Avios redemption for New York trip in December

[namster]

Hi,
I am looking at reward flights London to NYC in early December for 1 person for 4 nights using either option

1) cash with avios reduction and earn reduced avios and Tap
2) using avios allocation which is 50,000 and £100

I currently hold 197k avios. what are the best options you would suggest

thank you

[NorthernLass]

It depends on the cash price and how useful the TPs (I’m assuming that’s what you mean!) are to you. Would they get you status under the current reduced threshold, for example?
If flights are fairly cheap I’d go with cash, especially in economy as 50k avios is only a decent burn rate if cash prices are high or you’re particularly avios-rich. I’ve got a couple of bookings using the RFS option (MIA and EWR), but they are in peak school holiday season so make sense as redemptions.

[namster]

currently showing a return reward flight in economy November for 50,000 + £100 , where as a cash flight is £727 or £500 off with 116700 Avios

The first option seems better but i will not receive any avios or TP

NorthernLass wrote:

It depends on the cash price and how useful the TPs (I’m assuming that’s what you mean!) are to you. Would they get you status under the current reduced threshold, for example?
If flights are fairly cheap I’d go with cash, especially in economy as 50k avios is only a decent burn rate if cash prices are high or you’re particularly avios-rich. I’ve got a couple of bookings using the RFS option (MIA and EWR), but they are in peak school holiday season so make sense as redemptions.

[Andrew.]

Have you checked other airlines? Today, an Avios is still worth 0.8p. So your economy flight is costing you £500.

There are plenty of other HBO options for less if money is important. HBO on JetBlue is coming at £392 on the 3rd/7th. United is £431 and you can send the points to Aer Lingus and transfer on to BA.