Best card combo with a child

[olivergdavis]

Hi there,

My wife and I have always held the Black BA card and done well from Companion vouchers in recent years… however, our daughter shortly turns two and I am somewhat hesitant to start paying a full biz class fare in addition..

What set up could work well for us as a family of three? I have looked at Platinum card and also the Barclays Black card, but struggling to work out what will give us the best value and return.

Advice appreciated,

Thanks,

Oliver

[aq.1988]

I think the BAPP in conjunction with the Barclaycard Avios cards works well for a family of 3.

The parent that owns the BAPP books them and the child on one booking, and the other parent then uses the upgrade voucher earned on the Barclaycard to book a return flight (paying the cost for PE). E.g, CW return off-peak to NYC or Dubai is 160k, and with the upgrade voucher, it would be 85k (saving 75k avios).

However, the bonus on the Barclaycard Avios Plus is only 25k (for £3k spend in 3 months), and will require £10k spend to earn the voucher.

The Platinum currently has a 80-100k bonus (ending tomorrow), so might be worth going for to boost your points anyway.

[Caps44]

Is there then the risk if flight is overbooked the one on the Barclays voucher could be unboarded or downgraded?
As you would have 2 PNRs?

[vzzbuckz]

I have two who are now turning 16 soon and, like you, flew business before. I couldn’t find a cost effective way of doing the same with children so have endured a decade and a half of flying economy.

That being said, I do see lots of families in Premium and Business and a friend, who is a pilot, say they see kids in First too? Both he and I have no idea how they do it.

[NorthernLass]

We did this for several years while our son was at school. I’ve posted about it extensively but our options were generally:

1 adult and child on 241, 1 adult on cash or BAH booking or –

1 adult and child on 241, 1 adult on Lloyds or Barclays voucher.

We keep a healthy avios balance by maximising SUBS and using avios-earning cards for all possible expenditure (including e-store).

Short-haul flights can also be good value for using avios and even the 2 vouchers as cash prices are so high in school holidays.

@Caps44, small risk yes, but you just need to make sure you have a contingency plan or 2!

[n1368585]

Without trying to burst your bubble, the other question you need to ask is how suitable it would be for a 2-year old.

Whilst the old club world layout is manageable to a degree, especially if you can get the middle 3 or 3 of the middle 4 depending on aircraft type (but even then we only did it when our eldest was 6).

But Club Suite is a totally different ball game, because of the seating arrangement. They have a greater level of privacy and seats angled away so you are not really close to anyone. Remember your 2 year old will have to be seated on their own for takeoff/landing and during turbulence.
Personally I would wait until they’re a bit older.