BA / Barclaycard upgrade voucher or 7,000 Avios

[danstravel]

Looks like it has been confirmed via the High Life Magazine that the offer of a sum of Avios to exchange the voucher is 7,000 Avios.

I think that is poor value even given the limitations of the voucher…

Ref: AdBoy from the Flyertalk thread.

[lollyfry]

Can you give a bit more detail on this? Do you mean Barclays offering to give 7000 Avios in place of your earned voucher?

[ringingup]

lollyfry wrote:

Do you mean Barclays offering to give 7000 Avios in place of your earned voucher?

Yes.

[duggie1982]

Madness, i have one in my account still and since i am just back from LA on my first in CW the voucher is way more attractive to me, got a £4k ticket for £450 plus (by error i am assuming) tier and avios points that got me up to silver and avios worth about £100 in nectar points

[baec_newbie]

As someone pointed out on the Flyertalk thread, 7k Avios is less than the minimum saving you’d make on a redemption…

[JDB]

baec_newbie wrote:

As someone pointed out on the Flyertalk thread, 7k Avios is less than the minimum saving you’d make on a redemption…

7,000 Avios is the anticipated alternative that has been trailed here and presumably represents roughly the cost to Barclays of the voucher rather than any theoretical redemption value.

[baec_newbie]

JDB wrote:

baec_newbie wrote:

As someone pointed out on the Flyertalk thread, 7k Avios is less than the minimum saving you’d make on a redemption…

7,000 Avios is the anticipated alternative that has been trailed here and presumably represents roughly the cost to Barclays of the voucher rather than any theoretical redemption value.

No surprises there. But it is surprising that they’d have the gall to push such a rubbish offer. I suppose, given the “700 Avios for £1500 spend” type offers we’ve seen, Barclays have demonstrately quite clearly that they have no interest in rewarding customers’ loyalty once they have them onboard. A complete contrast with the ludicrously generous 150k SUB that ran last year.

[JDB]

@baec_newbie – what are you expecting from Barclays? Should they be paying for the privilege of having you as a customer? In addition to the ludicrously generous SUBs / dual product bonus they have been offering, Barclays does offer ongoing loyalty awards, 1500 Avios/month for the Premier account (net cost £7/month) plus more if you have other products, plus you get the voucher which, as you have identified, is worth much more than 7,000 Avios – say absolute minimum 15,000 or c. £150. On top of that you get the highest earning (non Amex) Avios card on the market.

Presumably you have cancelled while waiting for another provider to launch a better card that will better reward your ‘loyalty’??

[Alex G]

I have two Barclays vouchers which I won’t be using. Would love to swap them for 14000 Avios, and will take that offer in future.

The limitation to only take the low £ high Avios option on RFS means poor value on short haul, and I’ve got a glut of BA vouchers for long haul.

[sturgeon]

I’ve received my latest Barclays premier voucher today and there was no mention of a point’s alternative. Are we expected to know about this? Not that 7k is attractive.

[JDB]

sturgeon wrote:

I’ve received my latest Barclays premier voucher today and there was no mention of a point’s alternative. Are we expected to know about this? Not that 7k is attractive.

It was something referenced in the terms since launch as a possibility but not yet implemented.

[YC]

I was weighing up switching to the rainy day saver for 5% interest given it’s not been easy to use the voucher (BA metal and ex-UK). And assuming you consider the monthly avios as breakeven, I think 7k avios is about the right level.

The interest uplift is only 2% (if u are moving from chase at 3%) so that is £100 gross interest. After tax, it is either £80/£60 depending on ur tax bracket and u have already hit the free allowance. So 7k avios is not bad for just having a current account (not that many will take this offer).

[Alex G]

YC wrote:

I was weighing up switching to the rainy day saver for 5% interest given it’s not been easy to use the voucher (BA metal and ex-UK). And assuming you consider the monthly avios as breakeven, I think 7k avios is about the right level.

The interest uplift is only 2% (if u are moving from chase at 3%) so that is £100 gross interest. After tax, it is either £80/£60 depending on ur tax bracket and u have already hit the free allowance. So 7k avios is not bad for just having a current account (not that many will take this offer).

I opened a Barclays Current Account about 6 months ago to get the Rainy Day Saver. 5% instant access was very attractive then. Not so much now. There are plenty of Regular Savings accounts paying more than 5%, and I’ve just opened an ISA with Yorkshire BS (established members only) that pays 4% tax free.

Kroo will be paying 3.3% from 1/4.

[sloth]

YC wrote:

I was weighing up switching to the rainy day saver for 5% interest given it’s not been easy to use the voucher (BA metal and ex-UK). And assuming you consider the monthly avios as breakeven, I think 7k avios is about the right level.

