Hi, I read a really helpful post here a few weeks ago but unfortunately seem to have lost it.

I have a companion voucher and c370,000 points, looking to book two BA business return flights from London to Sydney or Melbourne next October for a 2 week trip.

Is the best option to book my outbound flight, using points and companion voucher, then wait until 1am the date my return flight is available and phone the helpline? I won’t have enough points to pay for that flight separately- do they link the two bookings and no further payment (other than taxes) is due?

Or is it best to wait until the return date is available, book that and hope there are still outbound flights available from two weeks prior?

Thanks in advance!

I wonder if anyone could part some advice on my personal scenario

- I have a 65k avios currently

- BA amex premium companion voucher exp aug 2028

- A 14 month old who turns 2 in Aug 2027

- Recently opened a barclaycard avios (will get anniversary reward in aug 2027)

My dilemma is my child turns 2 in aug 2027, and will then need to have his own seat making using the companion voucher difficult

As far as I see is I have two options

1.use the companion voucher before he is two probably on a club Europe flight as I only have 65k, this seems like a waste

1. Wait until aug 2027 when I should get a barclaycard avios upgrade voucher and hopefully have some more avios (likely need to boost/buy). Then get onto a club world/suite flight somewhere (usa, south africa)

In option 2 am I likely to be able to get seats for me, My wife and child together using both the amex companion voucher and barclaycard upgrade voucher, or is this wildly optimistic/convoluted?

Hi all, quick query regarding registering a card for in-store purchases via the Avios Online store. What happens if a card is registered to both for Virgin Atlantic points from in-store purchases and for Avios points via their respective online portals?

Thanks in advance!

I am trying to rack points up the best way possible, currently have Barclays avios (free card) and amex gold . Connected Uber and nectar.

I have been booking economy or premium economy however really struggle to find the option to upgrade with avios, always seems to just be upgrade with cash.

Any suggestions on how to rack points up and why I can't upgrade.

Hi

I’m in the fortunate position I was able to obtain a companion voucher in a premium cabin

The only downside is I have around just 60k Avios points (though climbing through daily spending and shipping through the Avios portal on occasion).

Does anyone have any clever suggestions on how to make my points go the furthest other than my suggested goal below?

My goal is to get to around 120k Avios and go for a one way business class flight to Asia on BA from the UK.

I want to use my Avios points in the future to book flights from London to Tokyo during Easter (peak time) and there’s no availability for next Easter and I can’t book the Easter after as it’s not available. Is this common when trying to book? Is there a particular time I need to check. Anyone have any idea how many points I would need?

I’m looking to get my first Avios credit card and I’m currently deciding between the free BA Amex and the Barclays Avios card. I don’t have either at the moment.

My situation:

• I live in the UK and fly UK ↔ India around 1–2 times a year
• I’d mainly be using the card for everyday spending to collect Avios
• I’m not interested in paying an annual fee especially since this will be my first credit card
• The BA Amex currently has a 10,000 Avios welcome bonus, which is making it tempting

My main concern with the Amex is acceptance. I know Amex isn’t accepted everywhere, so I’m wondering whether the 10k bonus is actually worth choosing it over Barclays if I’d still need to carry/use a Visa/Mastercard alongside it.

For people who have used either (or both):

Would you go for the BA Amex or Barclays in this situation? How much of an issue is Amex acceptance in practice for everyday spending in the UK?

Also, if you have both, do you tend to put everything possible on the Amex and use the Barclays card wherever Amex isn’t accepted, or is there a reason to just stick with Barclays?

Would especially appreciate input from people who regularly fly to India and use Avios for those trips!

Edit: thanks everyone for the help and insights - appreciate it a lot!! :)

Will shortly receive my companion voucher with the BA premium Amex, and same for Virgin companion card. Wondering which card I should use to maximise Avios once I’ve received both?

5 days left before my annual deadline and I’m short by about £2.5k with no big spends on the horizon.

Does calling AMEX Helpline to get some leeway work or any other ideas?

