Purchasing points

[adam321]

Hi All

I have an upgrade voucher from Barclays but do not have enough avios to cover the fare, currently there are no avios purchase deals such as buy 70 000 and receive 40 % free from BA , Qatar etc. Online there is a company based in LA who sell points for all airlines, I am very hesitant about purchasing these points as they require a bank transfers. Do you guys have any experience of these firms as I am new to all this?

Thank you
Alex

[MF176]

Sounds like something to steer completely wide of. Have you got recent activity you can ‘boost’ instead, or why not just buy direct from Avios via the normal channel?

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

DO NOT DO THIS!

Only ever buy points from the airline (though most use a company called points.com but that is their official partner so legit)

[adam321]

Thank you for the very clear answers, much appreciated.

My boost option is limited …. I need a good 140 000. Buying directly from avios is well expensive … I will look at points.com

Thanks again

[meta]

If you don’t need flexibility, why not look at cash options. It might work out cheaper.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

you misunderstand. points.com isn’t an alternative way to buy points from avios it’s a company some airlines use.

Even if BA used them the price would be the same as usign one of the BA links from e.g. the avios app.

[ed_fly]

What sort of Barclays upgrade redemption requires the purchase of 140k points?

[adam321]

I would like to use the upgrade voucher on a flight back from Doha to London which is about 86 000 avios with Qatar in their Q suite. As I have travelling back from India and want to book a flight to Doha for 52 000 avios for 2 persons in total.

[NorthernLass]

Sorry if I’ve misunderstood your post above, but you can’t use the Barclays voucher on Qatar, only on BA. Also, the journey needs to start in the UK, so you couldn’t use it on a standalone booking on BA starting in DOH.

[Aston100]

Can’t be used with Qatar.
Can’t be used on an inbound

[adam321]

Oh ok thanks

[runnerbean]

Looks like you need to do a bit more homework and manage your expectations in the short term.

Are you doing all the usual things to maximise collecting Avios? Eg sign up bonuses for specific cards, using a card that attracts 1.5 Avios/£ (Barclays or BAPP). Then there’s checking your current account spend and shifting as much as possible through the card. And BA shopping (I find this tedious but every bit helps).

This means you can boost when you need to.

Last thing, do a forward projection of expected avios and the rough date you are aiming to spend, plus when your well earned voucher is due so that you won’t have a shortfall in your Avios kitty when it’s needed.