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Hi folks,
Assuming I’m rather open to flexibility with my old style companion voucher, I’m looking for suggestions in using it.
Voucher expires Nov 23. Off for a nice US trip this summer with my newer type voucher, but if I recall the older one is more restrictive in how it can be used.
Really just after some suggestions. 😃
If it’s a BAPP then it’s not hugely less restrictive – you can’t use Lingus or Iberia and you can’t access the ‘extra’ CW availability but if you’re not fussy with dates and only need two seats then you should be fine for a US trip.
I just used up a voucher with a first flight to PHL returning from DFW. Plenty of Club World and Business avail around for PHL, ATL and DFW when I was looking. All pretty easy hubs to get anywhere else from.
The real problem with the old vouchers is that you need a huge amount of Avios to be able to use them.
With the new BAPP voucher, two people can fly return to the East Coast in Club for 100000 Avios plus £1700
With an old voucher, the only option is 160000 Avios plus £700.
Using 60000 additional vouchers to save £1000 is good value if you have a lot of Avios. You can even buy the additional Avios you need for less than £1000.
The real problem is short haul, where the huge number of Avios now needed makes makes the old vouchers worthless in many cases.
I didn’t know this. What is the difference in milage required?
I didn’t know this. What is the difference in milage required?
Sorry, not clear what your question is.
Sorry, I meant what is the reason of the difference of 100k to 160k avios between the two vouchers?
Oh wait! I’ve worked it out. Is it because you can use part pay / pay for taxes with Avios on the new style voucher. Where the old one requires the set amount of Avios plus taxes and fees.
Oh wait! I’ve worked it out. Is it because you can use part pay / pay for taxes with Avios on the new style voucher. Where the old one requires the set amount of Avios plus taxes and fees.
It’s because they have introduced Reward Flight Savers for long haul. And at the same time, they have taken away the option to decide how many Avios and how much cash to use, unless you have a new BAPP voucher. With the old vouchers and the Barclaycard cabin upgrade voucher, the only option they offer you is minimal cash, maximum Avios, which is a poor deal on shorthaul.
I have two Barclays vouchers which I probably will not use now.
This just isn’t correct – you get the standard award pricing on the old vouchers, not the max avios/min cash as per the Barclaycard voucher. So actually it can end up costing less avios as the RFS options require a lot more.
This just isn’t correct – you get the standard award pricing on the old vouchers, not the max avios/min cash as per the Barclaycard voucher. So actually it can end up costing less avios as the RFS options require a lot more.
I can’t prove you are wrong, but I believe you are.
I booked an open jaw to the East Coast last week with an old BAPP 241 voucher. The only option I had was 160000 Avios plus £700 in J. There was no option to use 100000 Avios plus £1700.
I had tried a dummy return booking on line before I called. This also only gave me the minimum cash, maximum Avios option.
I can no longer prove this as I have now used the voucher.
Further to the above, read Rob’s article from 12 December 2022
https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/12/12/ba-amex-companion-voucher-devaluation/
Quote:-
However, what happens if you have an old style 2-4-1 American Express voucher?
Due to an odd quirk of the rules, only holders of ‘new style’ (issued since 1st September 2021) Amex vouchers have the ability to choose the level of Avios and charges.Holders of ‘old style’ vouchers get no choice.
These are your options for New York if you have an old style 2-4-1 voucher. The pricing is for two people in Club World, off-peak:
160,000 Avios + £700
130,000 Avios + £1,280 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
100,000 Avios + £1,700 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
88,000 Avios + £2,480 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
64,000 Avios + £2,800 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
50,000 Avios + £1,790 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
Last week, you had the following options when using an old style 2-4-1 voucher for an off-peak Club World ticket to New York for two people:100,000 Avios + £1,706
90,000 Avios + £2,186 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
75,000 Avios + £2,726 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
65,000 Avios + £3,186 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
57,500 Avios + £3,384 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
50,000 Avios + £3,586 – not allowed with an old style 2-4-1
If you have an old style voucher, your ONLY Club World option to New York is now (off peak) 160,000 Avios + £700 for two people.Last week, you paid 100,000 Avios + £1,706.
@Alex G the “Stuffed #2” article confirms what you say. As long as you have plenty of Avios you’re fine, but if not, you’re stuffed as Rob puts it!
@Alex G the “Stuffed #2” article confirms what you say. As long as you have plenty of Avios you’re fine, but if not, you’re stuffed as Rob puts it!
Thanks. I thought I was right and I have now looked up and quoted the article. I doubted myself because @NorthernLass is usually spot on with her advice.
Has anyone found any value in short haul redemptions using the Barclays cabin upgrade vouchers? I have two of them which I cant envisage using. I have a new style BAPP 241 which is good until 30/6/24 which I will use for next summer’s holiday. Unless we go away away long haul at Xmas or Easter, I can’t see what we can do with the Barclays vouchers. One expires June 24, the other November 24.
I remember Rob’s article now! And also why this seemed wrong to me. I have been re-booking old-style 241s which have been cancelled, turned into FTVs, then returned to my account as companion vouchers, then redeemed, then cancelled again (I’ve changed my mind a lot recently lol). I have been getting the same pricing as in the past, I did mention this a few weeks ago in one of the threads but had also forgotten that! I can only assume that this is yet another instance of BA’s IT working in mysterious ways and somehow my vouchers came back with the booking options that they had when they were previously used.
