Use Avios for Formula 1® Paddock Club™ tickets (and new deals launched at The O2)

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• NicktheGreek says:

  13 Feb13 February 05:56

  This is excellent, although I’d be surprised if any of these go for less than 1m Avios (maybe Qatar a touch less). I also wonder what percentage of privilege club members have that sort of balance. Hopefully they can roll out some less aspirational redemptions at some stage in the future.

  • The real Swiss Tony says:

    13 Feb13 February 07:00

    +1 what i’ve seen is that these “E-ticket” events go at levels that are well below what anyone would consider a sensible use of points. And with Paddock hospitality costing I believe starting in excess of £10k per person, I’d be thinking even 1m Avios would be a low bid…

    • NicktheGreek says:

      13 Feb13 February 07:34

      Melbourne and Qatar are around £6k pp for Paddock Club. US races, Monaco seem to be double that. It’ll be a balancing act between those with the means to pay cash wanting surety of the tickets but probably also with large avios balances. At a certain point surely you’d just pay cash (if still available). With that said they may have the Amex MR to tranfer to fund this as well, but would you transfer 1m+ when you may not even win?

      All in, too rich for me, but definitely a fun concept.

    • Rob says:

      13 Feb13 February 07:45

      £5-6k

      • Jay says:

        14 Feb14 February 14:23

        That’s the price for Paddock club but Privilege Club is offering F1 Garages which is going for$30-32k pp.

  • lumma says:

    13 Feb13 February 07:44

    Yeah, it’s a shame you can’t see how much the finished auctions have gone for

• Dave says:

  13 Feb13 February 07:49

  Hmm well if BA ever unlock my account (ten days and counting) I’ll definitely move some Avios over to Qatar!

• JRC says:

  13 Feb13 February 08:08

  Dumb question, but can’t you just move the Avios back from Qatar account to your BA account if you are not successful?

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 08:21

    Yes

• babyg says:

  13 Feb13 February 08:36

  Emirates 3 day paddock went for around 100k points, as there was very little coverage and 4 or so packages per race… Alas these won’t go for anywhere near that… I agree it will be around the 1million plus avios probably more

  • Will says:

    13 Feb13 February 11:54

    Wow, absolutely crazy low points!

    Which GP’s did they previously auction tickets for?

    • HampshireHog says:

      13 Feb13 February 12:01

      Blimey I didn’t realise you had to enter an auction to see a GP now… I know it’s tough but!

    • babyg_wc says:

      13 Feb13 February 14:24

      Emirates were the title sponsor to around a dozen or so races….. i remember seeing at least half of those being on on offer… sadly only enough points for one race…
      Perhaps QR will release more than 1 set…

      • will says:

        13 Feb13 February 15:07

        Would you mind saying which race you did and how you found paddock club?
        I’ve done quite a few F1 GP’s from bog standard general admission (I even went as a litter picker at Silverstone back in my uni days) to some reasonably fancy hospitality but never paddock club.

        • Biki says:

          13 Feb13 February 16:56

          I’ve been in paddock club at Spa. it’s just a big room with tables and a bar really, plus a few entertainment things like sims etc. It’s nice enough, but not worth it for £5-8k of your own money IMO. I managed to go as a guest of Williams to Budapest a few years ago which was great, as the food is great, track view from teh motorhome terrace, and can freely walk around the main paddock and get photos/autographs of all the drivers

        • babyg_wc says:

          13 Feb13 February 17:17

          @will, experiences in the paddock vary, but are without a doubt one of the best ways to watch F1. That said unless you have lots of disposable cash id struggle to get £5k of value out of it. However its alot more than just a big room as biki put it, you do get the big room, but also you get seats directly above the garages, you get super close with the drivers, teams, etc, we got given a champagne shower by Lewis at the French GP in 2022 when he got 2nd, we meet many drivers, got autographs, etc, and of course there are no queues for anything, depending on your paddock pass you can get into the back of garages, take track tours on the backs of trucks, and you really feel spoilt… be a team guest is great for the access etc, be interesting to see what the QR guests get in comparison..

• kevin says:

  13 Feb13 February 16:42

  I guess if you are someone who is planning to go to a race and buy Paddock Club tickets for cash then it might be worth your while keeping an eye on this. If its working out better value then why not? Although Rob advises not to carry big Avios balances so people may not have big enough balances to partake in it.

  Is it possible to buy Avios (or any miles, Amex MR points or similar) to the tune of 1 million’s worth of Avios?

• ADS says:

  13 Feb13 February 20:07

  anybody else unable to login to their Qatar frequent flyer account at the moment?

• JL says:

  14 Feb14 February 05:10

  I think these auctions are set to have a minimum price. I have been looking at several events early in the morning. The current bid hasnt moved for around 20 mins on any of them. As soon I place a bid, its alerts me to say its increased and the new minimum bid is higher. I wait and no change. Then I referesh the page to check then bid again. Then suddenly the current bid is higher. Clearly the system wont allow a minimum bid below a certain threshold and this is how they do it

• Mutley says:

  14 Feb14 February 18:41

  I good mate of mine manged to get into the Paddock club a few years ago, by offering to help a guy who was struggling with a barrow full of provisions, as soon as he got in and past security he made for the toilets, waited two hours and then proceeded to drink and quaff his way through several hundred pounds worth of top quality gear. I might add this was on Qualifying day at the British GP, it goes without saying the organisers were furious he was threatened with being banned from Silverstone for life.

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