Where to begin for a non-collector?

[MAN]

I tried to collect points for a while, but trying to find flights during school holidays seemed difficult, especially with Virgin. I enjoy business class where possible, but flying from Manchester, I have always just picked the best price for flights so I’ve ended up with small pockets of seemingly useless points all over the shop. With BA having the new business class suite, and no longer worrying about school holidays, I’m considering going all in on Avios. I go on holiday in US, Europe, Maldives, Far East.

Approx Current points:
AVIOS – 61,000
Virgin – 51,000
Emirates – 0 (I assume I lost them)
Etihad 20,000
Hilton Honors – 130,000
IHG – 80,000
AMEX Card 40,000

Assuming AVIOS points is a good plan, what’s the best plan to get going and especially to build tier points. I already have a Barclay Premier Account, so can’t switch there for a good deal.I have an Amex Platinum, but the BA Amex Premium Plus looks a good option. I assume two people in the same household can apply for separate cards and each get a 2-4-1 voucher?

We pay off our credit card each month, so interest rates aren’t an issue.

Are Tier flights likely to be worthwhile? I saw MAN to Helsinki might be a decent option, but only if it’s worth getting the Tiering. Some of the bronze and silver benefits seem to be lounge access, but if we are in business, then the lounge is included, plus the Amex Platinum give priority pass, but I thin I may drop Amex Platinum this year.

Interested in peoples thoughts on how to make the most benefits from my travels. One long haul minimum and 1-2 European flights. 2-4-1 long haul business class seems to be the most beneficial offer, especially if I’ll be spending on the card anyway.

Thanks

[yonasl]

Status is good if you fly economy/PE as it makes the journey more enjoyable. Definitely worth if you plan on paying for Business flights one year, gain status and then use Avios/cash to fly PE/economy the years after. otherwise it is not of much interest.

One idea:
– Open an Iberia Plus account
– Transfer 1,000 Amex points there (they will convert into Avios)
– 90 Days later you will be able to transfer between Iberia Plus and BA (and BA to Iberia)

This will open Iberia routes that are not always available on BA.com and you don’t really lose any Amex points (as you simply add to your avios).

The Barclays premier account can be a good option if you make the £75,000 required:
– earn 1,500 avios x 12 months + 7,000 yearly bonus = 25,000 per year
– That means 2 people can make 100,000 every 2 years just by having the account(s)
– If you add the £10,000 of the Amex that’s another 30,000 every 2 years plus the 241 voucher
– 130,000 avios should be enough for a nice business class return

(Notice you do not need 2 people having an Amex. You can share between 2 of you. Unless you accumulate a lot of avios you will end up with too many vouchers you cannot use really)

[Guernsey Globetrotter]

As @yonasl says, are you opted in to Avios Rewards with your Barclays Premier account? If so, you are buying 18,000 Avios a year at 0.8p each and getting an upgrade voucher (which I would personally value more than the 7,000 Avios alternative annual bonus), which is a good start on the Avios front. It is cheaper than the BA Avios subscription (https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/12/29/how-does-avios-subscription-work/), which may be worth considering, especially if you have a particular use in mind for the purchased miles…

You’ve already identified that the BAPP is the obvious Amex card for you. There isn’t any special sign-up offer runnning but you can get 25k Avios or 28 with @Rob referral (If you would like a referral link sending to you, please email rob [at] headforpoints.com). You can also get another 5k by issuing a supplemental card to your partner once you’ve signed up (don’t do it as part of the application).

However, as a Barclays Premier customer I’d think their Avios Plus Rewards card could be the best next step if you haven’t got it already. Costs almost the same as the BAPP (£240 v £250pa) and gets you a slightly inferior upgrade voucher but having 2 upgrade vouchers a year has synergies and another is that you also get 4 free lounge passes via the DragonPass membership tie-up ( https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/05/20/dragonpass-barclaycard-avios-partnership/).

On tier points and status, as you say, they are of limited benefit if most of your travel will be in business class anyway. You can also get lounge access via your Platinum card and if you do give that up (the subscription fee is expensive unless you really maximise all the benefits of the card) or the DragonPass route as above.

Also, as a MAN flyer, Virgin could also be of interest as they have some decent direct flights from there. If you dropped the Amex Plat but got the BAPP or Barclays Avios Plus along with the Virgin Reward + card, you’d be paying less annual subs but earning several companion / upgrade vouchers, which would make your redemptions better value (although don’t expect to pay less than about £1k pp in taxes for Virgin Upper Class!).

Finally, whatever points scheme(s) you commit to, I’d also recommend a subscription to SeatSpy (https://www.seatspy.com/pricing) so that you can search for and snap up your reward flights 🙂

You’ve built up a decent points foundation according to your list above – with a little bit more effort you are not far away from the potential of several rewards flights in the next year or two for you and your family to enjoy!

[MAN]

Great info, I’ll check the premier banking options for my existing account. I used to use Virgin UC all the time for US visits, they have some decent offers sometime, but thought I may be best going for a single carrier, but maybe having both Virgin and BA could work out nicely.

Thanks for the info both, very useful.

[Whatsthepoint]

Have you read all the Avios articles in the Avios section above? Those articles should answer all your questions and help you identify the right strategy.

[NorthernLass]

It’s not clear from your post if you’re aware that only cash bookings earn tier points on BA (you can reduce the price with avios but this is rarely good value). I think MAN-HEL has been a very expensive route historically. You can earn extra TPs by flying via London, one of the few advantages of doing this!

And definitely read the avios series in the articles section.

[masaccio]

A quick note on new Iberia Plus accounts. They now have 9-digit account numbers that the MR website doesn’t support.

Various hacks have been proposed in FlyerTalk/reddit but when chatting, the agent reiterated:

If you are a new Iberia Plus member with a 9 digit account number, points transfers to Iberia are currently unavailable. In the meantime, please refer to our Travel Transfer Partners page to transfer Membership Reward points to Avios via other airlines