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Hi,
I’ve got a British airways companion voucher via my BA Amex premium plus card and a Barclays BA Cabin upgrade voucher (or I can take 7000 avios).
Is it possible to use either voucher with cash to cover the difference and NOT use my avios points?
I have around 500k points, the plan was to save up to around a million and then travel to Japan and New Zealand business class in the future.
I’m not sure if it’s should use my points now or just continue to save for my future goal. Which means the vouchers will be wasted?
I do expect to get a voucher every year, so I’m not too worried about that.
Any advice would be appreciated
The BA 241 allows 2 people to fly for the Avios cost of a single person (or a single person to fly at half Avios cost.) Now that RFS is available on long haul you can select from half a dozen options of cash/Avios ratio which would enable you to ramp up the cash element and reduce the Avios. This may not be the best value option, but would be closer to what you’re trying to achieve, However, ultimately you’re still going to have to pay some Avios – this is what the voucher is for after all, two fly for the Avios of one.
Similar with Barclays, albeit different rules for how that voucher works.
Also, personal preference, but I’d avoid holding too large a balance of Avios for too long, You never know when a devaluation may occur.
With the Barclays voucher you’re limited to the highest avios/lowest cash option so there’s no way to use it without parting with a substantial number of points. As @Scott says, there are different options with the 241, but the higher cash options can be not that different from purely cash fares so do check these before booking award flights.
But if you can travel before your vouchers expire, 500k avios plus the vouchers you should be able to get to Japan and NZ (albeit indirectly for NZ).
@scoot and @northernlass.
I really apprecaite you both providing some clarity on both these vouchers/schemes.
Where do i need to go to look for these flights? is there a specific website?
It sounds as though you are rather new to this! Presumably you can see the vouchers on your BAEC account? You need to start from there.
Read as much as you can on this site, especially the articles by Rob and co on earning and using avios, and redeeming the two vouchers. You can find them under the headings on the home page. You will need to read up on how to find availability, especially for popular destinations like Japan. Also consider using SeatSpy to search for availability.
Northenlass, yes I am very new to this, I have been collecting points when I travelled more for work. Never used them as I thought save them for those two future trips.
I will see what comes up on the BAEC site and then as you suggested, read more on this website/forum.
I think, I will end up not using the vouchers, and I know its a risk with holding onto the avios, but the dream has always been for the mrs and I to go business class to Japan and NZ. Issue is kids are still young 🙂 so have to save it for when they are old enough to leave behind 🙂
f1gjam I really think you need to rethink your plans. By the time the kids are grown, Avios will have been devalued many times over and who knows what new ‘enhancements’ will have been rolled out. Holding large loyalty currency balances for years or decades is never advisable. Perhaps you should consider how much your young family’s life could be enhanced by using those Avios now in the form of Nectar at Sainsburys. Saving on your groceries is a real saving right now, and with the money saved you are giving yourself cash to burn in future.
As above OR, if your kids are school age and you can only travel in the holidays, look at using your avios and vouchers to save a lot of cash on flights.
There’s nothing to stop you collecting going forward and doing that big trip if the scheme still operates then!Thank you for the advice all, I do appreciate it. I guess I need to figure out a good way to utilise these points and vouchers.
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