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Hey,
I got my first ever credit card on 20th June last year and just booked my first ever Avios + 2-4-1 Amex flight costing 190,000 Avios, my companion voucher and £900 in taxes/fees.
2 x Club World Manchester to Vegas (transfer at Heathrow)
2 x Club World Orlando to Manchester (land at Gatwick, transfer at Heathrow).When I look at the pricing for the exact same flights I’m on if I was to pay in hard cash, it would have cost me £26,384.
Having still being sort of new to utilising the best out of my Avios points, have I got a good deal/done the right thing here?
When I look at the pricing for the exact same flights I’m on if I was to pay in hard cash, it would have cost me £26,384.
This looks like the fully flex fare, personally I would never pay for fully flex tickets so wouldn’t use this in any valuation. What you can do is price the open jaw online as a non-refundable return fare and use that figure which is what I would do.
Edit: I took a random dates in June and I price this itinerary at £5668 for two which includes the current sale price (if you can call it a sale!)
When I look at the pricing for the exact same flights I’m on if I was to pay in hard cash, it would have cost me £26,384.
This looks like the fully flex fare, personally I would never pay for fully flex tickets so wouldn’t use this in any valuation. What you can do is price the open jaw online as a non-refundable return fare and use that figure which is what I would do.
Edit: I took a random dates in June and I price this itinerary at £5668 for two which includes the current sale price (if you can call it a sale!)
How do i know if its a FLEX price or not as only 1 option is showing for me (price shown is per passenger), see below image:
You’ve done well to collect that many Avios in such a short time, and find flights that you want to use.
Its always interesting to see how much cash you would have had to pay to buy those flights, but realistically I’m guessing you wouldn’t actually have paid £26k.
If you value Avios at a penny (they shouldn’t cost you that much to acquire) you are paying £1400 each for the flights. I think that’s great value, and I would happily pay that amount in cash.
If these are your first long haul flights in business class, then you are in for a treat. Enjoy. Just be aware you will never want to fly economy again!
Congrats & welcome to the club.
The reality is you would have never paid £26k for those flights as cash. So if it makes you feel better by all means you can work on that assumption but more realistically you might have paid £5k for those seats (a quick plugging in of a random date in November gives me that for your route).
The 190,000 Avios have a cash value of about £1500, you’ve paid the taxes and I’m guessing you’re on the paid for BA Amex card. So £5k worth of tickets for £3k isn’t to be sniffed at, but…
Re the pricing. Two singles cost much more than a return. Use the multi city option to price up an open jaw properly.
Yes, you’re not going to get a realistic price searching one-way!
How long have you got between landing at LGW and departing LHR? Did you call to add the inbound or book the whole thing by phone?
Re the pricing. Two singles cost much more than a return. Use the multi city option to price up an open jaw properly.
Ah you’re correct, I didn’t know that. Just entered the same flights using the multi-city tool and for 2 passengers on the same flights in business is coming up as £5,029.66 (sale price). Thanks for point that out to me, learned something new 🙂
Congrats & welcome to the club.
The reality is you would have never paid £26k for those flights as cash. So if it makes you feel better by all means you can work on that assumption but more realistically you might have paid £5k for those seats (a quick plugging in of a random date in November gives me that for your route).
The 190,000 Avios have a cash value of about £1500, you’ve paid the taxes and I’m guessing you’re on the paid for BA Amex card. So £5k worth of tickets for £3k isn’t to be sniffed at, but…
Thanks for clarifying, confirmed the actual price is around £5k (see above).
You’ve done well to collect that many Avios in such a short time, and find flights that you want to use.
Its always interesting to see how much cash you would have had to pay to buy those flights, but realistically I’m guessing you wouldn’t actually have paid £26k.
If you value Avios at a penny (they shouldn’t cost you that much to acquire) you are paying £1400 each for the flights. I think that’s great value, and I would happily pay that amount in cash.
If these are your first long haul flights in business class, then you are in for a treat. Enjoy. Just be aware you will never want to fly economy again!
It will indeed be both myself and my partners first long-haul in business and very much looking forward to it. Especially the LHR to LAS since they operating their newest aircraft with the much better club world seating. Orlando one I’m still looking forward to but looking on youtube reviews I’m baffled as to who thought that seating configuration was a good idea, in one of the reviews it mentions you literally have to try and climb over the person next to you (whilst they’re asleep) if they have their seat fully flat.
I’ve done business quite a number of times before but only from Manchester to Heathrow for work. So long=haul is going to be a new experience and one I’m really looking for to 🙂
Yes, you’re not going to get a realistic price searching one-way!
How long have you got between landing at LGW and departing LHR? Did you call to add the inbound or book the whole thing by phone?
I’ve got an 8hr wait, i asked them to book that flight on purpose to ensure there’s enough time in case of delays etc… plus if i remember correctly i remember reading on here that the connection time has increased with BA. I phoned BA up and did it over the phone, they tried to charge me £15 per passenger in fees, but again i remember reading that open-jaw flights cant be booked online using avios and the 2-4-1 so i mentioned this to get the fee waived 🙂
@Rob if you’d like I’ll be happy to write a review of both flights to “give back” to HFP for the help I’ve received on these forums. My flights are in September. Let me know 🙂
I would find that transfer a massive hassle, especially after an overnight flight, but at least as it’s all on one booking if things did go really badly wrong BA will get you back to MAN without quibbling. How are you getting you and your luggage between LGW and LHR?
