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So last night I finally did it! I booked my very first business class flight. I got into this points game about a year ago, as I knew that flying First or Business for my honeymoon next year would be a nice treat, but certainly couldn’t afford the normal prices.
Using all the tips I could gather from this website and the forums (thanks everyone!), I got my companion voucher and 180,000 points, and finally booked the flights last night from Heathrow to Cape Town. Based on what I’ve read I got quite lucky finding some flights for 2 weeks in April, but they were perfect as it was literally 2 days after my wedding.
So – all good I thought! But then as I’m a worrier I started thinking about all the times I’ve read about people being downgraded. So I’ve gone ahead and paid extra for allocated seats, as that seems to be a possible way to avoid being picked for a downgrade, but at the same time I appreciate that still might not help. I’m fully aware that as I only paid 1/10th of the going normal rate, I’ll still probably be the first to go.
I then started thinking, surely with the amount of people using 241 vouchers, there must still be a lot of happy customers who obviously have no need to come on to a forum and vent their anger.
I would really love it if anyone could cheer me up, attempt to stop me from worrying, and share your positive stories of using your points and 241 vouchers, where you got a brilliant deal and everything all went perfectly fine and you had a lovely, but very cheap flight 🙂 Many thanks
Hello,
I’ve only used three Companion Vouchers, so my experience is limited, but no issue with any of the flights.
First was to New York in First, then Cancun in business and back to New York in first this year. I did have First tickets to Singapore in 2020 which were cancelled due to the pandemic and, having not read enough on this site at the time, I took a refund and lost that voucher.
Another trip to Cancun booked for next year, but routing via Dallas and returning from Atlanta (US- Cancun flights on different booking with ample in case of delays) as wanted another trip in First which isn’t available to Cancun.
All in all I’ve been happy, and I wouldn’t put too much time into worrying about what ifs. The only downside is my newly gained reluctance to travel down the back, even when paying cash!
It’s obviously exciting looking forward to a holiday, but my approach is to try not to put too much importance/focus on each and every aspect. Things do go wrong when travelling, e.g. delays, cancellations, etc. Try and remain flexible in dealing with these setbacks and your trip should be more relaxing.
I’ve done a few points bookings both with and w/o 241 voucher, never paid for seats and never been downgraded or had any real negative experiences. It’s a much more pleasant way to travel, but not the end of the world if I can’t get in a lounge, or the plane is changed for a different type, or even if there are unavoidable delays.
We have used probably a dozen 2-4-1 vouchers. Mostly in F, CW and a few in CE. Not once have we been downgraded.
We did once have a flight to JFK changed from F to CW but that was an aircraft change a few weeks before we flew, a quick call to the peeps in First got us reinstated on a later flight, in F. We’ve done Boston, New York, Hong Kong and St Lucia in F pre covid with 8 seat cabins.
Just enjoy it,
We did Club to Grenada on a 241 last year. We also paid for seats for the same reason as you. (Although also because I had a strong preference for a window seat) I actually became overly obsessed with checking the number of J seats still being sold to try and guage the downgrade risk. I was even checking seatmaps in the lounge and didn’t truly relax until I got a green light at the gate.
Despite the cabin being full, this was a complete waste of time and it was all fine.
Don’t be me!
So last night I finally did it! I booked my very first business class flight. I got into this points game about a year ago, as I knew that flying First or Business for my honeymoon next year would be a nice treat, but certainly couldn’t afford the normal prices.
Wow — you managed that after one year? well done, that’s a great result. I’ve had my share of good long-haul redemptions in J/F too, but usually interspersed with several years of non-extravagant shorthaul flying/car/train holidays.
Fast learner! OH got his BAPP in 2011 (and still has it!) and our first 3/4 vouchers were used for CE trips to European cities which we thought was amazing at the time. Then I discovered HFP and that our annual GCM trips could be done in CW seats, with champagne, if I tweaked our earning strategies, which was a revelation. Extra vouchers earned were used for F to NYC, BOS and IAD. We’ve started to diversify into VS and QR, because they serve MAN much better than BA, and we are be travelling as a couple once more and don’t need the 241 so much.
@hawk85, well done and that’s definately something to look forward to. My wife and I both get a 2-4-1 every year and have done for the last 10 years. We have never been downgraded or treated any differently, with the exception of a seat change which was an aircraft change and affected others in CW too.
The only downside is the need to be very organised and be prepared to book well ahead. That and up late at night T-355!
I sincerely hope I haven’t cursed myself by saying this!
Have had my BAPP 2 years, and utilised both 241’s in F – to JFK and SFO. Multiple Barclays vouchers have now also been used shorthall on CE, and no issues of being downgraded at all. It’s a fun game to play and with the right strategies it’s amazing how much more you can get out of the system if you play it right.
Just redeemed in long haul economy for 3.7p per avios 🙂
If there had been no redemption space on the service I chose, I would still have got 2.3p per avios based on the cash price of the less convenient flights I would have paid for instead.
We’ve done quite a few 2-4-1s long haul. never been downgraded. Upgraded once when we booked PE as there were no Bus seats available and were upgraded to Bus. Twice we’ve been half upgraded from bus class seats to first seats, but bus class service on planes into Gatwick where first class wasn’t sold but they sent a plane with F seats. I wouldn’t worry.
Thank you to everyone that’s left a reply, honestly you have no idea how much a few positive stories have helped! I will do my best to relax now 🙂
– Johannesburg out in First back in Club (connecting flights in country for the holiday), 241.