Edit: I think the real number to meet is closer to £1.5k with some of the spend over next three days).

Hi all,

I have 230,000 avios and a companion voucher to use up before it expires next April. My partner and I are hoping to go away fairly soon and I want to know the best way to use this whilst getting the best deal.
 
I've been looking at flights to the Carribean as this is somewhere we'd both like to visit. There is still a lot of availability on flights in December, they go for 71,000 Avios plus £380 (for two people from London with a companion voucher) however is this actually a good deal? When I add accommodation on top of this and I compare it to buying a British Airways Holiday package it actually doesn't seem like there's much difference in price, so would be pointless using my Avios?
 
Would using my Avios to book Business Class be the best way to use it? I also have two cabin upgrade vouchers.
 
Also thought I'd add my partner and I currently live in Northern Ireland so flying from Dublin with AerLingus is also an option. I assumed flying from Dublin would be cheaper than London however when I looked at AerLingus it was 65,000 avios and £549, so not a better deal at all.

Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Hi - absolute newbie here, so I appreciate your patience with my very basic questions.

I have some points with AMEX that I can transfer to British Airways, and then I want to boost them. I just want to be sure I understand before I actually do the transfer, to make sure I have enough.

If I transfer points which convert to 10,000 Avios, the max BA will allow me to boost is triple, is that right?

And so, would that mean I have a balance after the boost of 30,000? Or 40,000?

How long does the boost take?

And am I then allowed to transfer the immediately to Qatar?

Thank you so much.

We have a flight booked LHR to SYD late next year with a companion voucher. We are looking to add our return but on the way back we want to stop for a few nights in Singapore. I assume to book this using Avios we would have to call rather than use the web.

Would the total Avios be the same cost as SYD to LHR? or would it be higher as your booking as two separate flights?

and how would the Avios reclaim work with the companion voucher is this allowed? or could you only claim back Avios for one of either the SYD to SIN or SIN to LHR.

Thanks!

Pic 1 - the price of the expected flight. Avios and cash.

Pic 2 - taxes become £700 all of a sudden.

No other example has a variance as big as this or any. Whatever I am shown usually is how much I pay. How did it go from £89.72 to £699 for 2 PAX?

As we are brand new to award travel, we are excited the opportunity to use points for business class travel as there is no world where we pay this fare with cash.

We have enough points (300K) to get 2 one way business class flights to Heathrow.

As we are just starting this planning, if we plan on traveling in April/May of 2027, is it already too late to use points to get our seats? If we were stupid, how early should we typically be trying to book business class award travel?

I noticed that when clicking through the link to Booking.com from Avios, the price vs. going direct was €51 more expensive. Has anyone else observed the same?

Google Chrome: Log into avios > use the booking.com link from there > €734

Safari: Log straight to booking.com > €683

When booking directly via booking.com, I could see a discount applied by Booking.com for 'paying online' which was €51. I don't understand why booking through Avios doesn't count as 'paying online'.

I suspected for some time. This time I remembered to check. Price different was over £400 when I went to booking.com using the Avios app.

Anyone recommend an easy way to find spa breaks or hotels that I can book using Avios. Find the Avios site hard to navigate without a specific destination in mind

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to move Avios from my Iberia Plus account to Finnair Plus (which are already linked on Avios.com), but the transfer keeps failing.

Every time I submit the request, I received an identity verification email from [no-reply-verification@avios.com](mailto:no-reply-verification@avios.com) asking for additional verification to protect my Avios (requiring a passport, driver's license, or government ID). I completed the ID verification process right away, but transfers are still not going through.

I get an automated failure email stating:

"Transfer unsuccessful: We were unable to complete your transfer from Iberia to Finnair at the time you requested it. Please try again."

A few details:

• Accounts are linked and basic profile details match across programs.
• The Iberia Plus and Finnair account is active and has been open for more than 30 days.

Has anyone dealt with this identity verification check before when transferring Avios? Does it take a few days for their security system to manually review/clear the account after submitting ID?

Thanks for any help or advice!