British Airways Avios or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?

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  • phatbear
    phatbear Posts: 4,032 Forumite
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    neilio wrote: »

    I had been concerned about not being able to find out how many miles it costs to redeem flights on either of the airlines

    Just do a dummy booking and then compare and contrast the miles required.

    And regarding keeping your virgin account alive have you got any tesco clubcard points if so move £2.50 worth over, which will get you 625 miles and will restart your clock and give you another 3 years
    Live each day like its your last because one day you'll be right
  • neilio
    neilio Posts: 286 Forumite
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    phatbear wrote: »
    You seem to over look the benefit of spending more than £7000 on your lloyds avios card which is you will instantly get an upgrade voucher for your next ba flight, which is worth far more than 8250 miles, if used on long haul.

    I was aware of this but I'd assumed it's only if you spend on the Amex card. I take it this means any spend on the MasterCard too, which is great news. Thanks!
    richardw wrote: »
    AA is getting much better with PE and new aircraft.
    phatbear wrote: »
    ... So we are using ba, with our upgrade voucher, thus only having to pay pe points for a buis seat...

    What does "PE" mean?
  • phatbear
    phatbear Posts: 4,032 Forumite
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    Its all transactions on both cards so you could spend £6999 on the mastercard and £1 on amex and you'd still get the voucher you only get one per year of ownership of the card.

    Pe= premium economy
    Live each day like its your last because one day you'll be right
  • dickydonkin
    dickydonkin Posts: 3,055 Forumite
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    I suppose it is what is best for you and the destinations you intend to visit.

    I stick with BAEC simply for reward flight savers for short haul and positioning flights in Europe....this year, I will achieve gold again without setting foot on a BA revenue flight.

    Once you attain silver/gold then your Avios earning also increases.
  • PeacefulWaters
    PeacefulWaters Posts: 8,495 Forumite
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    neilio wrote: »
    I feel a bit stupid for never, after all these years, realising that Shops Away existed! It's the same as BA Gate 365!

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I register the same credit card for in-store purchasing with both Shops Away and Gate 365, and I use that card in a participating retailer, that means I can earn miles on both airlines on the same purchase. Is that correct?
    Highly unlikely it would credit two schemes.
  • blindman
    blindman Posts: 5,659 Forumite
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    PeacefulWaters wrote: »
    I have never flown Virgin Upper Class. But I've never read a review comparing to BA Club World as "on a par". BA business class tends to take a pasting.

    I have flown both

    Virgin Upper class is way better than BA Club World :rotfl:

    Earning miles
    By far the best way IMHO is by credit cards.
    You can "churn" the (free)Virgin White one repeatedly and with only a month or so gap.

    V-flyer is 99% things Virgin but also has a BA element too.
    May be worth a read.

    BA
    I also use AVIOS for the Reward Flight Savers
    Can be bargain.
    Trick to RFS
    Book one ways only as this can reduce the £17.50 fee so making them cheaper.
  • dickydonkin
    dickydonkin Posts: 3,055 Forumite
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    blindman wrote: »

    Trick to RFS
    Book one ways only as this can reduce the £17.50 fee so making them cheaper.

    Only on the inbound sector into the UK.

    And also easier to amend if using for positioning flights and your long haul itinerary changes.
  • neilio
    neilio Posts: 286 Forumite
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    PeacefulWaters wrote: »
    Highly unlikely it would credit two schemes.

    How would the two airlines know?
  • theonlywayisup
    theonlywayisup Posts: 16,031 Forumite
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    neilio wrote: »
    Thanks for your helpful responses. There are a few acronyms there I'm not sure about but I get the jist ;)

    So it sounds like I'm doing the right thing in focusing on Avios.

    To clarify a few points a bit better and/or summarise my understanding...

    I know that you earn slightly less Avios (1.5 per £) than Virgin miles (2 per £) on their respective Amex cards, but there is much greater earning potential with Avios after having looked on the BA Amex site and their Gate 365 retail partners.

    I find the shop earning potential slightly better on BA than VS. Both tend to have similar larger department stores on their portals and VS is catching up with some offers instore rather than online.
    neilio wrote: »
    I had been concerned about not being able to find out how many miles it costs to redeem flights on either of the airlines and my concern that (assuming it's the same on both airlines) Virgin would be the best option because of the higher earning rate when spending. But, the 2-for-1 BA voucher instantly makes BA the more attractive option!

    Both airlines offer the ability to see how many miles you need so I'm not entirely sure why you are finding it difficult.

    The 2-4-1 voucher makes BA instantly more attractive and if you have a high credit card spend it makes sense to have two cards one for each of you that you alternate with the 2-4-1 to ensure you get fullest benefit.
    neilio wrote: »
    I'll keep my banked Virgin miles for as long as I can and put that tax payment on my Virgin MBNA Visa, then redeem them all on some Virgin flights when I need to. I won't be keeping my MBNA credit card account because I can't justify paying multiple annual fees on these cards. It's up for renewal in February so I have a few months to keep it open. Is there any way of earning Virgin miles to keep the Flying Club account active without credit card spend or actual flying?

    The easiest way I find is to use the shopping portal or transfer a nominal £2.50 worth of Tesco clubcard vouchers into the account.
  • theonlywayisup
    theonlywayisup Posts: 16,031 Forumite
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    blindman wrote: »
    I have flown both

    Virgin Upper class is way better than BA Club World :rotfl:

    It depends on the aircraft. I hate the A330 and would rather fly BACW over UC in that any day, although I understand the aircraft are currently being refurbished. It isn't way better on other aircraft but can be better, the same or worse. It depends on many things and the crew can be a major factor. We like BACW seats that face each-other so the divider can come down and we can actually have a conversation during the flight. I also prefer the seat on CW as UC needs some serious muscle power to convert sometimes.

    But the big draw for us is the 2-4-1 and use of F. VS doesn't have anything better than UC, if they did then maybe I'd look again.
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