– Return to Houston in First (connecting flights in country for the holiday), 241.
– Out to San Jose, return from LA, First, 241+lap infant (cancelled due to COVID)
– Rebooked return to Dubai, First, 241+2yr old on Avios (cancelled due to COVID)
– For the moment we’ve used (wasted?) Several 241, old Lloyds vouchers and some Barclays vouchers on Club Europe flights (but we now have two small kids, so fancy long haul is probably off the cards for a bit for logistics reasons)And we also gifted points to friends to allow them to get 241 First return to Mexico, and upgraded my parents to Club for a flight from Florida.
We booked a 2-4-1 Economy LHR-HND return for 2 departing in November for 39k Avios + £820, normally long-haul economy redemptions are pretty poor value but given the cheapest cash fares out of London to HND usually sit at around £1k+ per person (cheapest direct for our dates is £1.5kpp with BA at the moment!) we’re very happy with the value out of this one!
Brilliant, love the feel good factor in this thread. Also a newbie and only been in the game since 2021. Using 2x 241s for April 2024 MAD-BOG return just as it was announced they can be used with Iberia. 127k Avios and like £500 for 3x people. And booked LHR-Shanghai for a Asia tour on a one way J for 50k (£275) pp using Barclays upgrade voucher.
Good luck.
Welcome to the game. I’ve been collecting seriously for the past 5 years or so and managed; CW return to MIA, F out and CW back to JFK, CW return to LAS and currently doing CW return to MCO. Last two trips have been with an infant on lap, so the fear of a downgrade to PE is real!
Our flight back to EDI got cancelled on the way back from LAS and BA automatically moved our flights and downgraded the LAS-LHR leg to PE. Fortunately, in manage my booking I was able to chose another CW option.
All in all, pretty good going.
My first BA LH points booking.
LHR-DOH-MEL booked 31st January for outbound 11 Jan 24 ret 21 Jan 24
Economy out and business back (Business not available out)
135,000 points plus £440.31
BA and Qatar accounts linked with Qatar taking the points
I worked out value at £0.034 per points as the cost on that day was £5036.71
Since seen it at around £4,400.00
Chuffed to say the leastBooked my first flights using a 241 voucher yesterday for Aug-24:
Outbound: EDI-LHR-CPT in CW for 2 adults – 12 Aug
Inbound: CPT-LHR-EDI in WTP to LHR and CE to EDI – 28 Aug (as CW was not available)Total Avios: 167,500
Total cash: £780.00Quite happy with it given the cash price of these flights 🙂
Been doing the whole avios game for about 3 years now ….and surprised I didn’t do it before….have earnt over a 1 million points between me and the OH just through making the most of the SUBs etc…. and it just means Im getting something back for the money I’m having to spend anyway…
Some of the ways I did it was …
100k bonuses on the business cards
100k on the Barclays premier accounts
Waiting for the high bonuses on the Platinum / BAPP / Barclaycard
Referral of family and friends (used to get 30k per referral although it’s about 18k now)
Wife got over 60k free points from the NHS thank you appeal
Some of the flights I’ve used it on…
Business class tickets to Islamabad for a family wedding on BA … they cancelled the flight and Qatar took over the route and they transferred our flights over to the Q suite so in some ways an upgrade… haha
Business class tickets for Jeddah on Qatar which I treated my mum and brother to…. although the Doha to Jeddah leg of the flight was classed as First class so we managed to use the Al Safwa lounge in Doha ….
I’ve just booked some tickets to Riyadh in business to see my in laws who work in Saudi in December for 253k + approx 1k in taxes for 2 adults and a 2 year old and a 1 year old. (cash price was 15k so we got over 5.5p in value per avios)
I’m quite lucky in the flights / locations I go to don’t tend to be heavily subscribed so I do tend to get alot of a availability….
Hope that helps…!!
We’ve had two CW returns to Cape Town before and after Covid and a first class redemption to New York.
Got another trip to Cape Town in March, you’ll love it.I’m still keeping an eye open for when the reward seats in first become available as I’ll be trying to bump us up from CW on the way out at least.
My success was a bit more modest. For the school holidays I grabbed three ClubEuro seats. I don’t mind club Europe especially in the summer season when LHR turns to a zoo.
Saved £3000, used a bunch of vouchers and ended up with 1.8p per avios “before the vouchers”
I started collecting points in 2017. My earning strategy has been to churn the BAPP, Platinum and Barclays cards with my partner, plus earn a few avois through the Barclays current account. This year I’ve also started buying points through the subscription and booster, when I can get a good rate (around .9p per point).
In that time we’ve flown to St Lucia, Miami, Seattle and Mexico City in business using 241/upgrade vouchers and next year I’ve snagged business flights to Buenos Aires and Singapore. Occasionally I have used Avios to purchase economy flights to Europe during peak times as well.
I’ve found booking flights to be pretty straightforward if you’re flexible. Usually I have a few destinations in mind so around 12m out I’ll look for outbound flights on decent days that are still available and then log in at midnight t-355 the return date and book them both online in one booking. I haven’t had to call yet to secure a flight although I’m very keen on Tokyo soon so will likely need to book the outbound t-355 and then call up to book the inbound when it becomes available.
Overall its been a big success. It’s allowed us to fly business to various destinations for around £1500-1,800 or so (valuing a point at 1p). I’ve never seen those sort of prices pop up in a cash sale over the past few for the places we’ve visited, unless you’re happy to fly at non-peak times or indirect / ex-EU
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