Matt, I will be very honest that a while ago I found your videos extremely boring and never watched anything that came on my feed simply for this reason… Boy, have I been wrong this whole time. I find your videos so helpful now. You’ve earned my respect and gained a loyal subscriber! Not only that your videos are helpful and insightful but you always make it fun, entertaining and easy to watch! Happy new year 🎉
Thanks mate! I think I realised very early on that I was never going to be an out-and-out entertainer! And those older videos are handy if you have insomnia....
I feel the same. These videos arent for 'beginners' . Once your well into your avios/ frequent flyer journey, these are super useful and informative videos
Steve .. worth considering - it can open up some otherwise very expensive options like Sun air (BAFranchise) Finnair are joining the avios scheme soon!!
You once mentioned that when booking an Avios flight, if you part pay you can still earn Avios ( now only on what amount you pay?) and Tier points. Are the Tier points pro rata or the full amount for the flight regardless of the amount of cash paid. Keep up the good work, I’m learning a lot from you 👍
@@michaelslattery9923 If you book a redemption (which can end up costing some avios and some cash) you'll not earn avios or tier points. If you purchase a seat (which can also end up costing a mixture of avios and cash) you will earn them in full.... You just need to know which pathway you have started out on.... The avios you spend buying a seat are sold at a much worse value than if you redeem them
For those not in the UK, Sainsbury has now jacked the prices, so you need a Nectar card to get the "normal" price. They they monitor your repeat purchases, and give bonus points on those items. Once you get 400 Nectar points, it converts to 250 Avios (used to be at par). It's a good deal and can easily be +10K points in a year, since you have to eat anyways.
Be very careful of setting the auto conversion, as it's default setting is Avios to nectar! I transferred 400 Nectar points in november from a new nectar card as i had issues accessing my previous one after changing my phone number (fortunately that had been set up to auto transfer nectar to avios and was a a 0 balance). There appears to have been a change in as much as after selecting auto conversion it automatically sets up for avios to nectar, even although you have just excanged nectar for avios. To my horror, I logged into my nectar account at the sainsburys petrolstation and suddenly discovered all my 50k avios had been swapped to nectar points! and there was SFA that either BA or Sainsburrys were willing to do about it. so I lost a massive number of avios when i swapped the nectar points back to avios. Absolutely disgraceful situation, but lesson learned!
Thanks for the summary Matt. I like that you use your accounting background to walk viewers through the real values/expenses that go with these programs. There's value to to be had, but it's not as simple as "Collect tons of points. Take lots of free trips."
Good stuff Matt and Happy New Year. I carried 100k+ Kris Flyer miles into 2024 which I just redeemed on MEL-SIN in business and a return economy trip SIN-HKT in February. Much better to lock in these flights and experiences than hold a large balance which could be devalued at the whim of the airline hierarchy IMO.
Hi Matt, As per usual, great analysis, thank you for the video. Glad to see you having a great start to the year. Look forward to more content! Greeting Thomas
None from the BA estore Matt? I find it to be a pretty rich vein of Avios! Even your Sainsbury’s could be getting you 2 avios / pound, and they’ve recently reintroduced the ability to register your cards and collect in store, I find I randomly pick up a few avois when eg out to lunch or in coffee shops etc. Worth a look!
Thanks Jonny... I think people would be surprised at how little I spend, other than on travel... And as long as it lasts, buying directly through Hotels.com with their loyalty programme is still better value than buying through the e-store.... But it is something I should look more closely at as there may be a few avios I can wring out of the system
As usual, good video, and glad to see the beard is back. I was thinking about why I watch certain videos and why I turn others off. Other than the topic, if it interests me, the person presenting it does make a huge difference to me. If I have to look up your nose, away you go. If you wave your hands in excess, away you go, overly tattooed, away you go. Also, if you speak in a monotone, away you go. You present your points well with a great variation of voice fluctuation. It makes it interesting. So, Thanks for doing what you do; it is enjoyable to watch.
hahhahha@@MattsPlanet No, you use your hands very expressively, not randomly. That comes along with the modulation of the voice. It works well together. And believe me, after reading what I wrote, I sound very superficial.
