BA/American Express Offer - 75% Bonus

Jaguar_Skills

Hi all, 
we have recently taken out a BA American Express Card in order to collect various avios points for future flights.   We had originally intended to use them on flights to Orlando, but since doing some more reading, it seems they are probably better used on shorter haul flights. 
Anyway, we received an email the other day to day that you can get a 75% bonus on any bought Avios on the card to the tune of 75%. 
So for example, buy 10,000 and get 7,500 for £175 (1,000 and 750 bonus would be £31.50 & at the other end of the spectrum 45,000 with 33,750 would be £735).
Does anyone have a view on whether purchasing these is a good deal? As we haven't yet done it, we are open to opinions! 
Thanks very much in advance. 
 

bagand96

The only trouble with paying for airline miles is that you are converting hard cash in a real currency into a restrictive "currency" that has to be spent in limited ways and is subject to the airline scheme's T&C's which may change.  That said the 75% bonus offer is very good, and I can see why it might be tempting.

For me, I'd only hand over hard cash for airline points if I had a firm plan to use them in the near future.    Take into account how volatile the airline industry is right now.  However unlikely it might be that BA collapse, if they did, you'd lose the miles.  I'm not sure if you'd be Section 75 protected either.  Also, with the turmoil in the industry you never know when changes to the BA Executive Club might happen -  BA are trying to tear up their employee's T&Cs, who's to say they won't do the same with BAEC.

I don't want to sound too negative though - there will be some scenarios where this is a good offer and could reap great rewards for people.  But definitely do some research on the best value use of the miles and if you really need them.  

If you haven't seen it already http://www.headforpoints.com/  is a great resource.

phatbear

as stated check out head for points for all things avios. 

normally buying miles is only recommended if you need to top an account up for an upcoming flight, so you are a few thousand short and need the points asap. 

another consideration is the potential devaluation of miles, for example a 1 way flight to New York in economy is 13000 miles off peak however these are liable to change and whos to say when the world stops being quite so bonkers that BA wont start charging 15000 miles, a jump of 15% which will have a detrimental effect on your purchase. My first ever avios flight was business back from LA and that's when they didn't charge taxes on fligths, happy days, and in a short space of time these flights became quite expensive due to the fees imposed.

regarding your statement that miles are best used for shorter flights this can be the case but the best use is long haul in business or first where the real savings are made. 

Ngozi

As mentioned short haul is not best use of the miles.

As for buying miles, need to see the cost of what the flights would be and then compare how much you would save if you bought air miles instead. Without looking into it, probably better not buying the miles unless you want to fly first/business.
Another thing, set up an account with Iberia, then you can transfer your miles to their scheme and they usually charge/use less points than BAEC for same flights.

Make sure to use the BA Shopping Portal, its a good way to rack up some points on the cheap especially if you're a new customer for any of their promotions.