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Hi
I’ve never used any 241 vouchers as yet.
My wife, 11 year old & I would like to use the voucher next year to visit either NY, Washington, or both.
Ive 2 x 241 vouchers, and my wife has 1 x 241 voucher.
We’ve just over 350k Avios in household account, and also just over 220k Amex MR points.
Ideally, we’d head out 30/5/25-2/6/25 and return 6/6/25-8/6/25 or thereabouts.I’d love the three of us to go First if possible, but is that unlikely/impossible using 241 vouchers, or my points total?
Is Business/Club more realistic?
Also – my closest airport is BHD in Northern Ireland, so can hop from there to a GBP airport, or travel down to DUB and depart from there, although if able to travel first, would prefer via LHR for the “First” experience.Finally, any recommendations for NY or Washington hotels that I could book using the MR points?
Any pointers on the best strategy, to use the points/vouchers effectively would be appreciated.
ThanksNo seems reasonable if you can get the seats which I think you may struggle to get. We did two one way to IAD for 68000 avios with a companion voucher and we returned business from Orlando, the avios is cheaper but you pay more taxes.
You may also want to consider even getting two tickets first as you can guest the third party to the lounge, that’s what we did myself and my son flew first but hubby got the lounge experience.
You’ve enough points and vouchers, but you may struggle to find 3x F, especially if your dates are quite fixed. 2xF, and 1x J could be a possibility, looks like there’s availability for that on 30th May to IAD.
As you’re based in NI, you could start your journey in Dublin (if travelling in First), and save a considerable amount in taxes, although if you have to mix F/J (for the return if you can’t find F seats), it can increase it.
And I hope you’ve been keeping an eye on the expiration dates of those 3 vouchers?
Starting in DUB will save a lot in surcharges, although you will be charged for the DUB-LHR leg as it’s not a domestic connection. You can fly back into BHD if that’s more convenient, either by making 2 separate bookings, or calling BA and asking them to book the whole thing – though as a caveat I will say carefully check the amount of cash they quote as mixing cabins can mess this up. If it’s a lot, stick with separate bookings.
Using the methods mentioned above, you could also fly into one airport and out of another, if you want to visit 2 cities.
Thank you for the helpful advice so far.
And I hope you’ve been keeping an eye on the expiration dates of those 3 vouchers?
Yes! learnt my lesson after I let one expire unused recently :/
My two expire Jan26/Oct26 and wifes voucher expires Sep 25 👍🏻You may also want to consider even getting two tickets first as you can guest the third party to the lounge, that’s what we did myself and my son flew first but hubby got the lounge experience.
I think we’ll all end up sticking together, so will moderate my expectations to Club suite! 😂
Starting in DUB will save a lot in surcharges, although you will be charged for the DUB-LHR leg as it’s not a domestic connection.
And I can book the whole Journey on 241 voucher(s), including the DUB start?
The DUB start is only worthwhile if you are booking in First, to save on taxes, or if you find availability on Aer Lingus (you can use the 241 with them), for a direct flight.
As @NorthernLass, mentioned, for business redemptions, Dublin costs extra avios for the connection, so you’d be better off flying from Belfast, so it counts as a domestic connection (and no extra avios or cash).
Yes, start in DUB to save on F, if you can find 3 seats. We are flying DUB-LHR-MEX later this month in F, which saved £600 on BA’s surcharges – more than enough to pay for positioning flights from MAN and a mini-break in Dublin at the start of the trip! Then back in CW MEX-LHR-MAN at the normal RFS pricing.
I have kept it as 2 separate bookings as it doesn’t cause us any issues and means that there was no tax “recalculation” issues which might have ended up costing more. I booked the return online then asked for 50% avios back – tips on all this in the articles and threads on this site.
I’ve done LHR-IAD and BOS-LHR in First last year (2 seats, unlikely to get 3). If one has to slum it in J, I expect staff to turn a blind eye with you dropping in and out to share the companion seat with your 11yo. My son would be more than happy to be alone as he spends the whole time watching films/music or chatting with friends.
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