Swiss Tony

I've just been doing some maths regarding the next Swiss family escapade and have now come to the conclusion that - for me at least - the 2-4-1 voucher is practically worthless.

I believe that, unless you have access to almost unlimited miles, the impact of the taxes has eroded the value of the voucher to practically zero, especially for long haul Club World travel.

I'm going to be better off making UUA bookings and using the miles saved to pay for assorted hops around Asia which 1) can be expensive and 2) come with low taxes.

First class redemptions still give value, as would RFS. I also suspect that high season redemptions in economy might look attractive but I haven't done the sums. However, it's left me looking at the value of the voucher in a very different light now.

Disco Volante

The combination of the high charges and the poor availability leave it looking a very tarnished product. Poor availability leads to charges of flights and travel class as seats become available, which lead to extra charges , which in the case of a family become very expensive. I've only kept our cards because we don't have to pay the annual fee, but the vouchers are going unused and I'm not sure I'll keep using the cards.

McCoy

The "fees and charges" on Avios tickets are of course a joke, and the UK is mocked by our international colleagues about this.
But I don't think I'd say the Amex 2-4-1s were worthless..

I use mine happily every year, although admit I now refer to as a discount voucher' and not a 'free flight'!

We recently went to Japan in F, for the cost of £600 each. Plus the 180k Avios.
So yes, not cheap, but certainly a nice discount on F seats.

..but yes, club less enticing..
and availability affects their use certainly.

didnotbat

.... and, if departing from MAN, you must fly from LHR. Willie has even removed the MAN -LGW direct flight so now I have absolutely no use for 2-4-1.

uk1

Some of the LH routes in F that use to have severely limited availability seem to have what appears to be none at all now. For us 241s only made real sense for those trips but are fairly useless for pretty much anything else.

So I agree.

dnajockey

We haven't managed to use ours for the last couple of years, and have not found awards that we've wanted .... so yes.
I have got some value from avios on short haul but the 2-4-1 and long-haul redemptions are useless for me at the moment.

where2travel

I've been thinking this for some time. I have a feeling I got lucky with the two vouchers we earned last year - getting a trip to NYC on the CWLCY service and a trip to California including F on the A380 to LAX.

I'm some way into my current BA Amex year and haven't put a single item through the card as yet as I'm undecided whether to push for this year's Amex 2 for 1. I certainly don't feel the need to push to get more Avios and so I am just using my AA Amex card for pretty much everything thes days. An AA mile is starting to feel that it's worth a lot more than an Avios to me.

I used to use my vouchers for long-haul Club World tickets but the value to me of that approach has diminished. Once I start to do the maths, the additional charges required and the fact that cash tickets earn Avios and TPs means it's not so good. I probably need to do the same calcualtions for F where the numbers are a bit more favourable, but availability probably isn't so it may be all academic anyway!

DomesticusTaxmius

I must say I think they are great.

Mrs DT and I get a 2-4-1 each year and have flown to Mauritius in CW and WT+ and are going to Barbados in CW this year.

For the BGI flight the taxes were less than £500 each meaning our CW return tickets are cheaper than economy. Yes it goes from LGW and I live in MAN but it's no real hardship for a holiday. The net saving here is £2,000+ at current prices.

As long as you can be flexible in your destination, dates etc they can be really valuable. Also, you do need to be organised if you are going to a place where there might be limited availability - such as non-daily flight locations.

Another tip for our BGI booking was to book the return in WT+ and wait for availability to open up in CW - which it did.

srbrenna

Mrs srbrenna and I have four vouchers. I, too, share the frustration about using them. Getting a family on the flights you want is certainly possible but very difficult

Recently all the redemptions have been RFS which have proved good value as they were available at short notice and the revenue tickets have been expensive. They are also good for one way J tickets.

srbrenna

For a couple the 241 can be pretty good as long as you plan and have a bit of flexibility. For a family they can be a bit more difficult to use . Especially as families are limited to school holidays.

For me they are a good thing as I haven't had too much trouble using them but for the OP I can see why questions are asked about their value.

dc2447

About to use two for 4 in J LHR-HKG - 11k for revenue tickets or 2k + 2 vouchers + miles

easy choice

blackstone82

for me they are not worthless.
LHR to GRU in F, £1,200 tax + 180k avios or £12,265.82. easy choice

peterrabbit

I wouldn't say worthless, but in recent years I've probably let as many expire as I've managed to use.

Globaliser

I think that your perception of the voucher being nearly worthless is actually more to do with what good value WT+ --> CW UuA is.

BA5E

Managed to do LHR-LAS-LAX -LHR in F £1,075. 150,000 airmiles compared with £16,000 return, cash on the table, so well worth it, albeit this year struggling to find something, although not looking too hard, as still have another in the bank^