Stick with Avios or change?

[Ross Phillips]

Second of two posts. I’ve been collecting Avios for quite a few years and now have 200k. I’ve only ever had the free BA amex as my yearly spend isn’t that high and haven’t really ever planned holidays more than a couple of months in advance to make use of the points or any vouchers. Next July, I’m planning to relocate from Bristol to Brisbane for minimum 3.5 years whilst my wife does a PhD. With elderly parents I can forsee quite a few trips back within that time and I’m wondering if I should stick with collecting Avios or swap to an Australian based scheme? If I did that, I’d likely use most of my points up for the flight out, then cash the rest as nectar for shopping before we go. If I stick, I wonder if I should keep the points and upgrade my BA amex to the paid one so that I’d get a voucher that lasts two years and could be used in classes other than economy. I saw the post about booking Qatar flights with points direct from Brisbane which seems very applicable…

Thanks for your thoughts in advance,
Ross

[Richie]

Singapore airlines has a lot of flights from BNE, I’d pick them for the flights back to LHR.

VA also dominates at BNE.

Website Aus BT has now become executive traveller dot com and has plenty of Aus travel info.

[BBbetter]

+1 for SQ. Wouldn’t travel BA long haul economy even if it’s 50% cheaper than SQ / EK / QR.

Other option is to ask Amex for a global transfer to Australia and get a card that gives you MR points to retain flexibility.

[The Savage Squirrel]

I would for 50%. I mean, it’s economy; sure SQ are a bit better but not that much difference; like arguing the toss between McDonalds and. Burger King. Not that BA are in play from Brisbane anyway.

If you typically earn points at a modest rate then beware Singapore hard expiry. I’d stick with the Avios ecosystem as you have a balance, and Qatar and Qantas will remain very relevant to you.

[Ross Phillips]

Thanks for the input everyone… I’ll check out that website. Still not sure which way I’ll go but it’s a first world problem!

[BBbetter]

The Savage Squirrel wrote:

I would for 50%. I mean, it’s economy; sure SQ are a bit better but not that much difference; like arguing the toss between McDonalds and. Burger King. Not that BA are in play from Brisbane anyway.

If you typically earn points at a modest rate then beware Singapore hard expiry. I’d stick with the Avios ecosystem as you have a balance, and Qatar and Qantas will remain very relevant to you.

Good points. Combining both, you can travel in SQ and credit to VS. Similarly, QF and QR flights can be credited to QR / BA.
My idea is don’t let the tail (points angle, especially on economy flights) wag the dog (a comfortable connecting flight).

[John]

Since QR uses avios it doesn’t make sense to give up on avios

QF points are ok for QF redemptions but not great on other airlines

[Reney]

Are you going to be earning AUD or GbP? If you are earning GBP but spending AUD then I wonder if the curve plus Barclays is the way to go

[Ross Phillips]

Can I get help with a few definitions for the above posts?
SQ is Singapore airlines I believe but what above QF, QR, VS?

We’ll be earning in AUD but will still have an operating limited company in the UK, so will be keeping a UK bank account active.

Can I ask what you mean by ‘curve’? And by barclays, do you mean the Barclay Avios card that gives you a seat upgrade voucher?

Also lastly, is there an easier way for me to find a post I initial wrote rather than just scrolling through the forums?

Thanks,
Ross

[BBbetter]

Google is your friend for all your questions.

[Lyn]

I’ll let someone else answer the rest – mainly curve and Barclays – but just to start, here are

QF – Qantas (their flight numbers start with the two letters QF, so this is their airline code)wn
QR – Qatar
VS – Virgin Atlantic (note: VA is the airline code for Virgin Australia

and a pointer towards Rob’s excellent new glossary, which you may well find very useful
https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/11/18/heres-the-final-version-of-our-new-hfp-frequent-flyer-glossary/

And finally, if you click the blue “account” link above, top right, it should show you all kinds of useful things about your own posts.

[Mikeact]

Probably the best sweet spot, Aus / Europe, is the 90K tickets on the Australia-Europe in J on QR (180K return). Stay with Avios.

[Mikeact]

ps With BA,you need to retain your UK address, or change it to your parents.