Avios to Nectar conversion rate change

[SamG]

Agree. I regularly used to use MRs for hotels – either for real “gaming” value vs cash – Radisson was particularly good for this even boring places like Park Inn for 9k points etc or to stay somewhere I’d never pay to stay for a value that was still good – e.g. Ritz Carlton Kyoto. But recently the numbers just do not make sense on most bookings, especially now I’ve got 2 kids and am ruled out of standard rooms.

Flights wise I think there is still value in BA Club Europe for me, if you don’t have status it’s a nice upgrade and it usually works out better value than paying cash. If you do long haul with a 2-4-1 and can book at T-355 then there is potentially value there especially at peak times still, but with prices / exchange rate where they are – especially the US$, I just can’t see us doing those kind of holidays for a long time. Especially as the Club Suite product looks like a nightmare with young kids!

We’ve bought a caravan (quite a difference from the RC Kyoto haha) and will be spending most holidays in the UK or France for the next few years. I’ll be using my Chase 1% debit card and putting the cash towards that instead!

[Guy Incognito]

Rob Burgess wrote:

The best cashback non-Amex remains the free Barclaycard Avios card, tranferring to Nectar. More than 2x better than the next best option.

Thanks Rob – we typically would be generating over 2,000,000 AmEx points / year so I’m considering Capital on Tap, as I believe that would translate into £20k.

[SamG]

Rob Burgess wrote:

The best cashback non-Amex remains the free Barclaycard Avios card, tranferring to Nectar. More than 2x better than the next best option.

non-Amex credit card – 0.67% back now to spend at Sainsbury/Argos vs 1% hard cash for the Chase debit card (except for any excluded transactions, though most wouldn’t be an every day purchase)

[Alex G]

SamG wrote:

Rob Burgess wrote:

The best cashback non-Amex remains the free Barclaycard Avios card, tranferring to Nectar. More than 2x better than the next best option.

non-Amex credit card – 0.67% back now to spend at Sainsbury/Argos vs 1% hard cash for the Chase debit card (except for any excluded transactions, though most wouldn’t be an every day purchase)

Chase debit is fine for everyday purchases. But for large ticket items, you should be using a credit card for Section 75 protection.

[Entitled]

Guy Incognito – I’m a big fan of Capital on Tap and if you don’t want to convert the rewards to Avios you can use their free card which otherwise has exactly the same functionality.

Note however that it is a Corporate Card and assuming you are using it for it’s intended purpose, that £20k you mention belongs to the company, not you. If you want access to it, factor in the tax.

[JDB]

Alex G wrote:

SamG wrote:

Rob Burgess wrote:

The best cashback non-Amex remains the free Barclaycard Avios card, tranferring to Nectar. More than 2x better than the next best option.

non-Amex credit card – 0.67% back now to spend at Sainsbury/Argos vs 1% hard cash for the Chase debit card (except for any excluded transactions, though most wouldn’t be an every day purchase)

Chase debit is fine for everyday purchases. But for large ticket items, you should be using a credit card for Section 75 protection.

In addition to the absence of s75, the Chase card has over 30 spend categories excluded, many of which I consider every day spend.

[SamG]

Very good point re: S75 and I’ve had to use it twice recently too! Definitely will stick to a CC for anything that could lead to a potential issue

@JDB what do you think could be excluded from your every day out of interest? I had a look through and couldn’t see anything obvious that would impact me. I’ll mainly be switching my day to day petrol, grocery, trains etc

[JDB]

SamG wrote:

Very good point re: S75 and I’ve had to use it twice recently too! Definitely will stick to a CC for anything that could lead to a potential issue

@JDB what do you think could be excluded from your every day out of interest? I had a look through and couldn’t see anything obvious that would impact me. I’ll mainly be switching my day to day petrol, grocery, trains etc

Insurance premiums, medical expenses, university/college fees, professional/financial services fees, car servicing, art/antiques are just a few. It has been reported that some transactions still get the 1%, but I don’t want random outcomes so prefer to stick to rewards vs CB.

