wesport

I priced out a round trip MIA-LHR paying for it outright vs using the travel together voucher. If I just booked a round trip from MIA to LHR during peak, it prices out at $2458pp. Using my travel together voucher, I would use 150,000 avios and $1793 pp in taxes. Add to that the $95 fee per year, its almost not worth using this card. You do get the statement credit, but not enough of a saving to continue using the card.This is for a business class fare.

Freddorick

To be fair you see that with many of the BA Avios redemptions on long haul routes. The fees are quite expensive. Add to this current low premium prices and there is really no reason not to book the cash ticket (apart from flexibility maybe). Occasionally there are some great redemptions out there, this doesn’t seem one of them.

JAXBA

On the other hand, during the 50% redemption sale using my 241, I got JFK-JNB return in Club World for a total of USD4351.18 and 112,500 Avios (less the USD200.00 Chase credit).

BA.com quotes USD6350.08 for 2 today, for a non-refundable fare. I can cancel the reward for $140.00 if I need to.

Always worth comparing both ways of purchasing - sometimes one will be better than the other.

Geordie405

Unfortunately the taxes, fees and carrier charges for redemption flights starting in the USA are significantly higher than for those starting in the UK. It's for that reason that all of last year's flights were booked starting from the UK (even though I live in the USA) so that I wouldn't be stung with exorbitant charges if I did decided to use Avios to upgrade. However, as others have said, there are some good deals to be had and the ability to cancel an Avios redemption booking for a nominal fee is definitely one of the advantages.

pmarrsouth

So it’s still worth it then?

dylanks

The sweet spot for use of avios on BA is in my opinion upgrades and last minute premium award travel. The 241 travel together certificate offers the best value when used for F travel for Gold Guest List (as it’s difficult to find availability most of the time). I tend to optimize to earn the certificate every 2 or 3 years rather than every year to coincide with big family trips.

i probably wouldn’t bother with the card if if I wasn’t booking travel in first or upgrading from CW to F.

lwildernorva

If you fly BA at all on revenue flights, the card is definitely worth it. I'm booking a trip for my two younger sisters and a friend for June 2021. Even sitting it economy seats, they will save $195 using the Chase BA discount. That one booking exceeds my $95 annual fee. Of course, if you're only looking for Avios flights with the additional fees, there's no reason for the BA card, but that's true for almost any reward flight, no matter the class booked.

lsquare

Just stumble upon your post. I'm a newbie with BAEC. Can you elaborate on those 3 points?

wesport

Booking a one way Business from Mia to LHR is 62,500 avios and $747 in taxes. If you book the same fare on the AA website its 57,500 advantage miles and $509 in taxes.

loosehead

I think it's still worth having the card. Though not using it for all purchases, and, as is being said by other responders, certainly be selective for redemption flights about when it's worth using any 2-4-1's. As you're seeing, it's not necessarily an attractive option against any special offer fares.

Example about general purchasing - we used ours for all our Gas, Food & Restaurants during the "Bonus Avios" promotions earlier this year, and got a good haul of Avios to top up our account. However under normal/baseline conditions, I'd rather get 2% cashback on a different card to the 1 or 2 Av/$ on the Chase BA.

We do use Chase BA cards on all BA purchases though (@ 3 Av's/$), and usually do a quick calculation each year, to see if it's worth cramming the spend on one of our cards to reach the threshold for a 2-4-1. I think we easily cover the annual fee, with the additional Avios we get - but YMMV!

Furby

As others have said using Avios may or may not be good value depending upon what cash fares are running at. Right now cash prices are extremely low but that will not be the case longer term. In any case there are also ways to cut the cost of awards. One of the main ones is to book a round trip from the USA as two one way trips (still using the companion voucher) that way you only pay the extortionate US fees on the outbound trip. The other is to return from the EU or Inverness where you can avoid the UK APD. That plus the $200 rebate per booking means that I can usually get 2 round trips in F for about $1,025 per person. That is a good deal even with the current low fares.

gustavmahler

I’m UK-based so don’t know all ins and out (and apologies if I’m saying anything that you already know), but I think what @dylanks is saying is:

• The card gives you a 241 travel together voucher with (I think) $30k spend, meaning you just need one lot of Avios to travel with a companion on the same BA-operated itinerary (though fees will be required for both pax).
• Gold Guest List is the top tier of BA’s FFP, and you earn what in these parts are known as ‘jokers’, when you reach a certain number of tier points. This opens up Avios availability for up to 5 pax on the same flight so long as certain selling classes are still available (A class for First).
• I suspect that he's saying that Avios are better in First than Club since YQ is (almost) the same for the two cabins. If you upgrade from World Traveller Plus to Club World, the extra YQ is very high if booking ex-US, yet J-F will be negligible. Similarly a cheap J fare from Europe can be close to the fees required for an ex-US redemption. However, the difference between redemption fees and cash First fare will always be a lot more.

Incidentally, it’s not the taxes but BA’s surcharge (YQ) that is the big issue. To work out what the cash difference will be by upgrading, just search the same flight for a cash fare in both cabins on the ITA matrix. Then deduct the fare component from the total. The difference between the taxes/fees of both cabins will be what you have to pay.

lsquare

Speaking about the jokers, as long as there is availability in A, then I can use the required amount of Avila for that route to book it? BA will let me book A even though it’s a cash fare? If so, this could be very valuable. Much more flexible than AA’s SWU.

dylanks

So for US-based departures there is a difference in YQ between CW and First (around $200 iirc), though the Chase card gives a credit once or twice a year). For bookings made from Europe/UK, there is generally no difference in YQ between CW and First. This change for US-based bookings happened right around the time of the Chase statement credit, so it's not a coincidence.

Everything else above is exactly what I would have said.

gustavmahler

Others will know far more than me, but if there's availability in A (or D for Business) then you can use it. Though it has to go through rev man and I think that two people can't use jokers on the same flight. To be clear though, it doesn't book into A class. It stays Z and it's a manual process done over the phone. Again - the many helpful GGL members on here will know much more.

To qualify for GGL though, you will need 5,000 tier points in the first year and then 3,000 thereafter to retain status. There's a great guide to attaining status, which gives all the details.