Avios with Lloyds AMEX- big spend

sparky3659

Hi all,

Just wondering what your thoughts are- Im buying a motorbike on Saturday morning, which is gonna cost me £5500. I have the cash available through savings to pay for this.

However, im considering paying for it on my Lloyds AMEX, (and then paying off balance the same day with my savings). The reason being that I can earn double Avios points within the first 6 months of me having this card, and if ive understood it correctly, AMEX usually attracts 1.25 points per pound, so, if that was doubled, it'd be 13750 AVIOS points! :beer:

However, there would be a fee of about £165 (3%) to do this.

What would you do? I guess if i pay the balance off that day, I wont have to pay any more interest? And should it matter, I intend to use my points to upgrade me as much as possible when I fly out to the states at some point next year.

callum9999

That purely depends on how much value you place on an avios. I place 1p of value on them so no, I wouldn't do it.

But then I personally wouldn't use them to upgrade a transatlantic flight either (you can't upgrade discount economy tickets, i.e. any ticket you'd normally pay cash for, and avios redemptions are generally a rip-off).

The only way I'd use them across the Atlantic is on Aer Lingus from Dublin (or Shannon) to Boston - the only route that gives particularly good value. Depending on where you actually want to go, you could then use some more avios to book a domestic flight from Boston.

But as I said - it's purely up to you. Look up what redemptions cost on BA.com (you won't find Aer Lingus but from Dublin to Boston it will be 25,000/50,000 return + around £100 in economy/business) and see if you'll need more avios, and if you do, whether £165 is worth it.

PeacefulWaters

I tend to value an Avios point at around 0.7p. So I wouldn't go near it with a bargepole. Small deposit by credit card for S75 and pay the rest in a way that doesn't attract a charge is the way I'd do it.

InsideInsurance

Obviously the two points are:

1) How much do you value 1 avios point at? I think 0.7p is low but then I've mainly use mine as upgrades on long haul which tends to give better value.

2) How much can you negotiate down the card fee being charged

sparky3659

Thanks for your replies. Avios is all very new to me, so thats helped with my understanding. Ill think ill just avoid the credit card, as the fee is nonnegotiable, and I can use that saving to boost my flight.

Cheers all :T