Not a bad haul at all. I really need to look into the Nectar to Avios conversion - though I may need to pry the Nectar points out of the clutches of my missus...always a daunting task. I do tend to keep a small stash of points around - if for no other reason than emergencies where I need to travel quickly without breaking the bank. I hope this year you will be able to accomplish your 'reverse' around the world in 8 days. I've floated the idea of such a dual trip in my household. My missus of course thinks I am daft - but she is more than willing to sit and watch you do it.
I am looking almost daily at reward availability to unwind my RTW.... Getting across the Pacific from the US is really tricky.... I will persevere though!
Not sure if I missed it but you get £5 off the £20 a month cost of the Barclaycard if you also have premier banking with them and Avios rewards turned on
Thanks - I assumed that was the case - I just didn't notice is advertised anywhere! And its a bit odd that they take £20 then give you £5 back, rather than just taking £15...
Happy New year to you and your mum, I hope you have a great year travelling and cruising. lots of interesting things in the video, it's frustrating when most mere mortals can't get an amex, It was particularly frustraiting when we owned 2 hotels and had a monthly spend in excess of 30k and amex kept pestering us to accept their cards as payment, no chance until you give me a card lol.
For valuating the AVIOS in terms of opportunity costs re tickets at low cost carriers, I would use the AVIOS subscription price (ca. 0.94p/ AVIOS) For Sainsburys, I only get the weekly bonus items. Still have to compare prices with ALDI/LIDL/Tesco etc.
Very interesting as usual, I generate quite a reasonable number of avios through nectar, though I do consider the nectar points ‘free’ to collect. When acquiring avios with them, i could’ve used them to discount future shopping, so i don’t consider the avios as free.
I get so confused about how many Avios points I earned this year. I do try though to fly as cheaply as possible got a good deal flying business to Chicago return premium for 1190 pounds.. I’m staying with a friend in Chicago. I’m currently BA silver, but decided to go on the gold card run this year…. I’ve picked some interesting trips this year so hopefully I’ll be Gold in September. I wish I didn’t have full time job and could do more travel, but enjoy the challenge of getting upgraded..
Really need to up my Avios game. Only found out in December i could have linked my BA/ Qatar account to Booking and earned 1 point per $ spent. This cant be backdated apparently so thousands of avios missed out on. Oh well.
for my wife and me, two BA AMEX card with 70K*2, two Barclays avios scheme 100K*2, and 18K*2, pluse some business flights back to Asia, around 50K of BA AMEX and Barclays avios so close to 500 K of avios,: major spending, two trips back to Asia with 241 vouchers, so 200 K. for our childrens we simply buy the revenue tickets as there are not so many reward tickets available. will be difficult for the 2024 as we do not have the 340 K of welcome bonus
Hi Matt, great informative videos. I have a question……myself, my girlfriend and my mother travel to SA most years. I pay for the tickets and last year upgraded us all from premium to business, on ba. cash tickets and cash upgrades. 😳 The next time I plan to be more savvy!!! I now have a Barclay plus Avios card, which offers the ‘ cabin upgrade’ if a spend £10000 in the year, which I will. I think when I come to book the tickets around October time ( we plan to go in Feb) I’ll have about 150000 avios. I’m aware the ‘cabin upgrade voucher’ can only be used from a reward flight ( avios bought ticket) so financially am I better off doing that and paying cash for the other tickets and using what avios I have left, if any to upgrade with a bit cash on top. Or taking the 7000 avios option, paying cash for all 3 premium econ tickets and using the 157000 avios I will have to upgrade us? With a bit of cash too? I’m a bit confused Thanks. Giles
You'll almost certainly be best off to use the points for a seat... The voucher is an upgrade for two people, one way or one person return (so 2 flights in total) so depending on how many reward seats are available you have a few options.... Best is to just schedule out the various options and see which works best.... The 7000 avios is a poor choice...
Hi Matt great video as always 👏 what do you think about boost balance they are now offering it for the total earnings for 2023 ? They have me 199945 avois for £1845
Hi Matt, love your videos. I am currently Bronze and have 535 tier points. Is the move to silver worth it? Looking at a business return from London to Dublin to get 80 tier points (if I am correct) for around £180. Also, one more question if you wouldn't mind. If my Bronze membership is valid until March 2025, will I only get Silver from now until I guess January 2026? Thank you so much.
