Avios- Is there a better alternative

HopelessCase

We collected Air Miles points and when it switched to the Avios scheme we continued collecting points slowly so we had enough for 2 return flights to Barcelona. We were aware that Avios was not nearly a good as Air Miles but wanted to reach our target. What amazed us was the lack of availablity of seats on the flights we wanted, plus the fact that taxes etc were added on. We have now bitten the bullet and booked our flights using our hard earned points. In fact we would neatly have been better offer not using our points and paying for the flights by Easy Jet. Is there an alternative to Avios to collect points for flights to Europe that would give a better return .At the moment we are using Tesco club card points and Lloyds duo card.

Caz3121

HopelessCase wrote: »

plus the fact that taxes etc were added on. .

If you have had activity in your account in the previous 12 months you should be paying £35 for a return flight and not the full taxes

Avios are great value for short haul flights such as this but you do need to have some flexibility

last year I had 3 seats on return flights to Faro in July, 15,000 miles + £35 each plus 2 seats return to Palma end August for the same...however I booked these months in advance and was flexible with dates.

in a couple of weeks we are going from EDI - London for the weekend then flying to Amsterdam for a few days then back again via London...that cost 9,000 miles plus £1 each as there was a sale on RFS flights earlier in the year

Free baggage and a snack onboard means it is not quite the same as Easyjet

BusPass_2

I use my Avios to book hotels (just click on the Spend tab on the Avios web page and click on the link to Hotels.) I think this is much better value than booking flights.


I convert my Tesco Club Card points to Avios and book a week in a 4 star hotel in Costa del Sol in April for around 60,000 Avios)


Ryanair flights straight off their web site usually run at around £60 return, so I get a week's holiday on Costa del Sol for my wife and I for £120.

blindman

HopelessCase wrote: »

Is there an alternative to Avios to collect points for flights to Europe that would give a better return .At the moment we are using Tesco club card points and Lloyds duo card.

Collecting and effectively using any sort of FF miles is a black art;)

HeadForPoints is a good source for Avios collecting and using

If you have a good credit score and reasonable funds\spending then utilsing Credit Card sign up bonuses is the way to go IMHO

steve1500

we are off to Orlando in August courtesy of Avios, Cost to us for 3 tickets is £700.

I use Qantas for finding long haul flight availabilty

budgetflyer

Ive been to Tunisia, Morocco, Cyprus and Malaga using Avios. Full baggage allowance and fed and watered all the way,using RTN Flight Savers.
As a Frequent Flyer programme, imo, it has no equal.
Its so easy to save Avios,its crazy.

eliza_spendlittle

also very useful for one way flights when you are travelling overland

InsideInsurance

BusPass wrote: »

I use my Avios to book hotels (just click on the Spend tab on the Avios web page and click on the link to Hotels.) I think this is much better value than booking flights

Youd really have to say how many points you are spending and what the best price for the same was hotel outside of Avios. Certainly I;ve never seen any good deals on the hotels at all.



As has been said many times before, short haul can be ok value because they have their reward flights which are a flat £35. There is a bit of a catch 22 in that you have to book early a lot of the time to get what you want and at this time the budget airlines are also very cheap. That said, I have been to both Milan and Dublin the last 3 weeks, both booked as reward flights less than 2 weeks from departure and was able to get the exact flights I wanted.

Because you have to pay tax and fuel charges economy seats from the UK are never going to be good value as these two together normally make up 90% of the fare. Using to upgrade to a higher class or a cash+points on a higher class can make more sense and the higher the class the better savings you make.

The other option on long haul flights is to book a broken flight or a flight with a 24hr layover via a country/city with much lower flight taxes like Frankfurt or Dublin. So book a Reward flight to Frankfurt for £35 and then get your flight to Sidney for pennies, the risk with this is that because it isnt a continuous flight you have no cover from the airline for the second flight if the first one is delayed etc and stops you getting there on time.


Almost all systems work the same and so it comes down to which airlines you like flying. Personally prefer VS to BA but they fly to a lot less destinations so my points are split between the two

paddyrg

Also, you don't pay a premium for regional airports, so flying from Bristol or Heathrow costs the same. If you live near Bristol, the travel alone makes it a decent bet :-)

jpsartre

HopelessCase wrote: »

Is there an alternative to Avios to collect points for flights to Europe that would give a better return .

Avios is one of the best ones out there, certainly much better than the other frequent flyer programmes I'm a member of.

holidaysforme

Interesting thread. I've been collecting avios for a while and am hoping to use for flights for the first time this year for flights next year.
I'm thinking of trying to book reward flight saver flights to any of the canary islands for next February. Also, I'd like to book flights to Verona Milan or Bordeaux for july/ august for next year.

What are my chances of getting these? It would be for 2 adults and 1 teen. If I book the flights as soon as they are released will I have a good chance of getting them, and when will I know when they go on sale.
Is it normally 11months in advance, so I should be abe to look for feb next year soon?
Thanks for any hints/tips. I'm new to avios.