I’ve booked LGW-OPO next year, and calculating the transfer times involved, we’re just driving. There used to be a MAN-LGW service but it doesn’t look likely to reappear soon, sadly!
I would find that transfer a massive hassle, especially after an overnight flight, but at least as it’s all on one booking if things did go really badly wrong BA will get you back to MAN without quibbling. How are you getting you and your luggage between LGW and LHR?
I’ve booked LGW-OPO next year, and calculating the transfer times involved, we’re just driving. There used to be a MAN-LGW service but it doesn’t look likely to reappear soon, sadly!
That’s the part I’ve not yet looked into/worked out yet. After a quick look the easiest way seems to be hopping on the National Express for a 55min coach ride down to Heathrow.
Avios flights are fully flexible. I would consider driving from Orlando to Miami and flying to Heathrow from there. Or take the Brightline train. You would need to pay a small fee to change your flights.
Alternatively, take a flight to Boston and take the daytime flight home from there. Much nicer experience that a red eye. BOS or JFK flights have the new Club Suite.
Avios flights are fully flexible. I would consider driving from Orlando to Miami and flying to Heathrow from there. Or take the Brightline train. You would need to pay a small fee to change your flights.
Alternatively, take a flight to Boston and take the daytime flight home from there. Much nicer experience that a red eye. BOS or JFK flights have the new Club Suite.
That’s a good suggestion, I’ll have to look into this. I see the Miami one flies the 9yr old A380, an aircraft I’ve not been on so could be an option. Thank you 🙂
I’m probably a bit jaded but I do everything possible to avoid night flights and unnecessary connections these days. We did the opposite last year, drove from Ft Lauderdale to MCO to get the direct Virgin flight back to MAN (no daytime options!).
We have done the BOS day time flight, it’s a very early departure (7 am as opposed to the 8 am one from JFK – the EWR one seems to have disappeared from the schedule), however it was much more gentle than a red-eye, as noted, and we got one of the late departures back to MAN, meaning we were home the same day that we set off!
I’m baffled as to who thought that seating configuration was a good idea,
You need to bear in mind that this seat was revolutionary for business class when BA launched it around the turn of the millennium. A typical business class seat back then was a reclining armchair where you’d typically have 7 seats across so a lot of climbing over other people to be done there, too. Some airlines like Emirates on their 777 still maintain this approach but it meant the core target audience – business travellers – could sleep overnight and maximise working time the next day. It was supported by a lot of other innovations such as pre-flight dining, the arrivals lounge and sleeper services where the F&B offering on board was limited to keep the noise down & encourage sleep.
The world has moved on and we have a new seat being rolled out, so you really do need to understand the context here.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll never fly long haul economy again.
I used to fly in business when I was younger and my parents were paying for me, but when I grew up and had to start paying for myself, it was always economy, even though I could afford business!
Started collecting in Nov 2021, and since then been away 4x long haul, all in business. My 3 year old has only ever flown long haul in business, so she might be in for a shock when she starts having to pay for herself!
Re the BOS daytime flight to LHR. Yes it’s very early at 7am, but if you stay in the Hilton it’s a 10 minute indoor walk from the hotel to check in. The Boston lounge is very good, and you usually boasts the plane directly from they lounge. It’s a long day, but a nice nap on the plane gets you thorough it. You will be tired when you get home and ready for an early night, and be back on UK time before you know it.
True re the Hilton, we stayed there and it’s very handy, though pricey. Also security didn’t even open until 4.30 am and there wasn’t much of a queue so no need to get there too early. It’s a very short flight as well – both times I’ve done it it’s been well under 6 hours. It could very easily be done in PE to save some avios.
AA is bookable from MIA to BOS with avios as well, US domestic flights can be a great deal as the tax is only $6!
Well done on your first avios booking, you’ll have a great time.
Clubsuite is very good and definitely better than the old ying yang but as a couple it’s not a bad config.I’ve done the LGW – LHR once and it was ok.
I’ve done the LHR-LGW shuffle a few times in the past. A lot depends on how many (and age of) passengers and how much luggage. National Express (Oxford Bus as an alternative – “The Airline”) is ok, but a NE bit restrictive unless you pay extra. Lots of car transfer companies, but they keep changing – so ones I’ve used in the past seem to have disappeared – good for families/older people (like me!) and lots of luggage.
As a trial, I’m doing the LHR Elizabeth Line / change at Farringdon / Thameslink to LGW in April – this will be Mrs T and I going with hand baggage only, and no time constraint – LGW hotel the night before the flight.
Hi, can you help me understand how you’ve done this. I’m new to points but I have 200,000 membership reward points on my American Express Business Gold Card. Did you get the 2-4-1 / companion deal by having the BA American Express card? If so, could I take out that card and then transfer my points over do you think?
Yes you would need a BA card to get avios and a 241 (see Rob’s series of articles as there are 2 different ones).
You can convert your MR points to avios via your Amex account to your BAEC account.
To add – having got the BA Premium card you’d then need to spend £10k (you have a year, but can do it as fast as you want) to trigger the 2-4-1 voucher. You can transfer as soon as you have an avios account, you don’t need the BA card to do that.
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