If you're that close I'd say silver is worth it - lounges, seat selection, better check-ins - quite a lot is unlocked. Doesn't sound like a terrible way to secure it either with a trip to Dublin which would yield 80 in club. You'll get silver for the rest of the current year and all of the next one which would be March 26 (plus a couple of months after that for the grace period)
We do keep an eye out for the boosters that show up each week in the app - creatures of habit so the offers tend to be what you bought recently which works for us. Plus there were a couple of strong boosts around Christmas - spend £50 and get a bonus x nectar points... Hopefully we'll do better next year but we may not!
Interesting is the BA Prem amex versus barclays ba prem....if you can spend £20k a year Whats better putting all spend on one card? Or split between both for both vouchers (as earning rate is same) For the £240 cost of the barclays premimum card would you get enough value out of the card cost to justify both premimum cards
It really depends on whether you need 2 vouchers a year - if so its definitely best to get both cards. If you only need / can use one then stick with just the Amex
This matt; or, like me, your avios earn/spend is just enough to support sya a long haul redemption and some occasional short hauls in Europe (RFS) - but enough to trigger the spend targets on both cards; primary spendo n the BBA Amex card but trigger the 7,000 bonus avios on the barclaycard.
Just in case this is of interest for anyone reading, BA is currently running a Balance Booster promotion which allows Executive Club members to boost all their 2023 and 2024 YTD Avios. The promotion only runs for a few days, from the 11th to the 13th of January. I could now buy a staggering 271,215 Avios for a whopping £2,495 - but as I've just redeemed my 2-4-1 Amex voucher and haven't even started my requalification year, I'll pass.
Its an interesting offer. I had a look and could boost 600,000 avios, but the rate they're charging is well over 1p each - up to 200k seems to be the usual 0.9xp but above that the rate is less attractive...
Ha, I have to pause this video to think of the WW1 fact. We are about the same age, but I never saw it that way before. At first, I thought you made a mistake, and meant WW2. None the less, a great fun, fact. but can be depressing too lol.
@MattsPlanet Haha you never but are an inspiration to why I need to speed my goals up. Life is short. I never saw the WhatsApp link. Will try and join it at some point later this year
I have 140k ethihad points and can't find a use for them....someone help! Do a video Matt and my goal is going on first or great business with them. Going se Asia in march. Help a girl out would you please???
What I could use is another hard video look at Star Alliance and where to put points. I know Lufthansa's scheme has changed radically this year but I feel that they were never the best choice in any case.
Matt, I will be very honest that a while ago I found your videos extremely boring and never watched anything that came on my feed simply for this reason…
Boy, have I been wrong this whole time. I find your videos so helpful now. You’ve earned my respect and gained a loyal subscriber!
Not only that your videos are helpful and insightful but you always make it fun, entertaining and easy to watch! Happy new year 🎉
Thanks mate! I think I realised very early on that I was never going to be an out-and-out entertainer! And those older videos are handy if you have insomnia....
I feel the same. These videos arent for 'beginners'
. Once your well into your avios/ frequent flyer journey, these are super useful and informative videos
Dudes videos arent boring. They're for the discerning palate. If you know , you just know ;)
One of those ‘keep the algorithm happy but actually say nothing’ comments from me :) sorry, I don’t collect these points but still watch always
And my reply too! Always good to hear from you mate!
Steve .. worth considering - it can open up some otherwise very expensive options like Sun air (BAFranchise) Finnair are joining the avios scheme soon!!
You once mentioned that when booking an Avios flight, if you part pay you can still earn Avios ( now only on what amount you pay?) and Tier points. Are the Tier points pro rata or the full amount for the flight regardless of the amount of cash paid.
Keep up the good work, I’m learning a lot from you 👍
@@michaelslattery9923 If you book a redemption (which can end up costing some avios and some cash) you'll not earn avios or tier points. If you purchase a seat (which can also end up costing a mixture of avios and cash) you will earn them in full.... You just need to know which pathway you have started out on.... The avios you spend buying a seat are sold at a much worse value than if you redeem them
@@MattsPlanet
Many thanks for your response, much clearer now 👍
AVIOS earning machine! Thanks for the info + video!
I know a few who do better, but I'm quite happy!
Happy New Year.
No specual comments or beef - just keep up the good videos!
