vouchers are also valid on short-haul flights. However, you are obviously saving fewer Avios with your voucher that way – and the £150 fee on the Premium Plus card may seem poor value.

You should also remember that Amex cards are not accepted everywhere, so spending £10,000 is not always as easy as it seems.