eugegall

I hear this often on the forum and I was wondering what your definition of "Tons of Avios" is?

100K? 500K?

CaroFos

1 million + ?

corporate-wage-slave

It's a silly phrase really since it's going to mean "an excess of Avios over my immediate needs". The trouble is that every FTer is going to have a different definition of this. So if you are single person taking advantage of the great value RFS over Europe, then 100k could be a ton - that would be up to 25 flights off peak. If you have an extended family beyond the scope of 2-4-1 and a habit of visiting Florida in CW then you are going to need a much more substantial pile. Having excess Avios brings issue if or rather when there are devaluations. On the other hand, having a buffer is helpful for spur of the moment travel, or even when unexpectedly there is a family crisis a long way from where you happen to be.

If you're Gold or above and doing a reasonable amount of longhaul in WTP or above then you are probably naturally collecting sufficient, or more than sufficient, Avios for your needs. But we're all different in terms of our travelling pattern.

stevebintley

orbitmic

Agree with cws. The definition of "a ton" would vary according to needs and perception of how hard they are to earn or simply belief in avios/miles as currency. If anything, I suspect that the phrase is use more often by people who do not earn anywhere near the most because when you are an occasional flyer, anything like 10,000 avios may sound like a lot and people may well be surprised by how little it can get them. In fact, it is a comment I have frequently heard from infrequently travelling friends and family who may be quite proud of those numbers because that may well represent a lot more travel than they have ever made and they are very understandably hopeful that it could buy them a lot. It is really unpleasant in such cases to find the right balance between confirming that those are large enough numbers that they can indeed get a free ticket, yet explain that their hoped free trip to Australia or Chile is unfortunately nowhere near.

I've never considered that I had "tons of avios" yet, I think the lowest balance I've ever kept in the past many years must be somewhere around 200,000 which would give me a couple of emergency long haul J if need be, and have frequently had seven figure balances. I suspect some people here who have little occasion to spend their avios at all because they already travel more than they would like to for work may have substantively higher balances yet.

Geordie405

As said above, everyone has a different perspective on this. I currently have a little under 80k which is lower than I'd like and not what I'd consider to be tons. Of course, it could depend whether you're considering a US ton, a metric ton, or a short ton!

For me, my Avios are used either for UuA from WT+ to Club (although that is now a costly exercise when originating in the US) or else for what would be outrageously expensive short-haul trips in economy. For whatever reason LAS - PHX always seems to be extortionately priced and using Avios for those types of trips is exceedingly good value.

PETER01

Are you really Mr Kipling?!

Not sure what 'Tons' would be but I'd hazard a guess at a few million.

I tend to spend my Avios as I go but at the moment am saving them up for a JAL F trip of which I am nearly there, well for one leg anyhow

I used to buy them but only at 50% offers or near that. Even doing that it was still good value for UuA from WT+ to CW, which is still the sweet spot I think, and it was still cheaper than buying CW outright and still cheaper than any POUG/AUP.

I don't sign up to credit card deals these days but in the past had many and some of the sign up offers 10 years ago, including Tesco Mobile deals, Pet Insurance Deals, Home Insurance were excellent as were Tesco Ink Cartridges, DVD's, Books, Fruit and even Loo Rolls at one time! I hereby confess that I was a Tescoholic at one time. (as were a lot of members on this board!)

I don't think we'll ever see the likes of these offers again and of course Avios have been devalued a fair bit in terms of what it takes now to UuA for example to West Coast USA.

Still, overall in the current scheme of FF programmes BAEC is still relatively good compared to others.

Geordie405

It's funny you say that because as I was writing that sentence the same thought came to my mind. I also liked the Fondant Fancies (although thanks to the link I see that they are now apparently called French Fancies) but I have an enduring memory of them having a little star or other decoration on the top. No one else in my family seems to remember that, so perhaps I am confused. Battenberg was also another favourite.

Maybe we could persuade BA to include a selection of exceedingly good cakes as part of a reinvigorated Afternoon Tea service to celebrate their 100th Anniversary. After all, nothing goes better with a cup of tea than a nice slice of cake!

PETER01

Every time I read or heard the word exceedingly I always think of Mr Kipling cakes!

I like your 2nd paragraph Geordie405, great idea ^

stevie

I have 800k right now and am really busy with work travel. I try to travel AA and QR for CX over BA so can't use to upgrade to F. Or I fly on busy BA routes such as HKG where F redemption limitedl So for foreseeable I will continue to amass.

Tiger_lily

chris1922Mk2

For me, certainly not 100k. 500k, maybe. I at one point had around 850k, which for me was "tons" but a few redemptions put paid to that. Currently, I "only" have around 280k (400k household) with a 2 4 1 F BOS trip in the diary, but as has been said, it will be different to each individual.
I'm sure I've read of some members having 2 or 3 million................
Which sounds great, but a de-valuation would before you could spend them would be awful !

hotturnip

This is actually the PERFECT definition! Congratulations!

I might refine it a bit more and say, "A ton of Avios points is equivalent to having a number of points approximately 30% or higher greater than your projected immediate needs."

TTmex

I'm happy to have racked up close to 200000 in the last year and a half with no long haul J at all (company policy) and no credit cards (can't get UK card now as not tax domiciled there). It's going to be enough to get me and my wife and stepson to Asia out of Lax and some regional flights too. Of course in economy. Won't be scaling the heights of others here. Just happy that my work travel has given enough benefit to treat my family to a trip to Asia at some point in next year.

windowontheAside

Congrats on building that balance the hard way. But economy is usually a really poor use of Avios - you might do better to keep an eye on sales and look for cash fares and hand on to your stash for future upgrades or RFS. Alternatively you may even get better value out of cash fares and booking hotels with Avios.