Thanks! Hmmm..... Beeeeeeef......
For those not in the UK, Sainsbury has now jacked the prices, so you need a Nectar card to get the "normal" price. They they monitor your repeat purchases, and give bonus points on those items. Once you get 400 Nectar points, it converts to 250 Avios (used to be at par). It's a good deal and can easily be +10K points in a year, since you have to eat anyways.
Cheers - I think the competition authorities are looking into whether that price jacking is significant, but in essence you're correct!
Be very careful of setting the auto conversion, as it's default setting is Avios to nectar! I transferred 400 Nectar points in november from a new nectar card as i had issues accessing my previous one after changing my phone number (fortunately that had been set up to auto transfer nectar to avios and was a a 0 balance). There appears to have been a change in as much as after selecting auto conversion it automatically sets up for avios to nectar, even although you have just excanged nectar for avios. To my horror, I logged into my nectar account at the sainsburys petrolstation and suddenly discovered all my 50k avios had been swapped to nectar points! and there was SFA that either BA or Sainsburrys were willing to do about it. so I lost a massive number of avios when i swapped the nectar points back to avios. Absolutely disgraceful situation, but lesson learned!
Thanks for the summary Matt. I like that you use your accounting background to walk viewers through the real values/expenses that go with these programs. There's value to to be had, but it's not as simple as "Collect tons of points. Take lots of free trips."
Thanks Doug - that approach makes some people switch off but if you "stick around" then hopefully there's value to these videos!
Thanks as always, Matt! Happy new year to you too!
Thanks and here's to 2024!
Happy New Year! Enjoy your travels this year.
Thanks - I plan to!
Good stuff Matt and Happy New Year. I carried 100k+ Kris Flyer miles into 2024 which I just redeemed on MEL-SIN in business and a return economy trip SIN-HKT in February. Much better to lock in these flights and experiences than hold a large balance which could be devalued at the whim of the airline hierarchy IMO.
Good work - Mel to Sin is a decent length too to enjoy the experience!
@@MattsPlanet yeah nice timings as well, departing around 16:00 and arriving 21:00ish so can really enjoy the hospitality/drinks menu.
Thanks Matt, definitely looking forward next week to the upgrade voucher video as I have both a BA black Amex & Barclays vouchers to use.
Just a few more days to wait!
Hi Matt,
As per usual, great analysis, thank you for the video. Glad to see you having a great start to the year. Look forward to more content!
Greeting
Thomas
You're very welcome!
Really enjoy your videos Matt. I bet you've had some adventures in your time. You strike me as a top bloke. All the best.
Thanks Roberto.... I think I'm interesting, but the average person I stop in the street seems to disagree.....
None from the BA estore Matt? I find it to be a pretty rich vein of Avios! Even your Sainsbury’s could be getting you 2 avios / pound, and they’ve recently reintroduced the ability to register your cards and collect in store, I find I randomly pick up a few avois when eg out to lunch or in coffee shops etc. Worth a look!
Thanks Jonny... I think people would be surprised at how little I spend, other than on travel... And as long as it lasts, buying directly through Hotels.com with their loyalty programme is still better value than buying through the e-store.... But it is something I should look more closely at as there may be a few avios I can wring out of the system
As usual, good video, and glad to see the beard is back. I was thinking about why I watch certain videos and why I turn others off. Other than the topic, if it interests me, the person presenting it does make a huge difference to me. If I have to look up your nose, away you go. If you wave your hands in excess, away you go, overly tattooed, away you go. Also, if you speak in a monotone, away you go. You present your points well with a great variation of voice fluctuation. It makes it interesting. So, Thanks for doing what you do; it is enjoyable to watch.
Thanks Mikie. I've noticed I'm waving my hands a little more than I used to, but I'll rely on you to tell me if it gets too much!!!
hahhahha@@MattsPlanet No, you use your hands very expressively, not randomly. That comes along with the modulation of the voice. It works well together. And believe me, after reading what I wrote, I sound very superficial.
Not a bad haul at all. I really need to look into the Nectar to Avios conversion - though I may need to pry the Nectar points out of the clutches of my missus...always a daunting task. I do tend to keep a small stash of points around - if for no other reason than emergencies where I need to travel quickly without breaking the bank.