I’m waiting on our 3rd and last old-style voucher to be returned so will see what I can do with that when it reappears. I also had to chase up the other vouchers as they didn’t reappear either when they were supposed to, so maybe it’s something to do with how they reapply them manually to the account.
Sorry for the duff information!BC short-haul – yes, I just used one for a solo trip to Malaga which cuts across October half term. Return in CE was £655 cash so it feels like decent use of it, 3 hours in CE should be perfectly pleasant.
@Alex G the “Stuffed #2” article confirms what you say. As long as you have plenty of Avios you’re fine, but if not, you’re stuffed as Rob puts it!
Not really, given that you can buy the extra Avios required, in the case of this example it costs slightly less than the difference in cash (assuming you buy at normal BA pricing).
Yes, I get that in the event of a refund (because you cancel, or they cancel and you accept a refund rather than a reroute) you get back the Avios you bought, not the cash you spent buying them. So it’s not ideal from that perspective but you can do it.
For short haul particularly where the highest Avios pricing is a poor deal you are admittedly a bit more stuffed 🙂
Further to this – I just checked a recent booking with a much-returned, old-style 241. It’s for MAN-LHR-GIB in CE in April (maybe the MAN element is crucial to the pricing??) Currently only the outbound is booked, and I paid 18,250 plus £85. I can’t recall now if this was the only option I was given, but this looks pretty close to the traditional RFS pricing before it all got complicated, i.e. avios plus cash for 4 short haul legs, paying the avios for 2 of those with the voucher. Hope this makes sense!
Similarly, I used another voucher to book MAN-LHR-VIE return in July in ET. Just looked at the confirmation email and it was 26k avios plus £140 for 2 of us. This also looks to be the old-style pricing. So definitely not the new max avios plus £1 pricing version. Again, maybe it’s something to do with having a connecting flight?
*Obviously I am using up all these vouchers with a view to thoroughly enjoying the T3 lounges 😂
In that case it sounds like nothing’s changed on short haul – and logically no reason why it should have, since the December changes were for RFS on long haul (just CW?). Thinking about it, it’s long been the case that different pricing options have been offered on short haul, but unlike the Barclays vouchers, the old style 2for1 and the old Lloyds vouchers were set to use the “old” £35 WT / £50 CE rates. I have no old style vouchers, except for one that’s already been used for a booking next month.
I wonder why BA chose to set the only LH option for the old style vouchers as being the maximum Avios option, whereas that’s never been the case for short haul – especially since in many cases they are forcing people towards getting the better Avios valuations in each case even if you do need a lot of them.
That does make sense …
When the OP checks back, they can try a couple of dummy bookings and see what they get!I wonder why BA chose to set the only LH option for the old style vouchers as being the maximum Avios option, whereas that’s never been the case for short haul – especially since in many cases they are forcing people towards getting the better Avios valuations in each case even if you do need a lot of them.
During covid, BA’s priority was cash but now cash flow is very strong they may wish to encourage use of Avios to remove them as a balance sheet liability, particularly as Barclays and Amex have been directly and indirectly issuing them in unprecedented quantities.
<Has anyone found any value in short haul redemptions using the Barclays cabin upgrade vouchers? I have two of them which I cant envisage using. I have a new style BAPP 241 which is good until 30/6/24 which I will use for next summer’s holiday. Unless we go away away long haul at Xmas or Easter, I can’t see what we can do with the Barclays vouchers. One expires June 24, the other November 24.
We earned a couple with similar expiry dates, primarily because we felt we should put a bit of spend through the cards before we cancelled/downgraded them. 🙂
Ended up using the oldest for a one-way to Singapore. Not the original plan, but having made the decision to come back with Qatar and booking at T-355 it made more sense to keep the new style 2for1 for something else.
No idea about the other. Given that we have the 2for1 and one (shortly two) Virgin vouchers we might well end up using it on short haul, though I wouldn’t assign much value to the voucher in that case given the enforced highest Avios +£1 rate. At least it’s probably not as bad as choosing a non-voucher redemption at that rate.
BC gives a decent return on very expensive SH cash routes – my main gripe is that you can’t add a domestic connection online.
FWIW out to PHL in First and return from JFK in Business with the old voucher just worked out at 170,00 avios and £1694 for the both of us. Does that seem right?
I remember Rob’s article now! And also why this seemed wrong to me. I have been re-booking old-style 241s which have been cancelled, turned into FTVs, then returned to my account as companion vouchers, then redeemed, then cancelled again (I’ve changed my mind a lot recently lol). I have been getting the same pricing as in the past, I did mention this a few weeks ago in one of the threads but had also forgotten that! I can only assume that this is yet another instance of BA’s IT working in mysterious ways and somehow my vouchers came back with the booking options that they had when they were previously used.
I’m in similar situation with multiple rebookings and cancellations of an old style voucher. Now I am left with two vouchers, both seem to be new style (I earned the second one using the new BAPP). I get the same options and availability using either of them.
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