Upgrade Voucher booking requiring MORE Avios than a Standard Redemption?!

[nwoody2001]

Hi Team…

Just curious if the situation below is normal or if i am missing something here?

I have 2 Barclays Upgrade Vouchers to use by Sept’24. Rather than waste them, one opportunity i was looking to use it for was for a trip to Madrid for a mates 40th Birthday. Not expecting to get amazing value out of it but thought it would at least wipe its face.

Living in Manchester, looking to use the Cabin grade Voucher on BA, found availability on BA in Business quoting the following:

MAN-LHR-MAD Business (BA) 42,000 Avios +£2

Using a broad 1p/1 Avios, i thought this felt pretty expensive at £422 in theory, especially given the Avios cost was meant to be an economy cost???

So I looked on the Iberia website for Direct flights between MAN-MAD and got the following:

Avios: MAN-MAD Business (IB) 30,000 Avios +£72 (circa £372 value), or
Cash: MAN-MAD Business (IB) £326 basic or £392 for the flexibility of an Avios Booking.

At least booking Avios through Iberia I’m exceeding 1p / Avios for my booking when comparing like for like tickets… But HOW ON EARTH is the use of a Cabin Upgrade Voucher to fly between the 2 same points the MOST EXPENSIVE????

Granted a fall back of using the Barclays Cabin Upgrade Voucher means you dont get a choice of how much avios/cash you spend due to RFS Fares but is this normal or just a situation when 2 avios using airlines operate between the same point???

Just want to make sure im not missing a trick here!

[NorthernLass]

Using the upgrade on connecting SH flights is rarely good value because you’ve got to pay the maximum avios rate on both legs (unlike LH, where the domestic leg is free). I used one voucher to book LHR-AGP in CE, but just booked MAN-LHR as a separate booking in ET to save avios because CE isn’t even worth it on a 40-minute flight!