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Today we are looking at a reader question from Lyndsey from Scotland. If you would like to ask a question to be featured on the blog, please feel free to contact me by email at [email protected] or click on the contact us tab above.
“My husband and I, along with 2 friends have embraced the BA Amex as a source of Avios. As a result, we have approx 110K miles per household, plus each person has a companion voucher- a total of 4 companion vouchers. We also have 2 upgrade vouchers.
The 4 of us really fancy going to NYC in style but we cannot fathom the most efficient way to do this with the resources we have. We live in Scotland so BA options always involve a domestic flight usually to Heathrow or Gatwick. Our friends are in Suffolk. The Lloyds one is valid until Dec 2018 and the companion ones have until 2019. We were planning to go towards the end of the year.
Can you offer me any advice about the best way to use the resources we have?
This is an interesting question that I often face myself when I have lots of vouchers to use. The vouchers can only be used on BA flights so your only option from Scotland is to connect via London.
First, let’s have a look at the Avios needed. You don’t have enough for First and you can’t use an upgrade voucher to go from Club to First, so I will look at Club World.
Return to New York in Club World from London for 2 people using 2-4-1 voucher
- Peak 120,000
- Off-peak 100,000
Return to New York in World Traveller Plus (WTP) for 1 person then upgrading to Club using the upgrade voucher
- Peak 80,000
- Off-peak 52,000
So, the best options Avios wise would be to make sure you go in off-peak times. For the end of 2018, 1 November to 13 December would be off-peak. There is not much between 2 off-peak upgrades from WTP to Club at 104,000 vs a 2-4-1 voucher at 100,000. Domestic connections within the UK are included in the Avios but taxes, fees, and surcharges will be extra. So, you could start in Scotland and your friends in Heathrow.
It will also partly depend on when exactly your 2-4-1 voucher expires. The Lloyds voucher is valid for flights booked by the end of 2018, whereas with the 2-4-1 voucher you have until the expiry date to start travel. However, with a total of 4 Amex 2-4-1 vouchers, I would probably use those first.
New York normally has some of the best availability so getting seats shouldn’t be too much of an issue if you start looking now and go before mid-December when flights tend to get busier.
So once you have decided which option to choose there are a few things to consider:
In this post:
Do you fly to Newark or JFK?
Newark is usually less hassle to fly from and they are currently refurbishing the lounges at JFK but this should be complete by the time you go. Journey time to Newark is usually better as well. On Newark routes, they use B787 and B777 aircraft mainly. I would go for the B787 out of those 2 given that it is a new aircraft which is better to travel on with better cabin pressure and humidity.
If you went via JFK you should get the new lounge and check-in area if it finishes on time. On this route, I would be looking for the refurbished B747 upper deck. You can tell it is one of these by typing in your flight number on SeatGuru and looking to see if Club goes up to row 22 on the lower deck. This means it is refurbished and will have a better entertainment system.
Do you fly from Heathrow or London City?
If you fly from Heathrow you would have access to the Galleries Club lounge and a large modern airport but it is a busy terminal. I always recommend the B gates lounge if your flight departs from B or C gates as most long-haul aircraft do.
You could also consider the BA1 service from London to JFK which is an all business class service. You can read my review here. The disadvantage is that there is no lounge at London City but you do get given credit for food and drinks in a restaurant. You can use the 2-4-1 voucher on CityFlyer as long as it starts with a BA flight number. The same does not apply to the Lloyds upgrade voucher which you can’t use on CityFlyer. London City is a very relaxing airport to fly from apart from getting there!
You can now also use the upgrade voucher on the BA1 using the WTP Avios to get business class. The seats are 2-2 which is not so good for aisle access and the entertainment is on old iPads but it is a unique service. You stop in Shannon and will then pass through US immigration and customs. This means you walk out as a domestic passenger and the Shannon process is very painless.
Other things to note
- You could do an open jaw so perhaps flying London City to JFK and then back to Heathrow from Newark with the 2-4-1 or upgrade vouchers. These have to be booked over the phone.
- If you are able to start from Inverness, the taxes and charges would be much less as there is no APD.
- All the Heathrow and London City New York routes have the new bedding and Club World food
- You can read reviews of lots of different Club World flight here
