V-Flyer

Afternoon all,

Yesterday I broke the £10,000 spend threshold on my BA Amex Premium Plus card, today I received an email from BA informing me that I had a companion voucher credited to my BAEC account.

It was really easy to redeem the voucher online to book Mrs Hull and I in First Class return to JNB in December and only cost £1090 in taxes and fees plus 150,000 Avios,

If I had used the Virgin one I would have had to phone up to redeem the voucher then had to pay around £6,400 for a flexible UC ticket plus taxes for the companion fare.

I think BA win hands down on this one, I just hope that I get a good F experience, outbound on a 744 and inbound on an A380.

The tasting menu on the 380 is well worth a try. The 380 First seat feels much more spacious as well. Enjoy!

Yup, as you say the VS companion voucher is more marketing than actual and redeeming on a pair of redemptions on BA is a super way of earning loyalty.

Well done . FWIW I loved the BA F experience on the 380 ( and the CCR ). Not quite as much as EK F on the 380 ( there's no bar area to have a wander to and no shower) but I loved it nonetheless .
I'd second the recommendation for the tasting menu.
DL

Yes the BA companion redemption system is fantastic, we had a ball in F on the 380! As DL says the tasting menu is well worth trying, for us (with the wine pairing!) it was the highlight of the flight

Hull wrote:It was really easy to redeem the voucher online to book Mrs Hull and I in First Class return to JNB in December and only cost £1090 in taxes and fees plus 150,000 Avios

You were very lucky with your timing (or maybe it was carefully planned!) as unless I'm mistaken next week the exact same booking would cost 200,000 Avios under the new "enhanced" BAEC pricing scheme.

Good work!

I'm just finishing my TR of a trip to JNB on the A380 - and as others have said, the tasting menu is great!!

Great result Hull.

I have just redeemed a Lloyds avios upgrade for next March to Vegas albeit only in Club. That was also very easy to do all online and saved us 25, 000 Avios. Just got in before the devaluation kicks in.

We have also got a 2-4-1 sitting in our BAEC account saving that for next May/June and hoping for an F to Denver.

Do let us all know about your trip when it comes around. I scour all the BA trip reports to gain as much information as possible. Congrats again, it's one thing that Ba wins hands down on. Linda

gumshoe wrote:

Hull wrote:It was really easy to redeem the voucher online to book Mrs Hull and I in First Class return to JNB in December and only cost £1090 in taxes and fees plus 150,000 Avios

You were very lucky with your timing (or maybe it was carefully planned!) as unless I'm mistaken next week the exact same booking would cost 200,000 Avios under the new "enhanced" BAEC pricing scheme.

Good work!

I had always hoped to redeem the voucher before April 28th but also had to wait for Mrs Hull to get the time off work.

I'm looking forward to the tasting menu.

honey lamb wrote:I'm just finishing my TR of a trip to JNB on the A380 - and as others have said, the tasting menu is great!!

Come on woman.

Chop Chop !

Just had Mrs P approved for the BA Premium Plus card last month and spent £5000 on it already in anticipation of better opportunities to spend companion vouchers and Avios. Too late for the new threshold but better that VS for availability and destinations

Yep, have used 2-4-1's to book LHR-YVR return in Club for our honeymoon this summer, plus just booked LHR-Tokyo in F outbound, club return next easter.

Absolutely wipes the floor with the VS companion voucher. Just a shame the Avios devaluation on 28th April will make awards so much more expensive.

Excellent - you got a result there.

I've used 3 of these companion vouchers to date, and got F each time - it is probably the best "reward" you can get...

Petmadness wrote:Just had Mrs P approved for the BA Premium Plus card last month and spent £5000 on it already in anticipation of better opportunities to spend companion vouchers and Avios. Too late for the new threshold but better that VS for availability and destinations

I nominated Mrs Hull for one last night (pending approval), with what we have planned we should have another companion voucher by the end of September and although the cost in Avios will be higher it's still a great deal.

Where to go next hmm

that sounds good

an actual companion ticket worth using.

I am contemplating ditching collecting virgin miles for BA - that could seal the deal.
The virgin offer is pointless for companion flight because you need a full paid fare.

Hull wrote:

Petmadness wrote:Just had Mrs P approved for the BA Premium Plus card last month and spent £5000 on it already in anticipation of better opportunities to spend companion vouchers and Avios. Too late for the new threshold but better that VS for availability and destinations

I nominated Mrs Hull for one last night (pending approval), with what we have planned we should have another companion voucher by the end of September and although the cost in Avios will be higher it's still a great deal.

