I have the card with the annual fee but only an annual £ 10k qualifying spend.

I think it is a valuable perk and allows you to travel with planning in advance in the better Club Seats on both the BA & IB networks. You need to also naturally have the required Avios in your account to be able to redeem but this is facilitated by say supermarket spending on Sainsbury Nectar & Petrol on Esso Nectar and subsequently converting into Avios. I additionally boost *3 at just over £0.01 point and have additionally done an annual subscription on ensure a healthy Avios balance. You have to additionally invest in buying Avios now if not a Frequent traveller anymore, I am fortunately retired now so n o longer travel on Business. Remember also that sometimes you can often get better redemption availablity travelling from another UK airport so you can think about travelling from say Manchester or Jersey connecting in Heathrow but returning just to London if your UK residence desires this positioning. Flights from Jersey & Inverness & or European Short Haul originating airport do not impact you hard with UK Air Duty providing your transit is within the 24hr window. they will require additional Avios for the short haul flight over to Heathrow.

I do feel that BA Avios redemptions into SEAsia and Australia are poor and in fact I needed to use Qatar for my Down Under which isn't in the Companion Voucher scheme yet. Qatar have a nasty habit of *2 Avios redemption pricing but that's not Avios Companion Voucher related and is my separate .....!

The Single redemption is also a great add, and for certain routes providing you are flexible you might be able to afford First on redemptions.

I agree the lack of Avios seats can be frustrating, I am only taking the Mrs to Riga on mine this year but that was a decision we made. if you want busy routes you must plan ahead 355 days in advance too get the full value.

I've become such a card slut I'm doing the same with Virgin 2for1 and their availability can be better value especially now as they are holding a 25% sale on all Virgin redemption flights. Their U"C lounge meets approval from my Lady!

I hope this insight helps

Cheers. SteveG