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If limited to travelling in peak times (wife is a teacher), is it really worth me collecting Virgin (or BA) points towards future travel? I’ve currently got 50,000 avios and 27,000 virgin points from previous holidays paid for in cash. Nearest airport is Birmingham so European short haul trips are via budget air lines couple times a year. We tend to travel to Disney Florida every 3-4 years or so, which is the reason I’m considering actively racking up points.
With the above in mind, am I just better off with a package deal through Virgin/BA Holidays every few years? I believe I’ve read redeeming points against this method isn’t worth it, like it would be on flight upgrades?
TIA
We don’t have enough data points yet as a lot of this summer was booked before the changes
But, I’m kind of in same boat as you but have managed to fly 2Pax for 65k points +voucher +£900 for PE this summer EDI-MCO, but that’s about as much as I would want to pay, any more points is drifting into cash being better
If you can I would collect AMEX points and transfer just before a booking
As of now, BA avios prices aren’t that much higher at peak times (although annoyingly for those who need to travel in the summer school hols, there seem to be no longer the handful of off-peak days in July and August that there were in previous years). But with Virgin, you just don’t know what they’re going to be charging on any given day.
Maintaining flexibility is therefore good advice, though VS prices can change in the time it takes to transfer Amex points!
If you are limited to peak times and travel features short haul European trips, then hotel points can be an absolute Godsend – maybe focus on this? Availability of rooms is far better than availability of reward flights. To give an example, a Hilton point is nominally worth 0.33p, but on a peak time Mediterranean trip to a popular location using 5-for-4 I have managed to nudge 1.5p per point and saved £1000s.
Both Virgin and Amex transfer into Hilton currently so I’d consider that option within your strategy.
True, but you can also get outsized value with avios on short-haul European routes, if you’re happy to drive to LHR or LGW. Cash prices are completely insane in school holidays, so it’s worth having 30k avios or so in hand for when return flights economy flights to the Med are hovering around £600!
True, but you can also get outsized value with avios on short-haul European routes, if you’re happy to drive to LHR or LGW. Cash prices are completely insane in school holidays, so it’s worth having 30k avios or so in hand for when return flights economy flights to the Med are hovering around £600!
Somewhat, although if you’re in the midlands and driving from there anyway then the correct comparison is not just vs the BA cash price on that flight, but against everything available from Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, various others and all the London airports bar Gatwick (cos it’s awkward). It’s very likely that there will be a decent option available that will be far lower (and potentially a fraction) of the BA price. The outsizedness of the value is seldom as much as it appears.
Since the recent Flying Club changes, Virgin is looking like a disaster if you can only fly at peak times. I couldn’t recommend collecting points in your position, although flexible travellers can do well.
BA has far more options and guarantees some availability on all flights in all cabins except First. It also has a track record of offering Avios-only flights in school holidays to popular destinations. Last year, for example, I managed to upgrade a family group of 6 to Club World on the overnight leg of a skiing trip to Canada in February half term when cash prices were extraordinarily high.
I would recommend collecting Avios. Ditch Virgin.
@The Savage Squirrel – do you travel in school holidays?! You’re looking at easily £400 pp for a flight to the Med with luggage; (if you live south of Birmingham anyway) 15k avios plus £35 pp for an economy return on BA, with luggage and flexibility to cancel up to 24 hours before departure is a no-brainer.
I would just add that maybe it’s not the best idea to put all one’s eggs in the same basket in terms of collecting points, in case BA is planning to move to dynamic pricing as well …
I also dumped my Virgin pot to Hilton and got a good redemption.
I’m stuck with school holidays, too.
So no thanks, Virgin
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