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Hi all,
I’m planning my Avios strategy for the next few years. My partner and I only earn points from cards as we don’t have any business travel. We’ve both been off AMEX for 24 months so we can start with their cards from scratch. I’m aware that Rob has outlined an ideal path for people who can expect all the AMEX sign-up bonuses. However, we don’t spend enough to reach the bonus for the Platinum Card so that one probably isn’t workable for us.
My brother lives in the Bay Area and we’d really like to travel out to SFO to see him in 2026 or ’27. There will be three of us travelling: me, my partner and our daughter, which complicates companion vouchers. With a BA AMEX companion voucher the Avios cost of off-peak club flights is 360k, which seems ambitious, but I thought if anyone would know how to get there, this group would.
Here’s my current situation.
Avios: ~40,000
Cards: Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard which has just earned its annual bonus and I’m trying to decide whether I should take the upgrade voucher or 7,000 Avios.
Target:So my immediate questions are: what bonus should I take from the Barclaycard and what should my AMEX strategy be?
Any advice gladly welcomed!
I’d have thought that as a family of 3 the Barclays voucher would be a no-brainer, as companion vouchers don’t give discounted travel for a family of 3?
Or, if you can trigger 2 companion vouchers, you could use 1 as a 241 and 1 for 50% off.
If you’re short by a few thousand avios, consider flying to the east coast and getting a separate connection flight west from there.
Or, if you can trigger 2 companion vouchers, you could use 1 as a 241 and 1 for 50% off.
If you’re short by a few thousand avios, consider flying to the east coast and getting a separate connection flight west from there.
Wouldn’t that only work if each parent had their own BAPP?
@mrsam My suggestion is to first work out how much Avios you’ll likely earn in the next 2+ years, and roughly how long it would take to reach your target. No point triggering vouchers if you are Avios poor as you won’t be able to use them for what you want.
If you can definitely earn enough Avios in the next two years, as well as your other voucher combinations, you could take the upgrade voucher now.
Otherwise, I would focus on earning as many Avios as you can so taking the 7000 “bonus” is probably best. You’ll have to read HfP many guides and work out which AMEX card combinations will maximise your chances.
Note: Beware that reward flights are always a moving target so try to keep up with any changes as time goes by.
If you don’t think you can hit the spend target on Platinum, then I would suggest one of you applying for Gold (the current enhanced bonus ends tomorrow).
If you start with Gold, then that person will also still be eligible for a BAPP sign up bonus later. Maybe wait until there’s an enhanced bonus on that one. If you start with BAPP, you won’t be eligible for the Gold bonus later.
As a family of 3, then 1x BAPP and 1x upgrade voucher should be sufficient to book a return for all of you (you may need more avios to make the cash element more worthwhile though). So you use the companion voucher to book the cardholder and child on one booking, and the other adult book a separate return using the upgrade voucher (paying the avios cost of PE).
If you need more points, you might want to refer your partner for the Gold, and build up your points that way.
@CJD, there’s nothing in the OP to suggest they can’t have a BAPP each, they’ve both done the 2 year break.
None of these strategies will bring the cost down that low to meet what you have in your Avios pot.
You need to save more and you need to save quick.
There are ways to do it — put your council tax etc. I pay all my bills with Amex, no direct debit crap. And that helps reach the sign up bonuses.All these cards mentioned help, but they also cost money. The trick is to know the game and see how much you can stretch it. I have started to put my mom’s big spends on my card too for example (she pays me directly).
Good luck.
Thanks all! Good advice here.
I’ve been dithering trying to decide whether to apply for the Gold, kinda hoping that the Platinum would come into reach for me, but I just don’t think I’ll hit the spending target. I’ll make a start with Gold now while the bonus is live and see how far I can get.
I’ll take the upgrade voucher from the Barclaycard too. Was also slightly wary of that as I plan to cancel it soon and that would start a 24-month clock to accumulate Avios – as @robato says there’s no point getting vouchers without Avios – but I’ll hold off on accepting the bonus and cancelling the card for a bit longer.
Thanks again.
I’d have thought that as a family of 3 the Barclays voucher would be a no-brainer, as companion vouchers don’t give discounted travel for a family of 3?
2 BAPP vouchers is always superior. While all 3 pax cannot be booked on same ticket, the additional availability and ability to start from outside uk is a no brainer over the Barclays voucher.
Or, if you can trigger 2 companion vouchers, you could use 1 as a 241 and 1 for 50% off.
If you’re short by a few thousand avios, consider flying to the east coast and getting a separate connection flight west from there.
That wont work with 2 companion vouchers under the same member.
If 2 members in the party have a companion voucher each that could be done, but under a separate booking for the 50% discount booking.The owner of the companion voucher must fly. They cannot discount the fare by 50% for a third person with a 2nd voucher in their name.
If and it’s a big if if you’re not flying as well you work out you can both earn an AMEX 241 then you can now use them to pay half avios if one person travelling so you’d need a lower amount if you use each card to trigger around the same time.
It’d be you and kiddo on one voucher at standard rate for 2 pax then wifey on her voucher paying half the amount( named person for each voucher has to be flying/ lead pax for each booking) and just get BA to link your bookings.
No work/ business travel or not it will increase your earnings if you fly for normal/ EU based holidays and also under new system the best way to earn ( you get whatever the BAH total price is unlike flights which exclude parts and aren’t as easy to predict what you get)
Non flight based get used to using BA shopping for everything you can. Uber eats, clothes, furniture, electricals. Always check if the merchant is in the store and you can earn a good chunk during promotions ( eh: 16 per pound and higher)
@MHARRI50, I have already clarified that it was a collective “you” as OP states that both adults are able to apply for BAPPs!
BA will not “link” these bookings, so there is a slight risk of being split up, but IMO it’s worth the risk and has never caused us any serious issues. Some people prefer to pay for seat selection to further mitigate the risk if they don’t have status.
@mrsam – also do a few dummy bookings and look at the different avios and cash options on award bookings. These can sometimes be decent value and mean you can get your flights for fewer avios. You can also use the “boost” facility if it turns out to make sense financially – i.e. if cash prices for your flights are so high that buying extra avios still saves you money.I’m not sure if Iberia fly to SFO but they do to LAX so using 1 companion voucher and flying MAD-LAX-MAD-LHR would be a lot less.
You can book more than 2 passengers when using a 2-4-1 – my son has just done it for 4 of them using 1 companion voucher.
Edited to say they do fly to SFO – just checked todays article on redeeming on IB.
You can indeed have several people on a booking using a 241, but I think the issue here is that OP doesn’t have a high avios balance so needs to find ways of bringing down the award pricing.
How many avios does IB charge on that route? You’d have to weigh up if it was still cheaper than using a 241 plus a Barclays voucher, as the latter can’t be used on IB. Also there’s no guarantee IB will release 3 seats on any route.
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