I hope this year you will be able to accomplish your 'reverse' around the world in 8 days. I've floated the idea of such a dual trip in my household. My missus of course thinks I am daft - but she is more than willing to sit and watch you do it.
I am looking almost daily at reward availability to unwind my RTW.... Getting across the Pacific from the US is really tricky.... I will persevere though!
About 900,000 for me last year, have just grabbed the new Lloyds card for lounge access going fowards, seems like very good value.
900k is good going! Presumably a subscription and frequent boosting?
@@MattsPlanet All business transactions luckily for me so cost is effectively 0.
Happy new year!
And to you!
Not sure if I missed it but you get £5 off the £20 a month cost of the Barclaycard if you also have premier banking with them and Avios rewards turned on
Thanks - I assumed that was the case - I just didn't notice is advertised anywhere! And its a bit odd that they take £20 then give you £5 back, rather than just taking £15...
Happy New year to you and your mum, I hope you have a great year travelling and cruising. lots of interesting things in the video, it's frustrating when most mere mortals can't get an amex, It was particularly frustraiting when we owned 2 hotels and had a monthly spend in excess of 30k and amex kept pestering us to accept their cards as payment, no chance until you give me a card lol.
Thanks! Does seem a little short-sighted of Amex to turn down your business but I'm sure there's a reason....
Having to travel at short notice sometimes avios can be very valuable... particularly for BA domestic flights ...
Its a good point - last minute availability can be quite strong and very helpful!
For valuating the AVIOS in terms of opportunity costs re tickets at low cost carriers, I would use the AVIOS subscription price (ca. 0.94p/ AVIOS)
For Sainsburys, I only get the weekly bonus items. Still have to compare prices with ALDI/LIDL/Tesco etc.
I'd round that to 1p!
Very interesting as usual, I generate quite a reasonable number of avios through nectar, though I do consider the nectar points ‘free’ to collect. When acquiring avios with them, i could’ve used them to discount future shopping, so i don’t consider the avios as free.
Its a fair point - they do have a cash value but not a huge one.... Still less than 1p per point
Great vid. Thanks
Thanks
I get so confused about how many Avios points I earned this year. I do try though to fly as cheaply as possible got a good deal flying business to Chicago return premium for 1190 pounds.. I’m staying with a friend in Chicago. I’m currently BA silver, but decided to go on the gold card run this year…. I’ve picked some interesting trips this year so hopefully I’ll be Gold in September. I wish I didn’t have full time job and could do more travel, but enjoy the challenge of getting upgraded..
Cheers - as I say in the video, very few of mine actually come from flying so it is still possible to harvest a good number
Really need to up my Avios game. Only found out in December i could have linked my BA/ Qatar account to Booking and earned 1 point per $ spent. This cant be backdated apparently so thousands of avios missed out on. Oh well.
You can only action the future.... And there's lots of the future ahead of you!
for my wife and me, two BA AMEX card with 70K*2, two Barclays avios scheme 100K*2, and 18K*2, pluse some business flights back to Asia, around 50K of BA AMEX and Barclays avios so close to 500 K of avios,: major spending, two trips back to Asia with 241 vouchers, so 200 K. for our childrens we simply buy the revenue tickets as there are not so many reward tickets available. will be difficult for the 2024 as we do not have the 340 K of welcome bonus
Welcome bonuses can get addictive.... Been a good year though!
Hi Matt, great informative videos. I have a question……myself, my girlfriend and my mother travel to SA most years. I pay for the tickets and last year upgraded us all from premium to business, on ba. cash tickets and cash upgrades. 😳
The next time I plan to be more savvy!!! I now have a Barclay plus Avios card, which offers the ‘ cabin upgrade’ if a spend £10000 in the year, which I will.
I think when I come to book the tickets around October time ( we plan to go in Feb) I’ll have about 150000 avios. I’m aware the ‘cabin upgrade voucher’ can only be used from a reward flight ( avios bought ticket) so financially am I better off doing that and paying cash for the other tickets and using what avios I have left, if any to upgrade with a bit cash on top. Or taking the 7000 avios option, paying cash for all 3 premium econ tickets and using the 157000 avios I will have to upgrade us? With a bit of cash too? I’m a bit confused
Thanks. Giles
You'll almost certainly be best off to use the points for a seat... The voucher is an upgrade for two people, one way or one person return (so 2 flights in total) so depending on how many reward seats are available you have a few options.... Best is to just schedule out the various options and see which works best.... The 7000 avios is a poor choice...
