Deltus

Just in case anyone else has been hoarding their TCB cashback hoping for the return of the 25% bonus for Avios payouts, wait no more! It is back "for a limited time only", although I think today is the first day of the bonus. (Pretty sure I looked over the weekend and it wasn't there.) I was getting nervous with almost £300 cashback sitting in my account, but it was worth the wait...

edinburghgirl

Fly2Where

I got all excited for a brief moment... it's UK site only...
Best I got from US site is 5% extra for Visa

anniegray

Aw just my luck, I cashed in on Friday

ThatT1Feeling

I've only just started this TopCashBack lark but it certainly works well for LHR Parking. Am I right in thinking though that BA doesn't earn cashback directly? And my Hilton stays keep being declined

notakeenflyer

BA has occasionally popped up on cashback sites, but it's usually a very poor rate. IIRC, last time it was a fixed rate of < £1 for shorthaul and ~ £4 for long haul (or something like that). Hilton cashback is a lottery. First if you have any status with them it's a poor 1% and then all kinds of reasons for declining. Most notable are booking a Hilton Honors rate, or receiving an upgrade. Instead of the 1% cashback, I usually book through Avios eStore which is as much a lottery but a better return of 6-8 Avios/£ if it comes through.

Wozza2404

Funnily enough Hilton leaving TCB was one of the reasons I moved over to SPG/Marriott. They did then come back, but at 0.9% cashback for HIlton vs regular 10%-15% at Marriott, I'm sticking on the dark side.

Regarding the bonus, you're still 'buying' Avios for 0.8p each even with the 25% promo. So only worth it if you need a top up.

Personally I use TCB payouts to get a 10% Amazon discount, which is pretty much impossible to get via other channels.

TeflonMan

Forgive me for taking this very slightly OT. How do you get a 10 % Amazon discount? At that rate, I'd be interested. But all I see is a 2.5 % topup from TopCashback for Amazon withdrawals, at which level I'm not necessarily a buyer.

Avios at 0.8p each, on the other hand, doesn't seem too bad.

Wozza2404

Ah sorry - yeah it's not a direct route. That virtual mastercard is often bumped to 10% bonus, so I take that and buy Amazon vouchers.

Avios is a personal thing. For me, I tend to earn more than I can spend, so it doesn't make sense to take them from TCB. However if someone is struggling to get enough together for a redemption they'd likely jump at the chance to 'buy' them at 0.8p. Very subjective topic, this one.

kingcole974

Thanks to the OP for this. I have just filled my boots!

Deltus

I agree it can be a personal thing (e.g. if you already have way too many), but looking at it from an objective mathematical perspective, I think TCB still makes sense at 0.8p each. I almost always redeem for more than 1p of value, and my lifetime average is 2.63p/avios, although that does include some outliers. Still better than I'll get from a pre-paid Mastercard though.

There's also the subjective emotional angle, where I like to think of TCB credit as a sort of discretionary bonus. I'd rather spend that on fun things like premium travel than letting it merge into my bank account or Amazon credit, where it would probably end up spent on batteries or USB cables...

Concerto

What about when you buy Avios through the Groupon deal? That costs around 1.1p, so TCB is an even worse deal than that. And what about just cashing out, taking the money and running? Isn't that the best thing to do with TCB?

Whyone

How is ~0.8p/Avio on TCB a (even!) worse deal than ~1.1p/Avio on Groupon?!

redeyedonkey

I tend to just use the AVIOS estore - probably need to shop around more for when TCB is better or whatever but keeping my life simple etc...

But if posters above are correct on the maths that with the bonus AVIOS are 0.8p each then that £300 in cashback will get you instead when converted (based on my redemptions varying between 1p with BA and 1.4p with AA domestic in the US) between £375 and £525 of flying and for some might be a top up that enables them to use a 241 or something which would increase that further.

So for people with a definite use for it/always find it easy to use their AVIOS it could be worth a lot more than just taking the cash. It's all about what you'll use as it always is in the points game. Stacking them up for the sake of it is ofc much worse than just saving real cash which you can use for anything - but if you have a use in mind where 300 quid buys you over 500 and you were definitely going to travel anyway it's effectively better than cash ofc.

hedgehopper