Boost Your Airmiles Discussion Area

josie

ecudat wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation to 'stayathomedad' in that I now actually have quite a few AVIOS points - nigh on 30,000, but the cost of taxes means that there is very little benefit to using it for long-haul flights.

Does anyone know where I can find some info on the range of surcharges - i.e. where they are reasonably low (outside of Europe)? Trying to weigh up whether its worth continuing to collect, or if I'd be better off with getting a different credit card with something more useful like e.g. 1% cashback.

Really disappointed that they have done this (and that you can't just pay with more miles for the taxes).

I agree - think it's total carp! Have just stopped my Clubcard automatically converting to Avios, despite the "preferential" rate.

Was going to use them for New York as have used airmiles before for flight and hotel. There are no hotels in Manhattan paying in miles (only Brooklyn), so they sting you for miles + cash.

For the taxes and charges they ask, you could almost get a flight for the same amount, so why waste your miles on this.

Meant to say, I'm going to use mine for a hotel in London instead.

hammyali

Dear All,

I am about to start a new job which will require alot of travel. This will mean me filling the car with fuel perhaps 6 - 8 times a month. I would like to make use of this for my own gain however my first question is, I will have a fuel card with the car, can I still earn points etc myself? And secondly my ideal would be air miles. Which fuel station would be the best to purchase from to collect them? I am completely new to this so any advice would be great.

Thanks
Hamish

rachelandgromit

hammyali wrote: »

Dear All,

I am about to start a new job which will require alot of travel. This will mean me filling the car with fuel perhaps 6 - 8 times a month. I would like to make use of this for my own gain however my first question is, I will have a fuel card with the car, can I still earn points etc myself? And secondly my ideal would be air miles. Which fuel station would be the best to purchase from to collect them? I am completely new to this so any advice would be great.

Thanks
Hamish

I'd go for one of a couple of options, a Shell Drivers Card where you get Avios miles, paying for your fuel on a BA/Lloyds TSB credit card or fill up with fuel at Tesco, earn Clubcard points, then exchange to Avios. I suppose it depends on if you have a Shell nearby and how expensive it is (mine is quite cheap), or how close or cost effective Tesco is in comparison.

rachelandgromit

PS - on the Avios website it tells you about Shell and if you register your card online you get bonus Avios. Hope that helps.

bylromarha

Just been on the Avios website and seen that they are doing a preferential exchange rate next month

400 extra avios for every £2.50 clubcard vouchers you exchange making 1000 avios per £2.50

http://www.avios.com/collect/tesco/tesco-clubcard?from=collectNav

Am looking to book hotels now for the Airmiles flights I booked before the change and Avios are looking a good option to pay for the international hotels.

rachelandgromit

always check out a hotel comparison site such as hotelscomparison.com to compare hotel prices as Avios can be expensive. Remember when booking hotels, getting discount on package holidays, or using them towards execuitive lounge, etc 1000 Avios is only worth £5 off hotel price (100 airmiles was £5 off under old scheme). You should therefore be able to work out how much your hotel is costing you in Avios and see if it is better value booking elsewhere using cash. To be honest i've never though hotels good value for miles.

jackieblack

Just spent the best part of 2 days trying to move all our BAEC miles to Avios - not as simple as I was led to believe. Having spent hours going round in circles between websites, have to say Avios helpdesk staff were far more helpful than BA.
Transferring from an individual account to an individual account is fine, however, if you have a household account with either BAEC or Avios you can't transfer in or out of a household account with either.
We have now been told we will have to 'un-combine' our Avios household account back to individual accounts to then be able to transfer from both my and hubby's individual BAEC accounts to our individual Avios accounts. Daughter's BAEC points cannot be transferred at all as she is under 18.
Once the transfer has been done we will need to re-combine the individual Avios accounts into a household account again and repeat this process any/every time we want to transfer points again in the future.

It really shouldn't be this complicated, surely? :wall:

topcatk_2

You currently receive 42,000 Membership Rewards points for taking out a American Express Platinum charge card (with a fee of £300) and spending £1,500 in your first 3 months. 42,000 MR points can be converted to 42,000 BA, Virgin or BMI miles (amongst other options) or a variety of hotel programmes.

The card comes with a whole host of benefits if you travel a lot, including travel insurance, SPG Gold, 1 year of Hilton Gold and other hotel benefits. You get the 'full' Priority Pass for lounge access (no pay as you go fees required) and one of your supplementary card holders can also have a 'full' Priority Pass.

If you decide to not keep the card, the T&C's of the Plat card confirm that partial fee refunds ARE given if you cancel and I understand you still get to keep your points!

You also get a Cathy Pacific (CX) card (which you need to apply for by Feb 2011) which is equivalent to BA silver, which I understand allows you access to the BA lounges, regardless of class of travel.

Feel free to PM me if you want to find out more about the card.

blindman

topcatk wrote: »

You currently receive 42,000 Membership Rewards points for taking out a American Express Platinum charge card (with a fee of £300) and spending £1,500 in your first 3 months. 42,000 MR points can be converted to 42,000 BA, Virgin or BMI miles (amongst other options) or a variety of hotel programmes.

The card comes with a whole host of benefits if you travel a lot, including travel insurance, SPG Gold, 1 year of Hilton Gold and other hotel benefits. You get the 'full' Priority Pass for lounge access (no pay as you go fees required) and one of your supplementary card holders can also have a 'full' Priority Pass.

If you decide to not keep the card, the T&C's of the Plat card confirm that partial fee refunds ARE given if you cancel and I understand you still get to keep your points!

You also get a Cathy Pacific (CX) card (which you need to apply for by Feb 2011) which is equivalent to BA silver, which I understand allows you access to the BA lounges, regardless of class of travel.

Feel free to PM me if you want to find out more about the card.

Good thread on Flyertalk that explains this.

The referer also gets 22,000 MR points :cool:

A cheaper option may be to get the Preferred Gold card through Quidco as this will then cost you £33 for the year (£93-£60 Quidco) and you will get 20,000 MR points.
Not as many benefits as the Plat
BUT
If you cancel early (once you've got the points and have transferred them to a FF of your choice) you will get a pro-rata refund of the £93 so could end up being £10 up!

NonGeographicalMan

rachelandgromit wrote: »

I was using Lloyds Credit Card to collect, but I think the BA American Express Card is better value for money 1 Avios for each £1.

The Llloyds TSB card is also 1 Avios for £1 spent following the change to Avios. So there is no difference between the two cards.