Booking for Austin

[Ash]

I have 130,000 VC points and 2 vouchers
Also have 200,000 Avios and 2 BA vouchers.

Goal is to two UC/Business tickets to Austin in Nov. flexible with dates.

Question is whats the best strategy to avoid expensive tax and charges I’m seeing with the direct flights , esp from BA.

Use the vouchers for a US hub, NYC, Dallas, Miami etc and then use points for US partner airlines to Austin?

Or use the Virgin voucher to Amsterdam or Paris and the points from there to Austin. And in BA’s case, substitute with Madrid and Iberia.

The taxes/charges on long haul to/from London are negating the benefits of points and vouchers – or have i missed a trick?

[NorthernLass]

No – generally the surcharges are the big downside of the 2 types of vouchers. However, you can use the new-style BA 241 to start outside the UK now so you could try pricing it up starting from DUB which seems extra-low in terms of taxes for some reason (though you need to factor in getting to DUB of course).
Short haul doesn’t seem a great use of the Virgin voucher (plus I think not possible as AMS or CDG would be on KLM or Air France??) AFAIK you can only use the voucher on Virgin flights, so not any routes where they would be using (e.g) Delta aircraft as well.
You can avoid APD by flying with BA from INV or JER but the savings aren’t always worth the extra inconvenience.
Of course it also depends on dates and availability and which order you want to use your vouchers.