[SamG]

Yes, I did get 1% back on a new car which was a pleasent surprise as car dealers are supposed to be excluded.

I don’t really incur any of those expenses or the others on their list on my card on a regular basis aside for some insurance premiums that I’ll leave on a rewards card, so for me it’s going to be better to shift the bulk of my spend for now.

A lot depends on your redemption pattern though, a couple of years ago I was after every mile I could get my hands on as I was putting them to good use

[Paul B]

I’m not too surprised by this, and actually expected it to happen sooner.

[jj]

Rob Burgess wrote:

The best cashback non-Amex remains the free Barclaycard Avios card, tranferring to Nectar. More than 2x better than the next best option.

Doesn’t AIB offer 0.5% cashback on one of its cards? I would take 0.5% cash over 0.67% paid in Nectar. But I would still prefer the Avios as it’s easy to get more than 1p value per Avios

[lifelessordinary.xyz]

The cynic in me always suspected they would pull this. In fact, I remember asking about it when the scheme was announced and Rob gave some sage advice similar to the article. I guess nothing to stop either BA or Sainsbury’s devaluing their respective schemes at will but the implicit contract that people have based their earning and burning on has been broken (by BA at least) and this is the second announcement in as many days of what are effectively cynical penny pinching moves. Always knew they would do this, just didn’t think it would be this soon after the partnership launched or with such short notice which is why, as Rob suggested, the Nectar points have always stayed with nectar (as a hedge) and the avios with BA (the gamble). only to be converted when required.

It would seem odd that the transfer rate in the other direction didn’t change and hopefully some clarity on this from nectar will be forthcoming before the 16th. Great if it doesn’t but the uncertainty about what else is coming down the pipe now from BA is annoying to say the least. Tempted to make my AMEX 241 redemption booking asap before they devalue redemptions further and stick on a bunch more carrier surcharges… in fact, it may just be a better experience and better value to use the 241 on a CE redemption and spend the remaining avios with Qatar for long haul redemptions.

The timing of announcing this just after the monthly deadline to transfer Nectar <> Avios 50K for the month has just passed is also cynical. Hats off to those that were sounding the alarm on sunday/monday.

[WillPS]

Eugh this is bad news. I’d planned to send Barclays Premier 110k to Nectar, that’s £150 I’ll never see.

I’ve also got a Platinum Amex bonus, not sure if I’ll be able to bring that forward quickly enough to get it through Avios to convert. Perhaps Amex will come to the rescue on that one by offering a decent statement credit bonus.

[Guy Incognito]

Entitled wrote:

Guy Incognito – I’m a big fan of Capital on Tap and if you don’t want to convert the rewards to Avios you can use their free card which otherwise has exactly the same functionality.

Note however that it is a Corporate Card and assuming you are using it for it’s intended purpose, that £20k you mention belongs to the company, not you. If you want access to it, factor in the tax.

Sure it could sit on a DLA somewhere… Otherwise the company can buy new laptops, iPhones etc. Point taken.

I’m still bitter about AmEx stopping their FX premium rewards. That was the motherlode for very simple point collecting (in very high numbers).

[Entitled]

For it to be part of the DLA (Directors Loan Account?) it must be the directors money loaned which means that at some point it has been taken from the Co. to loan it back.

At £20k that is a lot of laptops. I’m not an accountant but electric cars or work vehicles may be a better use. The Ford Raptor is a lot of fun. A lot of fun!

[cinereus]

Awful news. Can anyone confirm that after we have converted the 50,000 manually we can still convert 25,000 by auto-conversion on top of that?

[TooPoorToBeHere]

cinereus wrote:

Awful news. Can anyone confirm that after we have converted the 50,000 manually we can still convert 25,000 by auto-conversion on top of that?

Lots of us have requested the auto-conversion but I don’t think anyone’s in a position to confirm it will definitely work.

