Airline credit cards

jimbotot

Has anyone had experiences of these, myself and my wife are both teachers and looking at getting a credit card to pay for our annual longhaul flight during the summer hols.

The aim is a first class seat on a long haul flight each year with one person going free as we would put all our spending on one card, petrol, shopping etc.

Does anyone know if theses flights are available during school holidays, as a card fee is payable on some of these cards.

Many thanks

JT

bengalknights

Yes the flights can be booked anytime

Ben8282

Do you actually realise that you would have to spend a lot of money on the card to get a free long haul first class flight every year?

jonesMUFCforever

I would add that both of you getting the same flight with 2 different cards would be minimal IMO.

Caz3121

and you need to pay the taxes on the "free" flights. Availability can be sparse in peak times but if you plan well in advance the seats are normally released 11 months out

w211

Ben8282 wrote: »

Do you actually realise that you would have to spend a lot of money on the card to get a free long haul first class flight every year?

It's achievable depending on what you do for a living, and how much you spend.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to collect lots of Avios points as a self-employed private hire driver.

Shell Drivers Club - 1 Avios = 1 litre of fuel, spend about £10,000 in diesel a year.

BAA Worldpoints - 300 Avios = 250 points, 1 point = £1, though I get double points because of a loyalty bonus, and they're doing a double points promotion over the summer, and they round it up to the nearest point per pound as well. So I'm getting 4 points to a £1. I spent about £1000 a year in BAA's airports (Heathrow and Stansted) on parking and coffees/sandwiches etc.

Tesco Clubcard - 600 Avios = £2.50 Clubcard voucher.

finally,

American Express Membership Rewards = 1 Avios = 1 Membership Reward point (£1 spend), they had a recent offer which I took advantage off where they'd give an extra 40% Avios, if you redeemed your points (1.4 Avios = £1).

So, fuel at Shell, groceries at Tesco, and airport parking, paid by American Express (plus other expenses put on the card) = a lot of Avios points!

w211

Caz3121 wrote: »

and you need to pay the taxes on the "free" flights.

Certainly, taxes can be quite high on first class flights.

Using Avios to pay for a British Airways Reward Saver flight, they pay the taxes for you, you just pay a flat fee.

I just booked a business class flight from London to Milan, which was 18,000 Avios + £34, though you have options to redeem less Avios and pay a higher flat fee (in various stages up to 9,000 Avios + £124 - which is what I did)

w211

jimbotot wrote: »

myself and my wife are both teachers

w211 wrote: »

It's achievable depending on what you do for a living

Just realised...:o

Ben8282

w211 wrote: »

It's achievable depending on what you do for a living, and how much you spend.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to collect lots of Avios points as a self-employed private hire driver.

Shell Drivers Club - 1 Avios = 1 litre of fuel, spend about £10,000 in diesel a year.

BAA Worldpoints - 300 Avios = 250 points, 1 point = £1, though I get double points because of a loyalty bonus, and they're doing a double points promotion over the summer, and they round it up to the nearest point per pound as well. So I'm getting 4 points to a £1. I spent about £1000 a year in BAA's airports (Heathrow and Stansted) on parking and coffees/sandwiches etc.

Tesco Clubcard - 600 Avios = £2.50 Clubcard voucher.

finally,

American Express Membership Rewards = 1 Avios = 1 Membership Reward point (£1 spend), they had a recent offer which I took advantage off where they'd give an extra 40% Avios, if you redeemed your points (1.4 Avios = £1).

So, fuel at Shell, groceries at Tesco, and airport parking, paid by American Express (plus other expenses put on the card) = a lot of Avios points!

The individuals are both teachers and therefore unlikely to be frequent business travellers.

jpwjpw

Highly unlikely. Reward availability is usually very hard to come by in the school holidays anyway.

Check out the BA and Amex forums on the FlyerTalk forums.

If you can spend £10k a year on Amex, check out the BA Premium Amex. Has an annual fee, but the £10k spend comes with a 241 voucher.

https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/content/ba-premium-plus-credit-card/