Not bad at all old son, a pleasing haul.
I was happy!
Hi Matt great video as always 👏 what do you think about boost balance they are now offering it for the total earnings for 2023 ? They have me 199945 avois for £1845
If you need them... The price per avios creeps up a bit at the higher levels but if you have a redemption in mind it's a great way of getting a bunch
Hi Matt, love your videos. I am currently Bronze and have 535 tier points. Is the move to silver worth it? Looking at a business return from London to Dublin to get 80 tier points (if I am correct) for around £180. Also, one more question if you wouldn't mind. If my Bronze membership is valid until March 2025, will I only get Silver from now until I guess January 2026? Thank you so much.
If you're that close I'd say silver is worth it - lounges, seat selection, better check-ins - quite a lot is unlocked. Doesn't sound like a terrible way to secure it either with a trip to Dublin which would yield 80 in club. You'll get silver for the rest of the current year and all of the next one which would be March 26 (plus a couple of months after that for the grace period)
Great info thanks Matt
Thanks
That is a lot of points. Have a great year Matt and thanks for all the advice and guidance in 2023
You are very welcome. Here's to 2024!
How did you get so many avios from nectar? I got 5k with 2 cards
We do keep an eye out for the boosters that show up each week in the app - creatures of habit so the offers tend to be what you bought recently which works for us. Plus there were a couple of strong boosts around Christmas - spend £50 and get a bonus x nectar points... Hopefully we'll do better next year but we may not!
Interesting is the BA Prem amex versus barclays ba prem....if you can spend £20k a year
Whats better putting all spend on one card? Or split between both for both vouchers (as earning rate is same)
For the £240 cost of the barclays premimum card would you get enough value out of the card cost to justify both premimum cards
It really depends on whether you need 2 vouchers a year - if so its definitely best to get both cards. If you only need / can use one then stick with just the Amex
This matt; or, like me, your avios earn/spend is just enough to support sya a long haul redemption and some occasional short hauls in Europe (RFS) - but enough to trigger the spend targets on both cards; primary spendo n the BBA Amex card but trigger the 7,000 bonus avios on the barclaycard.
Do you use a household account. If so am I right in saying that I can dip into that as an individual.
I have my Mum in my household account but she doesn't contribute much.... And you can indeed spend someone else's avios if they're in that household
Just in case this is of interest for anyone reading, BA is currently running a Balance Booster promotion which allows Executive Club members to boost all their 2023 and 2024 YTD Avios. The promotion only runs for a few days, from the 11th to the 13th of January. I could now buy a staggering 271,215 Avios for a whopping £2,495 - but as I've just redeemed my 2-4-1 Amex voucher and haven't even started my requalification year, I'll pass.
Its an interesting offer. I had a look and could boost 600,000 avios, but the rate they're charging is well over 1p each - up to 200k seems to be the usual 0.9xp but above that the rate is less attractive...
Ha, I have to pause this video to think of the WW1 fact. We are about the same age, but I never saw it that way before. At first, I thought you made a mistake, and meant WW2. None the less, a great fun, fact. but can be depressing too lol.
Apologies for taking you to such a dark place!
@MattsPlanet Haha you never but are an inspiration to why I need to speed my goals up. Life is short. I never saw the WhatsApp link. Will try and join it at some point later this year
MATT HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW 3DAY DEAL ON BOOSTING AVIOS
I have. Great opportunity if you need some!
@@MattsPlanet yh but there's a problem people's bonus time stopped last night there trying to sort the problem out there could be an extension
I have 140k ethihad points and can't find a use for them....someone help! Do a video Matt and my goal is going on first or great business with them. Going se Asia in march. Help a girl out would you please???
Don't know a whole lot about the Etihad scheme I'm afraid... Sounds like a decent trip could be had with 140k of them....
What I could use is another hard video look at Star Alliance and where to put points. I know Lufthansa's scheme has changed radically this year but I feel that they were never the best choice in any case.
Do more Duty Free videos 😊 they are always very interesting 🧐
I might just do that!