I agree. I don't get why someone would sign up for an offer, and then after getting the "reward", deciding whether it's worth using or not?

I just got my 2nd 2-1 companion voucher in the past 2 years, and no decision making necessary, it's going to get used!

Note that you need to use the voucher (i.e., complete travel) within 24 months after the date on which you get the voucher. Considering that you usually need to book your trip months in advance of the travel date to use miles, the 24 month window is even shorter.

What you say makes sense, but many folks may not know about the extra charges or may not realize how expensive they can be. In my case, at the time of getting the card I'd quickly checked what they would be for one trip then later decided to do another for which they added up to a lot more. (Still using the 241, though, since even with the charges it seems worth it.) Not saying I was smart in taking this approach, but often folks grab a deal and then later figure out how they'll use the perks later.

Are you sure about this? I was under the impression that as long as you begin with trip within 24 months the voucher is good.

Not as easy as that, because the ground has shifted. I booked a rewards ticket on BA in August 2010 (PHX-WAW-OTP-PHX) and the surcharge was c. $355 USD; nowadays, the fees for the same trip are over $550. A more than 50 percent increase in fees over the last 18 months has substantially affected the value of BA miles and 241s.

You are correct.

Outbound travel must take place before the expiry date stated on the voucher, however inbound travel may take place after the expiry date

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...C/public/en_gb

voucher is good as long as the trip starts within the 24 month time frame. I think the point was you would be able to book a trip for the last month only a month or so out essentially making the availability shorter.

Worth it? I'm paying $700 a ticket, way less than Coach, to fly First Class next summer - arriving Moscow and returning Copenhagen after a cruise. Last May we did the same with FC to Israel from NY. Worth it?????!!!!!

Yes, like all others I wish it was less. Going to Paris in December FC and the total for the two of us thru US Air (LH and UA flights) was about $200. But check BA availability versus every single other European and American carrier. You may find the fees are your friend and result in BA's much, much greater availability.

Beyond that, they are not about to change it so decide if it makes sense for you and act accordingly!

I paid $1,550 for a first class ticket from LAX-CPT, JNB-LAX with a stopover in LHR. It is worth it to me for 21 hours in BA first class each way, to arrive refreshed for our vacation and not waste time recovering from jetlag.

Best use of 241 for me, YMMV

Really good deal for F. Wonder what is the cheapest for me from SFO to europe.. I've always thought that F to europe would be 7-10k!

Get a rough idea of where and when you want to go and put the info into the BA award search. Pick the right flights and BA will tell you the costs.

I had cancelled my BA card (applied when they were offering 100K 18 months ago), and now I sort of wished I hadn't. Travel plans have changed and would now find the 241 useful. I know I can probably apply again, canceled it in March when membership fees kicked in. But I'm reluctant to apply for only 50K miles, which means I've gotten spoiled with the better offers (not necessarily a good thing!)

I'm working on 241 now and about $1K away. I'm aware of the hefty fuel charges, but I figure if I use their F class, it'll be very useful especially when they lower the miles required for the first class not to mention their availability over other airlines.

I don't think I'll do this every year, but if you can meet the 30K, I think it's worth it.

I have 2 x 2fers. Using 1 in 2012. Will go for 1 more and then I am done with the card.

Just booked ORD-LHR-(stopover)-BOM-(open jaw)-DEL-LHR-ORD, all in F.

270k + about $3,000 total, counting all award fees and the three credit card annual fees it took to get here (2 accounts for 1 year and 1 account for a 2nd year).

If I come at it one direction, then it's worth it. Specifically, if you had asked me 3 years ago if I'd pay $3,000 plus 60,000 Starwood points for two F seats to India, I'd have said enthusiastically YES.

If I come at it from another direction...should I have just accepted BA's 205,000 miles for $150 and redeemed them on other carriers?...then I'm going to tell myself that the 2-for-1 still comes out a little bit ahead but I'm not sure how vigorously I can defend that. I do assign some value to the open jaw and the stopover, so that helps.

In any case, I'm looking forward to BA F. Our 2013 2-for-1 cert will probably go unused.

Seems like AA typically has better availability to a lot of my TATL and TPAC destinations. (Obviously TPAC isn't really apples-to-apples with BA since they're going opposite directions.)

I just booked my 2-for-1 for travel in Sept-Oct 2012. Availability was already tight: I was happy I found exactly one date pair available that worked for me and it appears I got the last (only?) two F award seats on a couple of my segments.

No complaints from me since I found what I needed...but it wasn't exactly wide open and business class wasn't an option at all: only F.