Boost Your Airmiles Discussion Area

IM

I have a BA Amex and am a big fan (or rather was until BA became Heathrow Airways, and made it hard for anyone outside north-west London to use their services).

You do need to be careful - not least you need to avoid getting a hefty annual charge, by having a basic Green card too, so that the BA one is a '2nd' card - but you can make it work.

The main thing with it, is that when you hit a spend threshold (dependent on grade of card) you trigger a 2-for-1 voucher. i.e. You get two flights for one flight's worth of your BA Executive Club miles. Using this method, my wife and I went to New York in business class for just the price of the taxes. I the time, this represented a saving of £5K+ - just for spending money I would have anyway.

If you go to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club-446/ you'll get the full run-down on the BAEC (read 'The Ultimate BA Guide' sticky at the top, then this http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/8172635-post16.html which is all about the Amex deal)

I used to fly a lot with work, but those days are long gone. However, I still reckon I could get a New York trip like I mentioned every year, just by conscientious use of the Amex (or Tesco Visa in places that don't accept Amex) and by converting Tesco Clubcard* vouchers to BAEC miles.

Obviously, as Martin would always tell you, the key thing is to pay the balance off each month. Yes, use it for every transaction and maximise the points - but as soon as you incur interest, you've lost the value.

*You'll also notice a very active thread on Tesco points-maximising on FlyerTalk

Wardy7

Thanks for the replies guys. I need to do a fair bit more reading me thinks on this.
Living near to Manchester it sounds like using BA airmiles might not be as easy to use as living darn sarf then!
I think I could easily rack up enough spending to get myself some decent airmiles accrued each year, easily over £25k+ so want to make sure I choose one that's going to give me something nice in return

IM

I guess it depends on your situation when it comes to the viability of using BA Miles.

We're in Manchester too, so can (for now) still link in to the BA network. It just means that you've got to factor in the trip to/from Heathrow.

We have two small kids, so for now are realistically only looking at long weekends, rather than extended stays. Unless you strike lucky, you're basically looking at adding the best part of a day's travelling time. This stretches the goodwill of grandma's baby sitting services.

I still collect both BA Miles and Air Miles - the former as a stock-pile against a mythical future when we can get away guilt-free....

Janemartin

I spoke to a lady in tesco, it turns out as i have a lloyds card for airmiles im better with tesco club credit card and conver there club card points to earn miles quicker.

NonGeographicalMan

Janemartin wrote: »

I spoke to a lady in tesco, it turns out as i have a lloyds card for airmiles im better with tesco club credit card and conver there club card points to earn miles quicker.

I think you will still find that cllecting the Tesco money off vouchers and then redeeming on a Clubcard Deals promotion is actually the best value for money of all.

ruthiejane

Janemartin wrote: »

I spoke to a lady in tesco, it turns out as i have a lloyds card for airmiles im better with tesco club credit card and conver there club card points to earn miles quicker.

Tesco staff would say that. But if you are trying to build up your airmiles balance you will get more airmiles in by using your Airmiles Amex to spend in Tesco, along with a Clubcard of course! I did the maths a while ago:
250 clubcard points = 60 miles, Amex £10 = 1 mile, Tesco credit card = 1 point per £4 plus 1 point per £1 spent in Tesco
So:
£250 spend on Amex = 25 airmiles + 250 clubcard points (total 85miles)
£250 spend on Tesco credit card = 62 points + 250 points (75miles)
£250 spend on Clubcard+ = 250 points + 250 points (120 miles)

At the current bonus rate I think it would be:
£250 spend on Amex = 25 airmiles + 500 clubcard points (145miles)
£250 spend on Tesco credit card = 62 points + 500 points (135 miles)
£250 spend on Clubcard+ = 250 points + 500 points (180 miles)

Janemartin

Thanks Ruthie Jane I have a lloyds airmiles duo, amex and mastercard, and am no good at maths. I will get a few extra club card points with 1st use with my new tesco clubcard credit card. I will keep hold of my duo card I know theres 2 cards and amex gives a better amount of miles, the master card is only 1 mile for £50 spent, trouble is alot of stores dont accept amex but the supermarkets do. Oh and Ruthie Jane is this included the new rate of 2 clubcard points per £1 spent? Thanks again

ruthiejane

Janemartin that is at the usual rate of 1 point per £1 spent, I think the 2 points per £1 is only temporary, and not on Personal Finance points anyway.

I'm trying to save Airmiles, so my general rule is in Tesco use Clubcard+. Anywhere else that accepts it use the Lloyds TSB Amex. If Amex isn't accepted then I'll pay with my Tesco credit card. I NEVER use the Lloyds TSB Mastercard as the reward rate is very poor.

danjberry

Hi all, well im looking at applying for an airmiles card and was wondering what the general consensus was on the easiest one to pick up airmiles. I had a look at Lloyds, BA, and BMI and to be honest couldnt get my head round the maths as a mile means something different on each site, plus the amount needed to spend is different, plus the free mles you get signing up with each card is differnet . Anyhelp will be greatly appreciated.

dmg24

danjberry wrote: »

Hi all, well im looking at applying for an airmiles card and was wondering what the general consensus was on the easiest one to pick up airmiles. I had a look at Lloyds, BA, and BMI and to be honest couldnt get my head round the maths as a mile means something different on each site, plus the amount needed to spend is different, plus the free mles you get signing up with each card is differnet . Anyhelp will be greatly appreciated.

ideally looking at saving up enough for a one way trip to the USA this time next year so any help on the maths will be great on knowing how much i have to spend. Sorry if it sounds like im having you do all the work but it feels like my brain is trying to break out of my skull already!

It depends on several factors. Where do you do your grocery shopping? How much do you spend on a cc each month? Do you intend on travelling in economy or business ... or first?