Redemptions valuation

[Lilly]

I was trying to work out my maths:

I’ve just booked Miami for next Easter.

140,000 for 3 people using a 2-4-1 voucher in economy, plus £450

Cash price is a ludicrous £4,087.67 for the same flights (economy, but super peak season).

Cash saving is therefore £3637.67

Does that mean that I’ve acheived 3.8p per mile? Appreciate that the 241 boosts the valuation but that seems very high??

[yonasl]

My math would be 3637 / 140000 which is 2.6p per avios. That does not account for the savings of the 241.

I suppose the price is 70,000 avios and you paid nothing for the 3rd passenger thanks to the voucher so the “real” cost is 210,000. In that case your avios value is 1.7p.

At the end of the day, the good thing is £4k for a Y flight for 3 to Miami sound ridiculous and thanks to avios and the 241 you were able to afford it. (plus your tickets are fully cancellable and include luggage vs risking £4k you will never see again).

PS: Have you tried pricing this on BA Holidays? You will only pay £160 now and prices are sometimes competitive if you add a rental or simply a 1 nigh hotel at LHR the day before.

[NorthernLass]

Is the 241 from the free card, so no fee to factor in?

Cash prices will be artificially high just now, this is usually the case for the first month or so after the seats are actually released. I would agree with having a look at BA Holidays in a couple of months to see how that compares.

[Ihar]

Well I’m in for another year at 0.9p/p . I expect to get 3-4p/p with 241 vouchers, but at an equivalent “sensible” rate. 2 years ago we had F to SFO where prices peaked at £17k/seat. No-one is paying this!

241 and long haul – if you are flexible it’s amazing.

[Whatsthepoint]

It depends what ‘cost’ you attribute to the Avios. To understand the true value you have to attribute costs to both options. If they were all ‘free’ via CCs then you’ve only got the cost of any credit card fees plus taxes. That’s the cost to compare against the cash fare. You may also want to consider whether the 130000 Avios could have generated cash back or nectar credit but I very much doubt that would get you anywhere near the value of the cash tickets. For example, if you got the 241 on the paid for Amex and all Avios via the CC, then the cost would be £250 Cc fee plus £450 taxes = £700 v cash of £4087. Bargain.