Convert unwanted Avios to cash?

hum_lovely

I've got 30k Avios from using my Lloyds Club credit card but I can never find anything worth spending them on when looking at the website. Does anyone know of s way i could convert them to cash or any trick to use them on something other than the Avios website please? I have started using a cash back credit card so this would be a one off!

k3lvc

I stopped using them for flights (except the tax inclusive Saver Rewards) when it became as expensive to book via Avios as to pay for the flight and earn more Avios

Now use my significant but diminishing balance for hotel bookings/weekends away which can sometimes throw up some decent places at reasonable 'prices' - especially in big cities/close to airports

PeacefulWaters

hum_lovely wrote: »

I've got 30k Avios from using my Lloyds Club credit card but I can never find anything worth spending them on when looking at the website. Does anyone know of s way i could convert them to cash or any trick to use them on something other than the Avios website please? I have started using a cash back credit card so this would be a one off!

I'd suggest your most cost effective way to spend is European flights out of London or Manchester on British Airways. Two return flights from Manchester to Ibiza for example.

Hotels and car hire next, giving you a value of around 0.55p per Avios. Not great, but if there's nothing else for you to spend on ...

If you've got a free upgrade Boucher floating around, an off peak economy booking to the Middle East or USA East Coast would bump you up to World Traveller Plus making the journey a tad more comfortable.

k3lvc

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Hotels and car hire next, giving you a value of around 0.55p per Avios. Not great, but if there's nothing else for you to spend on ...

The 0.55p is a bit misleading - I had B&B in a London Novotel last Saturday night - cheapest price even as an Accor Platinum member was £189 yet 21,000 Avios secured the room. I'm assuming that BA have some decent rates that are passed on at certain times

PeacefulWaters

k3lvc wrote: »

The 0.55p is a bit misleading - I had B&B in a London Novotel last Saturday night - cheapest price even as an Accor Platinum member was £189 yet 21,000 Avios secured the room. I'm assuming that BA have some decent rates that are passed on at certain times

There are always exceptions to the rule.

PeacefulWaters

Half price Avios redemptions from Birmingham.

https://www.britishairways.com/travel/ba18.jsp/2017-q2-bonus-avios/public/en_gb

vacheron

I won one million Avios last year in a Shell promotion, which when added to those owned but had forgot about gave me a total off 1,005,500 points.

So far I've spent them on:

• A country house weekend away for my mum and dad (30,000 pts)
• A 1 night hotel stopover for my wife and I in York Marriot (17,000 pts)
• A crate of 20 European beers (6,000 pts).

For us however these generally didn't represent a good £ per point exchange rate. We've found that using them for business and first class flights with BA have provided far better value.

As a guide 20,000 points will get you a £150 hotel stay, but 40,000 points will get you £2,000 BA Business Class return trip to Moscow (plus about £50 in fees).

As long as you earn or spend at least 1 point every 36 months they never expire, so why not hang on to them until a trip opportunity presents itself?

gardner1

hum_lovely wrote: »

I've got 30k Avios from using my Lloyds Club credit card but I can never find anything worth spending them on when looking at the website. Does anyone know of s way i could convert them to cash or any trick to use them on something other than the Avios website please? I have started using a cash back credit card so this would be a one off!

It has been known for people to sell login details to accounts on certain auction sites......I have tried it myself a few times 5 or 6 years ago with very good results

20aday

With the Lloyds Choice Rewards card you can bank the points and redeem them for shopping vouchers or turn them into cash and credit said money to your credit card.

Is the option available to you OP with Lloyds Online?

PeacefulWaters

vacheron wrote: »

I won one million Avios last year in a Shell promotion, which when added to those owned but had forgot about gave me a total off 1,005,500 points.

So far I've spent them on:

• A country house weekend away for my mum and dad (30,000 pts)
• A 1 night hotel stopover for my wife and I in York Marriot (17,000 pts)
• A crate of 20 European beers (6,000 pts).

For us however these generally didn't represent a good £ per point exchange rate. We've found that using them for business and first class flights with BA have provided far better value.

As a guide 20,000 points will get you a £150 hotel stay, but 40,000 points will get you £2,000 BA Business Class return trip to Moscow (plus about £50 in fees).

As long as you earn or spend at least 1 point every 36 months they never expire, so why not hang on to them until a trip opportunity presents itself?

Definitely better for either European short haul in any class or worldwide long haul in the two top classes.

Opening an Iberia Avios account allows you to transfer points between the two schemes (after 90 days). Iberia often has lower redemption rates and far lower "taxes".

A trip via Madrid might make those points go even further!

#jealous

[Deleted User]

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

...

Opening an Iberia Avios account allows you to transfer points between the two schemes (after 90 days). Iberia often has lower redemption rates and far lower "taxes".

A trip via Madrid might make those points go even further!

...

Out of interest, how would I go about opening an Iberia Avios account? I already have a main Avios account and a BA one. Any info appreciated ...