Airline credit cards/partnerships
Discussion
Not sure if this should go in here or finance so apologies in advance.
Mrs DG and I are in the throes of planning various holidays and it was mentioned by a friend that their Virgin linked credit card saved them a considerable amount on one of their flight by using stored points etc.
The obvious initial question is are any of these cards/partnerships worth signing up for?
I guess that one of the issues is that that effectively means that you only look at one airline since that is where your 'advantage' is?
I'd imagine that the points are finite, that is that if not used they'll drop off your account in 1, 2, 3 years. This being the case unless you spend like crazy I'd imagine the benefit to be marginal.
I'd imagine that loads on here have said cards and/or tried a variety of cards, is there a 'best' one to consider (I'm airline agnostic to be honest - though I try to draw the line at ryanair etc). Alternatively have people on here used them and then binned them off as being a faff and complete waste of effort?
Mrs DG and I are in the throes of planning various holidays and it was mentioned by a friend that their Virgin linked credit card saved them a considerable amount on one of their flight by using stored points etc.
The obvious initial question is are any of these cards/partnerships worth signing up for?
I guess that one of the issues is that that effectively means that you only look at one airline since that is where your 'advantage' is?
I'd imagine that the points are finite, that is that if not used they'll drop off your account in 1, 2, 3 years. This being the case unless you spend like crazy I'd imagine the benefit to be marginal.
I'd imagine that loads on here have said cards and/or tried a variety of cards, is there a 'best' one to consider (I'm airline agnostic to be honest - though I try to draw the line at ryanair etc). Alternatively have people on here used them and then binned them off as being a faff and complete waste of effort?
It all rather depends.... .......
So I have a BA Amex.....
As you can see lots of ifs, buts & maybes.
So I have a BA Amex.....
- the points never expire, though there can be devaluation in redemption rates.
- you earn Avios on all spend
- you earn extra Avios on BA spend.
- you can use the Avios on things other than BA flights.
As you can see lots of ifs, buts & maybes.
The short answer is yes, they can save you money and provide additional benefits as well. But, the best benefits accrue over time through the accumulation of points based on your purchases (not just flight tickets). This has been enough to put me and keep me in Airline Loyalty tiers beyond what I'd muster on flights alone.
And if you arrive at the airport on a day they need shift passengers around, holding an Affiliated Credit Card and a Member of the Airline Loyalty scheme will put you ahead of the list for possible upgrades.
The downside is that - as you say - you are then restricted on the airlines you choose so the trick is to select one or two airlines you're likely to use often.
And if you arrive at the airport on a day they need shift passengers around, holding an Affiliated Credit Card and a Member of the Airline Loyalty scheme will put you ahead of the list for possible upgrades.
The downside is that - as you say - you are then restricted on the airlines you choose so the trick is to select one or two airlines you're likely to use often.
personally i collect avios(ba) and until very recently virgin points
they havent saved us anything BUT! they allow us to fly higher classes for less but i wouldnt spend 3k on a bc ticket but for the price of an economy flight in taxes i can then fly bc or first
we use a mixture of american express ba cards and Barclaycard avios swapping between them to get signup bonuses and 241 vouchers and other benefits
we put as much as we can through them so all our spending outside of mortgages and bills
they havent saved us anything BUT! they allow us to fly higher classes for less but i wouldnt spend 3k on a bc ticket but for the price of an economy flight in taxes i can then fly bc or first
we use a mixture of american express ba cards and Barclaycard avios swapping between them to get signup bonuses and 241 vouchers and other benefits
we put as much as we can through them so all our spending outside of mortgages and bills
I’ve got both BA and Virgin and have earned over 2M miles across both.
We use a BA black Amex as the primary card for all spends and have a Virgin Mastercard as a backup.
We put our entire household spend through them including all holidays, fuelling , tesco etc. and click through the shopping portal to get the extra miles (eg every screwfix purchase)
The fastest way to earn miles is to fly with the airlines on non discounted tickets- I did this mostly through work flights. Ideally you want to work somewhere where you buy the flights yourself and expense them (this way you get the purchase miles and the flown miles for them)
The second best way is to get a referral and you both get miles in your account.
The last way is spending. Although you do earn companion tickets here that give you a chance to double up your miles when you spend them.
Bear in mind that you will need c 120K miles plus a companion ticket in order to fly up the front to somewhere you want to go (which is quite a lot of “just” spending.)
For us, I personally see earning miles as preferable to earning cash back - In that a few quid cash back gets easily forgotten, whereas I’ve used my miles so far to go to Tokyo, Vegas, Boston, and New York.
This year, myself and the daughter did BA Club World return to New York for under £800 plus miles plus a companion ticket....
We use a BA black Amex as the primary card for all spends and have a Virgin Mastercard as a backup.