If you have the Avios in your account, you may as well request the auto-conversion, the worst that happens is it doesn’t complete.

[Kowalski]

Does anyone know how to cancel the Avios to Nectar auto conversion?

[Nigel Keya]

Just set up a new Nectar a/c for my son, to transfer over his 25000 Avios while it’s still 0.8p rate. All easy enough, you get the full Nectar number online once you have verified email address. Plus I linked the 2 a/cs (Nectar & BA). But when I try to convert Avios—> Nectar, I get message ‘Unable to convert from Nectar
Oops! Sorry, your Nectar account doesn’t have redemption permissions.
Please contact the main card holder to get these changed for you, by contacting Nectar customer support on 0344 811 0811.’

Obvs I’ll do that when their phone lines open. Did anyone else get this message? Could it be because he hasn’t earned a single Nectar point yet?

[Nigel Keya]

Kowalski wrote:

Does anyone know how to cancel the Avios to Nectar auto conversion?

Just go to the Convert page (on desktop) and scroll down, there’s a cancel auto-convert option. Link to BA page here from HFP (incidentally, BA conversion page was working fine 10 mins ago but ‘can’t be reached’ currently for me – tried 2 different browsers. Will no doubt come back soon.)
https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/05/04/how-do-you-convert-avios-into-nectar-points/

[Andrew J]

TooPoorToBeHere wrote:

cinereus wrote:

Awful news. Can anyone confirm that after we have converted the 50,000 manually we can still convert 25,000 by auto-conversion on top of that?

Lots of us have requested the auto-conversion but I don’t think anyone’s in a position to confirm it will definitely work.

If you have the Avios in your account, you may as well request the auto-conversion, the worst that happens is it doesn’t complete.

It’s quite clear in the Ts&Cs:
“14. The manual and automatic conversion caps are independent of one another.”

[Nigel Keya]

Andrew J wrote:

TooPoorToBeHere wrote:

cinereus wrote:

Awful news. Can anyone confirm that after we have converted the 50,000 manually we can still convert 25,000 by auto-conversion on top of that?

Lots of us have requested the auto-conversion but I don’t think anyone’s in a position to confirm it will definitely work.

If you have the Avios in your account, you may as well request the auto-conversion, the worst that happens is it doesn’t complete.

It’s quite clear in the Ts&Cs:
“14. The manual and automatic conversion caps are independent of one another.”

Anybody know if it’ll convert all 25000 Avios—> Nectar if you have enough sitting in your a/c? There doesn’t seem to be a quantity choice.

Another link for Kowalski https://exchange.shopping.ba.com/partner/nectar

[Nigel Keya]

Easy enough to empty my offspring’s BA a/cs and convert Avios to Nectar, opening new Nectar a/cs for them (they both gave me permission). Only about something short of 60000 Avios as I/ my wife are the main collectors.

Next on the agenda would be opening Ebay a/cs for them so we can use the credits.

Age limit 18YO to open Nectar a/c so my daughter can’t go for it.

Had to mess about with VPNs to do certain bits in the procedure.

[Nigel Keya]

Andrew J wrote:

TooPoorToBeHere wrote:

cinereus wrote:

Awful news. Can anyone confirm that after we have converted the 50,000 manually we can still convert 25,000 by auto-conversion on top of that?

Lots of us have requested the auto-conversion but I don’t think anyone’s in a position to confirm it will definitely work.

If you have the Avios in your account, you may as well request the auto-conversion, the worst that happens is it doesn’t complete.

It’s quite clear in the Ts&Cs:
“14. The manual and automatic conversion caps are independent of one another.”

Well done that man (Andrew J) 🙂

He got it 100% right

[G]

cinereus wrote:

Awful news. Can anyone confirm that after we have converted the 50,000 manually we can still convert 25,000 by auto-conversion on top of that?

Did the 50k and auto convert last week. Got an email today saying auto convert successfully moved 25k over. It’s been taken from my Avios balance but will take 12 days to show up in Nectar