The interest uplift is only 2% (if u are moving from chase at 3%) so that is £100 gross interest. After tax, it is either £80/£60 depending on ur tax bracket and u have already hit the free allowance. So 7k avios is not bad for just having a current account (not that many will take this offer).

you can open the Rainy day saver, put in the funds and then switch back to Avios Rewards if you wish. the Rainy Day saver will stay open

[BJ]

Absolutely stunned they are offering only 7k, when I read the OP I thought they meant to write 70k!

[baec_newbie]

JDB wrote:

@baec_newbie – what are you expecting from Barclays? Should they be paying for the privilege of having you as a customer? In addition to the ludicrously generous SUBs / dual product bonus they have been offering, Barclays does offer ongoing loyalty awards, 1500 Avios/month for the Premier account (net cost £7/month) plus more if you have other products, plus you get the voucher which, as you have identified, is worth much more than 7,000 Avios – say absolute minimum 15,000 or c. £150. On top of that you get the highest earning (non Amex) Avios card on the market.

Presumably you have cancelled while waiting for another provider to launch a better card that will better reward your ‘loyalty’??

I’m not expecting them to pay me to be a customer (though rewards credit cards sort of do involve that). I’m just expecting them not to make such a derisory offer in the hope that people think it’s a good deal. I hardly think that’s too much to ask.

Put it this way, if the card were advertised upfront as having a £10k spend bonus of 7k Avios, I think most people would recognise that as a rubbish deal. OTOH offering an annual voucher for the current account is much more generous, considering that even if you pay the ‘full’ £12/month, you are essentially getting it for free as you are only paying 0.8p/Avios for the monthly Avios anyway.

[NorthernLass]

Barclays are not going to start offering high 5-figure sums of avios to every customer in lieu of the upgrade voucher. I am wondering if the negative feedback about the RFS pricing means that most cardholders intend to use the vouchers on short-haul redemptions (which is what most avios collectors spend their avios on, according to the received wisdom here). Though why they are doing this rather than just trying to fix the functionality of the vouchers is a bit of a mystery. But I think that most people at Barclays don’t really understand how big a saving can be made by using the vouchers on long haul, very expensive routes, even with the single pricing option.

[YC]

@sloth that is handy to know. Their T&Cs specifically say they can change your rainy day account if circumstances change. But clearly different to what actually happens

[Tim330]

How does one exchange the voucher for avios?

[Anna]

You can’t – I think the proposal is that when you earn a new voucher you’ll be given the choice.

[thegavnor]

duggie1982 wrote:

Madness, i have one in my account still and since i am just back from LA on my first in CW the voucher is way more attractive to me, got a £4k ticket for £450 plus (by error i am assuming) tier and avios points that got me up to silver and avios worth about £100 in nectar points

I can’t find anything about tier points when using an upgrade voucher – if I am paying the equivalent of an economy fare, in return for an econ plus seat, do I receive tier points at the economy rate, or none at all?

[nectar collector]

thegavnor wrote:

duggie1982 wrote:

Madness, i have one in my account still and since i am just back from LA on my first in CW the voucher is way more attractive to me, got a £4k ticket for £450 plus (by error i am assuming) tier and avios points that got me up to silver and avios worth about £100 in nectar points

I can’t find anything about tier points when using an upgrade voucher – if I am paying the equivalent of an economy fare, in return for an econ plus seat, do I receive tier points at the economy rate, or none at all?

You are buying an Avios redemption so no Tier Points or Avios to be earned

[JonF]

The 7000 Avios swap for a cabin upgrade voucher actually makes the joint offer a Barclays Premium card and current account more appealing to me as I’m not sure if I could use the upgrade vouchers. Most of my flights are short haul, and I usually get a decent Avios rate as we usually fly to popular destinations in school holidays. Usually getting close to 2p per Avios if using a Amex Companion voucher in economy. However, if I use the 1p rate and hold both Barclays products, I’d pay £324pa in account fees (including the £5 reduction for having both products).

Current account
• 1500 avios per month = £180
• 4 lounge passes at £18.50 = £74
• Cabin Upgrade voucher trade in 7000 avios = £70

Credit Card
• Additional 0.5 points per £1 spend over the free card, on £10k is 5000 avios = £50
• Cabin Upgrade voucher trade in 7000 avios = £70

Net gain is £120 based on 1p Avios. If I can use the upgrade vouchers then great, if not then I’m not losing out. Plus I haven’t factored in the other Mastercard benefits.

[davet]

using 7000 extra avios on qatar’s cheaper redemption routes is better value than the upgrade voucher for those of us who go east more than west

[CarpalTravel]

For people like me, who were never going to use the voucher, it’s nice to at least have the option.