Avios / Eurostar

Old Apr 9, 2012, 1:28 am
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Avios / Eurostar

Has anyone used Avios for Eurostar? What is availability like? Do they only allow redemptions into the cheapest fare buckets? Is there any way of determining availability other than by phoning?
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 7:59 am
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Avios can be used on ANY Eurostar train - your avios are simply used "instead of paying" for your ticket.

As a guide, 10,000 Avios is worth about 75 - quite easy to get a return standard class London - Paris for 149 - which would be 20,000 Avios.

Of course, the dearer the ticket the more Avios required - but this allows you to book any train you require.

This can only be booked by calling Avios directly - no way to do it online AFAIK.
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 10:08 am
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Why would you want to do that though? Is it just me or isnt that a bit of a waste of precious avios?
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 10:12 am
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Originally Posted by forextrader
Avios can be used on ANY Eurostar train - your avios are simply used "instead of paying" for your ticket.

As a guide, 10,000 Avios is worth about 75 - quite easy to get a return standard class London - Paris for 149 - which would be 20,000 Avios.

Of course, the dearer the ticket the more Avios required - but this allows you to book any train you require.

This can only be booked by calling Avios directly - no way to do it online AFAIK.
Any idea if such avios booking is fully refundable? or would you simply lock into the terms of the equivalent cash ticket you've effectively bought?
If fully refundable (which I'd doubt) then a decent deal.
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 11:02 am
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According to the Avios website the basic return is 9000 Avios, same as a return economy flight, but without the 27 cash supplement, so potentially a cheap way of getting from London to Paris. I bet it is non-refundable.
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 11:40 am
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That's a bit of a daft use for Avios as compared to reward flight saver or Upgradios.
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 12:18 pm
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How it can it be a daft use if the alternative is 9k plus 27?!
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 2:12 pm
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Originally Posted by Raffles
How it can it be a daft use if the alternative is 9k plus 27?!
Hmm, perhaps RFS was a bad comparator. I'll stand by the Upgradios though.
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 5:22 pm
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Originally Posted by redshift27
Has anyone used Avios for Eurostar? What is availability like? Do they only allow redemptions into the cheapest fare buckets? Is there any way of determining availability other than by phoning?
Recently used avios for 2 x redemptions on Eurostar to Paris @ 20k avios each rtn. Mrs.c55 is expecting so we decided against flying & it was that much since we only booked 3 days in advance. TBH quite a lot of avios for tickets that were being advertised for 160 each rtn, but given our circumstances I appreciated the flexibility avios offered.....in that we could use them on a train.

No extra charges to pay (ie. 27) & they let you choose your seats as you got to call to make the booking. They also give 3 options - pure avios and 2 x miles & avios variations. Avios only offered the best redemption value.

I highly recommend avios for Eurostar, especially if one is somewhat avios rich. If you can plan ahead the 9k avios rtn is a steal.

Btw, used our uk centurions to access the business premier lounges at oath ends....which was nice.
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Old Apr 9, 2012, 11:25 pm
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Amex Plat also gets you lounge access at both ends.

Looks like you get 0.75p-ish per Avios, then. Which is what I always say on here is what I value them at for flights when not using a 2-4-1!
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Old Apr 10, 2012, 5:26 pm
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Originally Posted by Raffles
Amex Plat also gets you lounge access at both ends.

Looks like you get 0.75p-ish per Avios, then. Which is what I always say on here is what I value them at for flights when not using a 2-4-1!
Oh, I didn't realise Amex Plat did that! This means that I can dish out upto 4 supp Plats to family members (on the back of my Cent) which would grant them the lounge access. I have sibling who uses the Eurostar quite often and that would come in handy. Thanks for the info Raffles.

Have to own up to something here. Whilst I am a big fan of FT, I've never really understood the pence/cents per mile/point calculation!! I am sorry for being a bit thick......but how is it worked out!? Is it, using the figures in my last post, 160 divided by 20k miles/points cost? And from what you say, this means the redemption value I got is about "right" given a 241 can't be used on eurostar.

God I'm feeling well embarrassed asking this!
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Old Apr 10, 2012, 11:34 pm
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Originally Posted by camille55
Have to own up to something here. Whilst I am a big fan of FT, I've never really understood the pence/cents per mile/point calculation!! I am sorry for being a bit thick......but how is it worked out!? Is it, using the figures in my last post, 160 divided by 20k miles/points cost? And from what you say, this means the redemption value I got is about "right" given a 241 can't be used on eurostar.

God I'm feeling well embarrassed asking this!
My oft-repeated value of 0.75p for an Avios is simply roughly what it seems to work out at for J redemptions compared to the cheapest alternative.

NYC is 80k + 500 taxes, so 1100 at 0.75p. This is about right, you can buy a J seat to NYC for that, albeit not BA and not necessarily direct and you may need to wait for a sale. And it is not refundable if you pay cash. And so on.
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Old Apr 14, 2012, 9:33 am
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Maybe these were already posted on the site and I just didn't notice them before. But here are the London-Paris redemption rates:


Adult Standard return

9,000 Avios
6,000 Avios + 30
3,000 Avios + 50

Child Standard return
8,500 Avios
5,000 Avios + 20
2,500 Avios + 40

Adult Standard Premier return
26,500 Avios
16,000 Avios + 70
8,500 Avios + 120

Child Standard Premier return
20,500 Avios
12,000 Avios + 60
6,500 Avios + 90

Examples are starting prices and are subject to availability. Exclusions may apply.
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Old Apr 14, 2012, 9:49 am
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I had not noticed the bit about "starting prices" until pointed out in this thread.
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Old Apr 20, 2012, 2:37 pm
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Originally Posted by camille55
Oh, I didn't realise Amex Plat did that! This means that I can dish out upto 4 supp Plats to family members (on the back of my Cent) which would grant them the lounge access. I have sibling who uses the Eurostar quite often and that would come in handy. Thanks for the info Raffles.

Have to own up to something here. Whilst I am a big fan of FT, I've never really understood the pence/cents per mile/point calculation!! I am sorry for being a bit thick......but how is it worked out!? Is it, using the figures in my last post, 160 divided by 20k miles/points cost? And from what you say, this means the redemption value I got is about "right" given a 241 can't be used on eurostar.

God I'm feeling well embarrassed asking this!
It is a simple division: ($ or GBP) divided by Avios X 100 = cost per mile/point

To buy avios you want the smallest cost per mile/point. (AKA Cost)
To redeem avios you want the highest cost per mile/point (AKA Value)

A $500 ticket where you can redeem for 9,000 would be:

$500/9,000 X 100 -> 5.5 CPP
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