Originally Posted by
macdebbie1
I'm new to all of this so please be kind.
I've accrued 110K AMEX Rewards with my Gold card, and 110K points with my Capital One Venture card.
My husband and I had hoped to go to London in May 2025 (although I don't know if we may be too late in planning). We would be flying out of CHS (Charleston, SC).
I'm trying to figure out if it's best to try and find an airline partner that both Capital One and AMEX share like Jet Blue or Air Canada and so that I can get both tickets paid for, or use AMEX rewards for a Delta flight and use the Cap One Rewards to pay for the hotel as a statement credit (I realize it's only 1 cent per mile doing this).
I've also, just out of curiosity, looked at BA Holidays, and was surprised how inexpensive they are. We can book a 7-day trip, staying at the Resident Covent Garden for 3K total. I know BA is known to have high air taxes and fees, but it says that all taxes and fees are included. I double-checked and that price is for TWO people, not per person. I would have to check that Capital One considers BA Holidays "travel" and doesn't only allow a statement credit if you book directly with the airline and hotel.
Both AMEX and Cap One have British Air as airline partners, and it seems that BA Holidays allows you to use Avios to pay for the trip, although I think I saw something that said you had to pay for the whole trip with Avios. I have to double-check.
My only hesitation with the BA Holiday (other than we would only get 1K statement credit toward it IF Capital One considers a Tour Operator "travel", is that I haven't heard great things about BA, like they don't allow changes online but then don't ever answer their phone, which is a real problem, although I don't know if that was due to COVID and things have improved. I also have to have the flexibility to change our dates, due to our own health, but we also have a dog, and if she's sick, I'm not going to Europe.
I did check AMEX Travel Portal and was woefully disappointed. Their prices were very high, and I didn't like any of their hotels - they were all in Kensington.
I don't want to waste my miles, as we don't travel a lot, or spend a lot, so don't accrue many miles.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thank you so much! Sorry, I am flying from CHS (Charleston, SC) which is horrible for flights. So would connect somewhere - ATL, CLT, JFK, BOS...
I just looked at Virgin and the flights (for two) would be $1030 out of pocket (taxes, fees, and surcharges) AFTER using 82K of my miles (so much for thinking I could get "free" airfare!), and then the hotel would be another 2K after the 1K statement credit. So 3K out of pocket. The BA Holiday for the same dates comes to 3K out of pocket after a 1K statement credit as the total is 4K for the same dates.
Since it's a wash, would I have more flexibility if I booked directly with the airline and hotel rather than through a tour company like BA Holidays? I've only used a tour company once - went through Expedia and it was a nightmare.
You mentioned VS - what is this?
AMEX airline partners list Virgin Atlantic as a travel partner, and Cap One lists Virgin Red. I assume these are not the same? Do you know if Virgin offers holiday packages? The only thing I could find is flights from the UK to the US, but not the other way around. I've heard better things about Virgin than BA.
Thanks again for your help!