Trip Advise [to use an expiring Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher]
 

Hi There,

I have a Lloyds Avios Upgrade Voucher that needs to be booked by September and i am struggling on deciding where to go! I was thinking Hong Kong but there is no availability September time.

So I was wondering if people had any long haul destinations that would make the best use of this Avios Upgrade Voucher, I love long flights but I am a solo traveller so must be a city break with plenty to do!

I have 80000 Avios to use but happy to purchase some more via the Iberia 50% sale. Any destination ideas? And to get the most value on the Voucher!

Any questions let me know.

Thanks in Advanced!

Hi samwilliams88 there are a few dates in late August / early September with Avios availability in Club World to SIN - this is a good launch pad to lots of cities and more around SE Asia. I would however do your maths carefully. You'll need at least 115k Avios plus the Voucher. If you're looking at spending this plus the £550-600 tax / surcharge component, you're looking at circa £1,000

The cost of getting there on a cash exEU ticket won't be far off this, with all the TPs and Avios you will earn back in return... in some circumstances it's worth letting a voucher expire! On the other hand, you'll get NYC or BOS for not more than the tax & charges..

I assume Sam wants to use the voucher to upgrade from WT+ to J, so SIN would be 91k no? And HKG/TYO/ICN/PVG/BKK/LIM/GRU/GIG/MRU would be 78k.

Did I miss any in the HKG band? Sam I wouldn't buy extra miles unless you really fancy something further. The HKG band would make the most of your voucher* but beyond that you'll have to give us a bit more of an idea what you'd like to do.

* but if you earn less than 80k avios a year and plan to get a voucher each year, shorter trips may be a better long term value.

Unfortunately the dates end of Aug into Sept with availability are PEAK and OFF PEAK so not this rate wouldn't be achievable

Ah ok.

But in fact Sam the Lloyds voucher expiry date is a book-by date, not a fly-by date. So actually you have another 11 months to make the trip.

Thank you all for the replies!

Yeah, ill be using it to upgrade from WP+ to J :)

I really wanted to go Hong Kong and there was availability last week on the 27th September and 3rd October return OFF PEAK and was 78K but I didnt get the time to purchase at 50% Avios to top up the amount and now they are gone. No availability until end of October/November but hotels go up in price then due to seasons!

Ive been to SIN last september and loved it, could it be worth going to SIN and then a cash ticket onwards to HKG or somewhere else good? I love Asian food but not a beach person! I was looking at Tokyo and Shanghi? But not sure availability? Any other interesting places? Also I am worried about spenidng these Avios and ending on these old 777 worse Club seats? So wanted an A380?

Plenty of availability to/from PVG, served by a 787. You could fly there and come back from HKG on Oct 3rd, with a cheap flight in between hopefully. (You can get 72hrs visa free in PVG in these circumstances which is useful.)

Thanks Pauldb - Ive never done an Avios reward before, so would I book a return trip from PVG or one way to PVG and one way back from HKG?

I read somewhere - I think headforpoints that you can no longer book singles? As you will loose the voucher?

Also, the Visa is this done on entry like Dubai or applied before hand?
Thanks

You'll need to ring avios.com to book it as one open-jaw booking in one go - you can't do that online. (Search for availability as one ways but don't complete that way or your voucher will be half-wasted. Don't be misled by the low taxes on a HKG-LON oneway either: that won't apply to your ex-UK return. The taxes LON-PVG-LON or LON-HKG-LON return will be a better guide.)

Yes the PVG visa is on arrival - can take a little time but it's well trodden if you show your onward booking to HKG (or any other third-country).

Great, I will check the availability now and take it from there and feedback any issues. One last question, what if my Avios flight is delayed and I miss the PVG to HKG? Or shall i leave like 4 hours between the two flights? Any tips for this

My assumption/suggestion was that you'd spend a night/two/three in PVG, rather than run a connection risk (if you aren't going landside you may not need a visa at all).

Personally I'm not sure I'd do it without an overnight.

If you don't plan to stop you might consider PEK: longer connection PEK-HKG but less avios for the outbound. But it's a 777. (Also if you go for PVG you could probably switch to HKG if availability changes.)

Thanks for the suggestion, I like to do short city breaks like 5 nights. So stop over may not work with time scales. I doubt I will go for PEK (thanks for the suggestion though) as the flight to HKG from PEK is £450+ and PVG is only £120.

Ill speak to Avios later and strike while the 50% Avios Iberia sale is on