What have people done next after getting SUB and cabin upgrade voucher?

[Kyo]

Having just met the spending target for the upgrade voucher (only had this card since early February), I’m wondering what other serious points earners have done? I’m in an unusual position where I have a lot of spending going on this year (insurance claim, repairs, renovation, course fees, etc) so keen to maximise benefits elsewhere.

I also have the Amex British Airways Premium Plus, and almost two thirds of the way there to get the 2-4-1 voucher. Unfortunately in my rush, I signed up for their free card initially, which precludes me from their generous 70,000 SUB.

With more big spends anticipated, I was thinking of signing up to HSBC World Elite just to grab their 80,000 point SUBs (40,000 Avios), and that’s it. For lesser spends, either use my current Barclays or Amex (depending on who is able to accept it) as they earn 1.5 Avios per pound.

But, am I missing a trick here? What else could people recommend?

[R]

Have you got a ‘Player 2’?

[Reney]

Do you qualify for the Amex Plat? How happy are you about paying fees? Your current plan involves paying 3 set of fees.

If it was me, I would finish BAPP earning 241. Hopefully by then the next Plat bonus would be here. Cancel BAPP and work on Plat. If you still have more spend then maybe yes to HSBC and close Barclays to not pay more fees. If you still have more spend and do collect Virgin points maybe look there too but neither HSBC or Virgin pro rata fee refund so you need to think about that too.

To R’s point, if you have a player 2 this is all very different!

[Kyo]

Thanks. I have a player 2 and, after some reluctance, they eventually applied for the BAPP to get the 70,000 SUB. Then I used their referral link to upgrade to the BAPP so that they get more points credited (no points for me though).

Looking at the Amex Platinum, I “think” I’m eligible. I have the BAPP, but the Platinum deals with Membership rewards and not Avios, and there is a 1:1 conversion so that looks like I could get 30,000 Avios there. Hopefully there’s a higher SUB for this card in future. If I could look past the £575 annual fee….(assume it’s pro-rata fee refund).

I still have more to spend on the BAPP (around £3,500). I guess my plan after hitting the target would be to downgrade to the free Amex BA card (to keep an Amex in order to use the 2-4-1 voucher), but keep the Barclays to maximise earning points where Mastercard is widely more available (the £20 monthly fee is tolerable), or I could cancel the Barclays and pay HSBC £390 for their full SUB.

Also, keep my credit score healthy as I’ve applied for 3 cards in a short space of time, and chasing a couple more might look bad!

Any insights into how I could use my player2? They are slightly closer to the 2-4-1 voucher than me at this stage.

[Reney]

Pls read the HFP article on how a couple can earn avios which gives you path to follow.

[baec_newbie]

@Kyo the £20/month fee for the Barclaycard Avios Plus isn’t really worth it once you have qualified for the upgrade voucher, unless you intend on putting serious amounts through the card. Given the 0.5 Avios/£ difference in earning, the ‘breakeven’ point between the free and paid cards is £48k spend a year… and if you’re putting that much through the card, you may as well downgrade to the free card to earn a second upgrade voucher after hitting a further £20k spending.

The percentage of people likely to put that level of spend through their Barclaycard is very small indeed, so Barclays are quids in for those who hold on to their Avios Plus beyond £10k…

[TerryTierPoints]

baec_newbie wrote:

@Kyo the £20/month fee for the Barclaycard Avios Plus isn’t really worth it once you have qualified for the upgrade voucher, unless you intend on putting serious amounts through the card. Given the 0.5 Avios/£ difference in earning, the ‘breakeven’ point between the free and paid cards is £48k spend a year… and if you’re putting that much through the card, you may as well downgrade to the free card to earn a second upgrade voucher after hitting a further £20k spending.

The percentage of people likely to put that level of spend through their Barclaycard is very small indeed, so Barclays are quids in for those who hold on to their Avios Plus beyond £10k…

I’ve kept the Plus card after qualifying for the upgrade voucher as I find the Avis President’s Club discount plus upgrade, DragonPass free passes and £5 Dual Avios Reward valuable.

[islington234]

TerryTierPoints wrote:

baec_newbie wrote:

@Kyo the £20/month fee for the Barclaycard Avios Plus isn’t really worth it once you have qualified for the upgrade voucher, unless you intend on putting serious amounts through the card. Given the 0.5 Avios/£ difference in earning, the ‘breakeven’ point between the free and paid cards is £48k spend a year… and if you’re putting that much through the card, you may as well downgrade to the free card to earn a second upgrade voucher after hitting a further £20k spending.

The percentage of people likely to put that level of spend through their Barclaycard is very small indeed, so Barclays are quids in for those who hold on to their Avios Plus beyond £10k…

I’ve kept the Plus card after qualifying for the upgrade voucher as I find the Avis President’s Club discount plus upgrade, DragonPass free passes and £5 Dual Avios Reward valuable.

I think the Barclaycard Plus starts to make sense if you’re annual spending is 30k+, which isn’t a lot. Because by that time, you’ve maxed out the BAPP 2-4-1. At which point the only thing keep someone on is the 1.5 avios per GBP. And so one has 3 options:
Amex Gold, Barclaycard Plus and continue spending more on BAPP

With Barclaycard Plus, if one goes for the Avios Rewards, then beyond the SUB
– The total cost for a year is 27*12 = 324
– You get 18000 extra avios (thats about 180 quid @ 1p/avios) compared to Amex options.
– You get a second upgrade voucher for sticking around for 12 months, with no spend requirements, which is def. worth more 144 (324-180) quid?

BAPP gives you nothing extra.

Amex Gold while has the nice deliveroo credit, it’s only relevant for year 1, and by second year, it cancels out the AF.

Seems like a reasonably good deal no?