Changes to BA American Express cards and Companion vouchers

[Chunky81]

The old and new voucher part is what gets me.. I’ve asked both Amex and BA about it. As a family of 4 I like to use 2 vouchers but just now it looks like I’ll have 1 voucher on each terms. But have been given no clear answer about using them when I ask for further details for future planning.
Any ideas what I can do?

[Claudette]

Was it always only one voucher a year? I am sure we sometimes got two a year, but I must admit I don’t track it carefully.

I have also found it very hard to find first class reward flights lately (I have looked for places like LA, New York, Tokyo), does anyone know if these will be bookable with the companion voucher in future (we have the premium card).

[stanleycamel]

Originally Posted by Claudette

Was it always only one voucher a year? I am sure we sometimes got two a year, but I must admit I don’t track it carefully.

I have also found it very hard to find first class reward flights lately (I have looked for places like LA, New York, Tokyo), does anyone know if these will be bookable with the companion voucher in future (we have the premium card).

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First class seats aren't guaranteed it is up to Revenue Management if and when they release any First class redemptions. It has always been one per year but with BA extending Companion vouchers due to Covid some BAEC members are finding the vouchers are building up.

Claudette - it might be worth looking at any vouchers you may have because some were extended again this week.

[Goldia]

It used to be very easy to rack up points by nominating another person for a BA Amex card, with both parties gaining points. It was possible to nominate your spouse and so we did this a number of times. Sadly Amex realised this.

In terms of how many points do you need. It depends on whether it's peak travel times and the ticket class you want to book.

We've earned enough to travel business class to Washington DC, both DH and myself earned companion vouchers and we had our kids as our companions. The tax and charges are a fair amount.

We also had a booking for Toronto on companion vouchers for the four of us last year that got cancelled, both vouchers returned to the accounts with avios and refunds of the tax etc very promptly.

Last year they extended the two year expiry date for some of our vouchers due to the pandemic, which was a real bonus, as personally I'd prefer not to use them for short haul as it doesn't seem worth it.

We are currently sitting on 3 vouchers, 2 of which have to be redeemed before May 2022. We will likely earn another in a couple of months. I'm tempted to make a booking with the longer life voucher for Florida next summer and hope when the next voucher is triggered there is a reward seat on the same flight.

[Peko]

Originally Posted by stanleycamel

First class seats aren't guaranteed it is up to Revenue Management if and when they release any First class redemptions.

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Going forward, I think there will be fewer First seats released. Leaving aside the current shift to 3 class aircraft on routes which had F traditionally, which may be temporary, the reduction of the cabin to 8 seats on most 4 class aircraft (and the retirement of the 747 fleet) will have a permanent effect.

BA will of course have to ensure the product justifies making it a more revenue-heavy cabin, especially with the Club Suites reducing the gap between cabins in terms of hard product.

[Softy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

It used to be very easy to rack up points by nominating another person for a BA Amex card, with both parties gaining points. It was possible to nominate your spouse and so we did this a number of times. Sadly Amex realised this.

In terms of how many points do you need. It depends on whether it's peak travel times and the ticket class you want to book.

We've earned enough to travel business class to Washington DC, both DH and myself earned companion vouchers and we had our kids as our companions. The tax and charges are a fair amount.

We also had a booking for Toronto on companion vouchers for the four of us last year that got cancelled, both vouchers returned to the accounts with avios and refunds of the tax etc very promptly.

Last year they extended the two year expiry date for some of our vouchers due to the pandemic, which was a real bonus, as personally I'd prefer not to use them for short haul as it doesn't seem worth it.

We are currently sitting on 3 vouchers, 2 of which have to be redeemed before May 2022. We will likely earn another in a couple of months. I'm tempted to make a booking with the longer life voucher for Florida next summer and hope when the next voucher is triggered there is a reward seat on the same flight.

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It’s still very easy to rack up points as a couple. On the black BA card there’s a 9-14k referral bonus and it’s for any card. You can each hold up to 4 Amex’s (additional cardholders don’t count) at one time. Max of 90k Avios in referrals per calendar year per card. There are a few of the cards that have no fee, especially for the few months we hold them. Cancel. Leave a couple months and go again.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Softy

It’s still very easy to rack up points as a couple. On the black BA card there’s a 9-14k referral bonus and it’s for any card. You can each hold up to 4 Amex’s (additional cardholders don’t count) at one time. Max of 90k Avios in referrals per calendar year per card. There are a few of the cards that have no fee, especially for the few months we hold them. Cancel. Leave a couple months and go again.

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Hmm, that is really helpful. I will look into it as we have too many vouchers for the avios we have.

Thank you 😊

[Claudette]

Originally Posted by stanleycamel

Claudette - it might be worth looking at any vouchers you may have because some were extended again this week.

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I had a voucher that was due to expire in November and ne that was due to expire in January. I used the January one up on an Orlando flight a little while back and last week I finally used the November one up on a flight to Paris. I thought even if I don’t get there I will convert it to a FTV.

Strangely, I can still see the January one listed in my “used /expired” vouchers list and the expiry date has not been changed. However I cannot find the November one at all, so I can’t check if that had been extended.

I have another two vouchers to be used up in 2023, so if these next two trips get cancelled and I manage to extend the vouchers I am going to have four to use up by the end of 2023.