Points Conversion
http://www.webflyer.com/programs/mileage_converter
VFC to BAEC : 5:1
Earning
- 35000 Platinum Amex Signup
- 25000 BA Premium Signup
- +1000 when referred
- +500 for adding supplementary cardholder
- BA 2-4-1 voucher only valid if:
- flying BA
- ex UK (London, Jersey, Inverness)
- can book open jaw (Jersey-XXX-LHR)
- paying taxes etc using (any) Amex card
- Heathrow Rewards
- 1000 for spending £10 before 31 May
- 3V Prepaid Visa at Tesco
- £50 with £3.95 fee
- 150 tcc = 360 avios bonus per card
- Amex Gold 108 avios per card
- (360 + 108) = 468 per card
- No more than 4 per Tesco transaction
- National Savings account (NS&I) accepts 3V unregistered
- Max 30000 tcc per quarter (288k avios / year)
Amex Card Earnings Summary
| Usage | Plat | Gold | BAPP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Airlines | +1 | ||
| Abroad | +1 | ||
| Supermarket, Petrol 1 | +0 | ||
| BA | +1 | +1.5 |
1 1st year bonus removed in 2015 ⇑
Amex Valuations
British Airways On Business
Availability : much better than Avios Reward seats
Sign-up Bonus : 3x OB earn on first 6 segments claimed in first 12 months
Redeem restrictions : Can't redeem until two separate travellers have earned
Value : 1 OB ~= 5 Avios
Amex Bonus : Amex Corp cards earn 1.5 OB
Retroactive claim : 4 months
Strategy
- Sign-up two months *after* next qualifying flight
- Claim retroactively for selected longer segments
- South America domestic doesn't earn OB
- ZA2015 for myself
- Housemate flying BA? AA?
- Don't add to new bookings unless I want to claim bonus for ALL segments
- Avoids using up sign-up bonus on Ex-EU to LHR segments
Manufactured Spending
Flexible Hotel Bookings
- Book fully cancellable hotel to just under a trigger level
- Purchase just over the trigger level
- Refund hotel booking after points appear
Only usable for triggering not for points acquisition.
Redeeming
BA
Virgin
- Search on Virgin site using Chromium.
- Search one-ways first
- KLM and AF should appear with reward pricing when using KL and AF origin cities