Where to go next hmm

Plenty of choices

Hull wrote:

Petmadness wrote:Just had Mrs P approved for the BA Premium Plus card last month and spent £5000 on it already in anticipation of better opportunities to spend companion vouchers and Avios. Too late for the new threshold but better that VS for availability and destinations

I nominated Mrs Hull for one last night (pending approval), with what we have planned we should have another companion voucher by the end of September and although the cost in Avios will be higher it's still a great deal.

Where to go next hmm

Well Dom,wherever it is it will certainly be a well earned and long overdue break ,you deserve it

Blacky1 wrote:
Well Dom,wherever it is it will certainly be a well earned and long overdue break ,you deserve it

Yes I'm sure it will be well deserved

I've been back for a week and a half and have already booked to go back to Canada next Winter

Maybe I'll let Mrs Hull decide as she's staying home again

If you put most of your spending through the BA AMEX card it really is very achievable. There seems good availability on the 2 for 1 vouchers as well.

Like Concorde I have managed to use 3 2 for 1's all in F. The only way I will ever be able to achieve flying in F.

However, I wouldn't be too downcast in comparison to VS. Although VS has the (virtually useless) Companion Voucher you receive 2 miles per £1 spent on Amex as opposed to 1.5 Avios per £1.

Also, with the new Avios burn rate VS requires less miles than BA requires Avios (?)

Therefore, the rates get closer (not a scientific study though).

VS doesn't have F, but U/C is much better than CW

spiceke wrote:Like Concorde I have managed to use 3 2 for 1's all in F. The only way I will ever be able to achieve flying in F.

However, I wouldn't be too downcast in comparison to VS. Although VS has the (virtually useless) Companion Voucher you receive 2 miles per £1 spent on Amex as opposed to 1.5 Avios per £1.

Also, with the new Avios burn rate VS requires less miles than BA requires Avios (?)

Therefore, the rates get closer (not a scientific study though).

VS doesn't have F, but U/C is much better than CW

ISTBC but I thought with the VS Amex you only got 2 miles per pound when spending directly with VS and 1 mile per pound elsewhere.

With the BA Premium Plus you get 3 miles per pound when spending with BA and 1.5 per pound elsewhere.

I hope VS don't go down the same route as BA by adding peak travel periods to spending miles.

Agreed UC is generally much better than CW.

On the VS Black Amex its 2 miles per £ on the Amex spend, and double (4) per £ spent directly with VS.

I've managed to amass about 250k miles with VS using the Black Amex and shopping portal so am now looking at Avios although I haven't flown with BA for a few years, and never in a premium cabin. I just need to diversify and realise that VS has limited routes so it will be beneficial to have a foot in both camps.

I'm in a similar position, typical I find myself wanting to head towards Avios when they've just devalued.

I wonder whether it may be a good idea to have a sort of diary/incentive/deals thread related to miles - avios and VS?

Bretty wrote:On the VS Black Amex its 2 miles per £ on the Amex spend, and double (4) per £ spent directly with VS.

I've managed to amass about 250k miles with VS using the Black Amex and shopping portal so am now looking at Avios although I haven't flown with BA for a few years, and never in a premium cabin. I just need to diversify and realise that VS has limited routes so it will be beneficial to have a foot in both camps.

Ah yes of course, I only had the white VS Amex.

I only went with BA last year because of an ex AMS deal in CW on an A380 to JNB and really enjoyed it, I also have booked an ex DUB to LAS in CW in August for a very good price.

I just hope the devaluation of Avios doesn't hit too hard as Mrs Hull and I are planning a trip to NZ next Summer.

gumshoe wrote:

Hull wrote:It was really easy to redeem the voucher online to book Mrs Hull and I in First Class return to JNB in December and only cost £1090 in taxes and fees plus 150,000 Avios

You were very lucky with your timing (or maybe it was carefully planned!) as unless I'm mistaken next week the exact same booking would cost 200,000 Avios under the new "enhanced" BAEC pricing scheme.

Good work!

I had a quick check yesterday and under the new rules it would have cost 185,000 Avios as the outbound is off peak but the return is peak, so I can imagine that it would have been 200,000 Avios if both were peak dates, so very well timed I think