We put our entire household spend through them including all holidays, fuelling , tesco etc. and click through the shopping portal to get the extra miles (eg every screwfix purchase)
The fastest way to earn miles is to fly with the airlines on non discounted tickets- I did this mostly through work flights. Ideally you want to work somewhere where you buy the flights yourself and expense them (this way you get the purchase miles and the flown miles for them)
The second best way is to get a referral and you both get miles in your account.
The last way is spending. Although you do earn companion tickets here that give you a chance to double up your miles when you spend them.
Bear in mind that you will need c 120K miles plus a companion ticket in order to fly up the front to somewhere you want to go (which is quite a lot of “just” spending.)
For us, I personally see earning miles as preferable to earning cash back - In that a few quid cash back gets easily forgotten, whereas I’ve used my miles so far to go to Tokyo, Vegas, Boston, and New York.
This year, myself and the daughter did BA Club World return to New York for under £800 plus miles plus a companion ticket....
Edited by fat80b on Monday 4th September 14:34
I collect Avios - I travel a lot with BA so it makes sense. Used 100,000 this year to knock £600 off some Qatar flights. Have struggled to find business class seat to far off places and redemptions to Europe from Scotland are not great value, All my spend goes through Amex (like others above) where we maximise the return (About 48K avios last year)
Make sure you wait until there’s a generous promotion for new card applications.
BA Amex promotions can be around 70k Avios. You get one, so does your partner, qualify for a companion voucher, and you’re on your way to a couple of long haul return club class flight (taxes extra).
Check out sites like ‘Head for Points’ for the latest offers and how best to maximise points.
BA Amex promotions can be around 70k Avios. You get one, so does your partner, qualify for a companion voucher, and you’re on your way to a couple of long haul return club class flight (taxes extra).
Check out sites like ‘Head for Points’ for the latest offers and how best to maximise points.
Just to add whilst there are some negative things I've mentioned & others have regarding Avios, they can work, sometimes effectively......
- In the bad old days I did a Concorde return to New York for 2
- St Lucia return in 1st for 2- booked a couple of weeks out when the scheduled fare was ridiculous & even business would have been over 6k each
- When I worked in Kuwait my wife would come over every 4-6 weeks using Avios, availability was always there saved thousands in fares
- I've found Club returns over Christmas/New Year periods from Kuwait & to Caribbean when fares again were crazy.
- within Europe you can often find very short notice availability (like same day) when the fares again may be in the hundreds.
I replaced my BA Amex with an Amex Gold Rewards card.
BA changed the free partner flight vouchers to economy only which is pointless for me. AMEX rewards card let's you earn points then convert them into the "currency" you want. I.e? Avios, nectar, etc. Up to you. Plus you get membership and some credits with priority pass thingy. Airport lounge access. 4 per year I think.
BA changed the free partner flight vouchers to economy only which is pointless for me. AMEX rewards card let's you earn points then convert them into the "currency" you want. I.e? Avios, nectar, etc. Up to you. Plus you get membership and some credits with priority pass thingy. Airport lounge access. 4 per year I think.
They work for some people & not others. If you already fly through work & are racking up points, then they are a no brainer IMHO. However, to get enough points just through 'normal' spending is harder, depending on your definition of normal....
You'd also need to plan well ahead, decide which airline you want etc. then do the maths on the card fee vs the points accrued + companion voucher if applicable.
There are plenty of sites that cover the detail, head for points, the points guy etc. They also cover initial introductory offers which can make a huge difference if you can meet the spending requirement.
You'd also need to plan well ahead, decide which airline you want etc. then do the maths on the card fee vs the points accrued + companion voucher if applicable.
There are plenty of sites that cover the detail, head for points, the points guy etc. They also cover initial introductory offers which can make a huge difference if you can meet the spending requirement.
Griffith4ever said:
I replaced my BA Amex with an Amex Gold Rewards card.
BA changed the free partner flight vouchers to economy only which is pointless for me. .
Only on the base card as I understand, the premium card you can use the voucher in any class. I know there is a fee. for the card unlike the base card, but you also earn triple the Avios over the base card on BA spendBA changed the free partner flight vouchers to economy only which is pointless for me. .
Car bon said:
They work for some people & not others. If you already fly through work & are racking up points, then they are a no brainer IMHO. However, to get enough points just through 'normal' spending is harder, depending on your definition of normal....
You'd also need to plan well ahead, decide which airline you want etc. then do the maths on the card fee vs the points accrued + companion voucher if applicable.
this was my line of thinking - as we're now retired business flights are obviously out (not, to be truthful, that they were really ever 'in') so a lot of the accrued benefit from work travel is immediately lost. Still lots on here to mull over and sites to visit, so thank you all You'd also need to plan well ahead, decide which airline you want etc. then do the maths on the card fee vs the points accrued + companion voucher if applicable.
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