Newbie in a hurry!

[GSH9320]

Hi

I’m a newcomer to the world of Avios and a bit of a “silver surfer” when it comes to travel hacking, so please bear with me! I’m hoping to get some advice from the community on how to best navigate my first big Avios redemption.

I have the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card.
Current Avios: 120,000
Current spend: £8,500
Goal: Earn the Companion Voucher (£15,000 spend) and book a special long-haul flight for my wife and me, preferably to Japan, departing from Manchester (MAN). I need to hit the spend target and book before my card anniversary next May.

I’ve read that reward seats for popular long-haul destinations, especially in premium cabins, are released far in advance and are very competitive. Is it correct that I cannot start looking for or booking a flight until I have both the Companion Voucher and a sufficient number of Avios (e.g., 200,000+)? Given my timeline, does this mean my target of a 2026 trip is unrealistic, and I’m more likely looking at a 2027 booking? What is a realistic timeframe for a trip like this?

Once I have the voucher, does it apply to both the outbound and inbound flights, or just one leg? My wife and I would like to do a stopover in a city like Singapore on the way to or from Japan. Is it possible to include a stopover on a single Companion Voucher redemption, or would this require multiple separate bookings? For example: Manchester – Singapore – Tokyo – Manchester.

I’ve seen many videos of experienced travellers, but they often focus on the glamorous side of the trip rather than the practicalities of booking. Are there any travel agents or companies that specialise in Avios and Companion Voucher redemptions who could guide me through the options and booking process? What are the best resources (e.g., websites, tools, or specific forum guides) for a beginner to use to find reward seat availability from a specific airport like Manchester?

Any insights, tips, or guidance on a successful strategy would be truly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

[JakeWS]

Think you’ll be looking at MAN-LHR-HND to get to Japan and SIN-LHR-MAN home. You’ll have to sort your own way between the two.

Both routes very competitive but I’ve managed to score Japan for next year booking 355 days out. You could maybe get lucky with a seat popping up nobody can really say. Perhaps last minute.

You’ll have to get the Avios and Voucher before you can book I believe but possibly could book with the Avios and apply voucher later?

Time frame if you can do it for next year depends how quickly you can smash some credit card spend through, unlock the voucher and get another card bonus or boost Avios to reach the goal. The platinum card has a 100,000 point bonus on £10k in 6 months when referred at the moment.

[NorthernLass]

This and the many other articles and threads on this site are invaluable:

https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/01/03/how-do-british-airways-american-express-2-4-1-vouchers-work-3/

It’s useful to know that on long-haul redemption bookings, you don’t have to pay anything for a U.K. domestic connection. This slightly takes the sting out of BA not flying anywhere from the north of England!

You can’t apply the voucher to a booking you’ve already made, but there ARE different options for the number of avios you can use, so not having the maximum number needed isn’t necessarily going to ruin your plans.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

JakeWS wrote:

You’ll have to get the Avios and Voucher before you can book I believe but possibly could book with the Avios and apply voucher later?
.

Just not possible to apply a voucher once a booking has been made. It would have to be a cancel and rebook and all the issues that enails.

OP – you will get more traction with a specific thread title. Email rob at the hello email with something more specific

[AndrewT]

JakeWS wrote:

You’ll have to get the Avios and Voucher before you can book I believe but possibly could book with the Avios and apply voucher later?

You cannot apply a voucher to an existing booking, definitely required first (unless you want to gamble with a cancel and rebook, which is probably not a good strategy for a first time trip).

[Rosalita]

Also consider returning from Hong Kong, unless you are particularly wedded to Singapore. This will have the advantage of lowering the taxes on the inbound leg.