BA Premium Amex Companion Voucher - Eligibility Changing!

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ShivP

ShivP

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*From 1 November you will need to spend £15,000 within each membership year to earn a Companion Voucher. For example, if your next anniversary date is 1 Feb 2025 you would need to either spend £10,000 by 31 October 2024 or spend £15,000 by 31 January 2025 to earn your Companion Voucher for this membership year."
 
Does it even work/much benefit for the base card with business or first? I thought it was the premium (£250 pa) that's more impactful.

Wonder if they're changing the threshold for the premium card, was considering jumping over when I have a spare £250 :p.

Already in a tight battle to reach the threshold in ~6 months to book some South Africa flights.

Edit - oofff they're doing it for premium as well (£15k) and the fee is up to £300 :(.
 
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doodah said:
Does it even work/much benefit for the base card with business or first? I thought it was the premium (£250 pa) that's more impactful.

Wonder if they're changing the threshold for the premium card, was considering jumping over when I have a spare £250 :p.

Already in a tight battle to reach the threshold in ~6 months to book some South Africa flights.

Edit - oofff they're doing it for premium as well (£15k) and the fee is up to £300 :(.
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Yep, the threshold is changing to £15k and fee going up to £300 on the premium card
 
I noticed this increase earlier. It's quite a big jump, isn't it? I only have the free pauper card so I had to spend £12k to get the companion voucher. Based on the current year I should be able to reach the threshold. Hopefully a few flights will get me over the line.
 
Just a reminder we only have ~6 weeks left until the new thresholds starting in November. Fortunately we both managed to get ours in before the rise.

I did however just discover balance boost which allows you to buy Avios points with either a x1, x2 or x3 points boost based on the points collected in the last month. 10k points for £94 doesn't seem too shabby and just linked mine to my Nectar account (another recent discovery).
 
I did mine. I got companion vouchers for BA and Virgin this year and wasn't able to use either of them for our trip to Sri Lanka in November :)
 
I ummed and ahhed about the BA Amex this year, but I just don't think it was worth it for me, combined with the usual Amex acceptance issues over here. I swapped my Barclaycard Platinum to the Barclaycard Avios standard card for now, sticking as many of the monthly purchases and odds & sods on to that. Already at 8000 or so points in under three months and have the 5k bonus points still to come.
 
Form a personal point of view I think it suits me, less vouchers about and less people collecting means more availability, well hopefully :P
 
I'll certainly need to review Amex stuff soon - Not sure it's worth it now for me and family

Used to go to New York at least once a year to see wife's sister but they've moved into a smaller apartment now from a massive house so no free accommodation there any more....Used to use the companion voucher every year etc - saved a good wack.

Will need to check and see options now as less likely to travel.
 
Reviving this thread a little bit but struggling to find some answers/assistance regarding companion voucher redemptions.

Is it generally difficult to get an Avios redemption on a new route?

BA is starting Gatwick to Bangkok direct this October and we wouldn't mind going to Thailand next Oct/Nov/Dec. We've got a companion voucher to use and enough points to cover the cost of flights so naturally im trying to suss out the best way to snag some seats.

I know Avios seats are lower in numbers per flight, but ever since the route got announced on BA i've never seen any Business class seats for redemption on their site. I've read on super busy routes you have to ring up the call centre or something 365 days before the date of the flight you want to take as they get released a year in advance.

Is that what i'm likely to have to do here? Anyone any advice or tips?
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Reviving this thread a little bit but struggling to find some answers/assistance regarding companion voucher redemptions.

Is it generally difficult to get an Avios redemption on a new route?

BA is starting Gatwick to Bangkok direct this October and we wouldn't mind going to Thailand next Oct/Nov/Dec. We've got a companion voucher to use and enough points to cover the cost of flights so naturally im trying to suss out the best way to snag some seats.

I know Avios seats are lower in numbers per flight, but ever since the route got announced on BA i've never seen any Business class seats for redemption on their site. I've read on super busy routes you have to ring up the call centre or something 365 days before the date of the flight you want to take as they get released a year in advance.

Is that what i'm likely to have to do here? Anyone any advice or tips?
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Leisure routes such as Thailand are difficult to secure redemptions. To get the dates you want you'll likely need to book the outbound 355 days in advance at 12am GMT, which can be done online (make sure you apply the companion voucher towards the booking). When the inbound gets released you can either call up to book and link it to thr outbound booking, or book online and then call up to request that 50% of the avios is refunded.
 
Sanchez said:
I noticed this increase earlier. It's quite a big jump, isn't it? I only have the free pauper card so I had to spend £12k to get the companion voucher. Based on the current year I should be able to reach the threshold. Hopefully a few flights will get me over the line.
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It's worth remembering that the vouchers last 24 months now instead of 12, so even if you don't normally spend £15k a year through Amex you could attempt to arrange any planned purchases to fall in a single year.

What I mean is, if you average 12K a year you won't ever hit the voucher, but if your either put off buying things you need or buy them early because you know you'll need them, then you could say spend £15k in one year and £9k in another, and even though you only averaged 12K a year you got the voucher for both years. Obviously this requires a lot more planning and fiscal responsibility than just smashing £12k a year did but it is what it is.

Also it always pays to remember that just because a retailer doesn't accept Amex doesn't mean they don't accept PayPal, and if they accept PayPal most don't bother to block Amex via PayPal. I pay my council tax via PayPal using Amex and get 3000 Avios a year from it plus £2k towards the voucher.
 
ubersonic said:
It's worth remembering that the vouchers last 24 months now instead of 12, so even if you don't normally spend £15k a year through Amex you could attempt to arrange any planned purchases to fall in a single year.

What I mean is, if you average 12K a year you won't ever hit the voucher, but if your either put off buying things you need or buy them early because you know you'll need them, then you could say spend £15k in one year and £9k in another, and even though you only averaged 12K a year you got the voucher for both years. Obviously this requires a lot more planning and fiscal responsibility than just smashing £12k a year did but it is what it is.

Also it always pays to remember that just because a retailer doesn't accept Amex doesn't mean they don't accept PayPal, and if they accept PayPal most don't bother to block Amex via PayPal. I pay my council tax via PayPal using Amex and get 3000 Avios a year from it plus £2k towards the voucher.
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Council tax via Amex PayPal is a great tip! Will have to have a look at that!
 
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