Ask a Points Expert

No you can’t sell your points back to BA. You can transfer them to someone else but there is a cost in this, and you will have to pay it. I suggest you find a way to use those points other than flights. The best option is wine, and using the BA Wine Flyer. You can reduce the cost of wine to virtually zero and use your points for something real and tangible.

No this is not possible. Can I suggest that you look at alternative routes for reward flights. I fly to the US each year and find that it’s relatively easy to get business class seats if you are flexible on dates and on where you end up.

Just keep your points active until there's a flight that you want. They will remain active for three years since your last transaction. Any activity, even Uber or Avios Shops, will reset the clock on that. You might not have a use for them now, but could in the future. I always keep a few hundred thousand in reserve in case I have to do something urgently, or we just decide we want to do something unplanned.

you can find someone who can make use of it (suprised you dont find reward flights, though must be booked 11 months in advance for long haul and popular destinations)

if someone wants the points then you can join their household account and they can use the points with no cost of transfer

you have to agree the price/value of these points with the buyer

I would consider buying these, but would like to know your considered charge! thanks

Convert them to Nectar and spend

Nope, not possible. Happened during COVID as there were no real options for using the vouchers, but beyond that there is nothing you can do unless you have a critical reason for the extension. This could be you are seriously ill, your job forbids you from travelling (if you are a doctor, or in the army or navy) or you have an ill family member. There are a few others as well, but none will be covered by you not having enough holiday entitlement.

No extensions except for significant illness in yourself, your partner or other very rare situations. I would speak to my employer and see if I could bring forward some holiday into this year. It sounds like you don't have another companion voucher in your account, so it's worth asking. If you don't ask, you don't get.

Qatar is the better option. You won't be able to use a BA Companion Voucher but you have a much better chance of getting flights (although it's not guaranteed). You can wait up until midnight and call the BA call centre to look at options that are 350ish days out but it's just not going to be easy, then you need to do the same for the return leg. Qatar is a better travel experience. BA flight will connect in Singapore, which is find, but for me it's better to get the short leg out of the way to Doha with Qatar and then the longer leg to Australia where you can sleep.

There are big differences between the cards. The premium card's companion voucher can be used for business class, first class and premium economy. The standard card that you mention is only usable in economy. That is the biggest difference for me. If you think you are going to get close to spending the £15k then go for the premium card.

If you are comfortable paying for the premium card then do that as its so much better, but it's worth timing it right. Not everyone can hit that the £15,000 for the companion voucher, but if you have something big coming up like a house project or a holiday then it is easier. So basically plan the point where you apply and also plan it around how much avios you have, or you think you can get. Doesn't need to be complex, just a simple plan around timings.

You will get the signup bonus. Amex see the BA cards are being separate from their non-BA cards.

Difficult to amass lots of points without a credit card but understand you don't want to do that. It might be worth looking at the Amex Gold card. Usually 50k points if you hit a certain spend, and the first year is free. Transfer your points to your BA account then cancel it, and the cost is nothing.

Also have a look at the hotel booking on Avios, 10 or 15 points for every pound on there. It's a good way to increase

Do you mean using Avios or Atmos points?

Are you looking to buy tickets with cash, or use points? If so which frequent flyer programme? Are the flights from AU to EU/Asia, or inter-EU/Asia? If you can share some more context that would be really helpful.

Still at the 1 tier point per £ rate, but across the total spend inc. hotels, car hire and flights.

Not online. You can't use companion vouchers with BA holidays direct. You could book the flight first, then add on the hotel, car hire but you may not get the package price. You could try calling BA as they might be able to book flight, add on hotel and then give a discount.

All of this depends on BA flying to a nearby airport. If it requires a connecting flight on a partner airline, then the companion voucher won't work

Cheers. I will write to BA 👍🏿😎

No you can only redeem it for flights

They're the same account, no need to move them. You can add to, or spend, the points in your Avios account or your BA account and it's the same pot.

They are one and the same thing, Avios.com and BA are looking at the same points. There's no way to move them between the two, as they are the same batch of points.

Login to each airlines website. If you don't know the password you can do a password reset, if you have forgotten the username then email support but most logins now are under your email address.

Note that airline miles will lapse after a period of time. BA is three years if there has been nothing happening on your account, but still worth your time to login and check

We have a dedicated section of the site that tells you how many points you need to fly to destinations. You can see Santiago listed here.

If your BA exec number is used on the booking then yes. If you didn't add it when you booked, you can speak to Qatar to add it afterwards. Anytime before you actually fly is fine. If it's added after then you won't get the tier points. You cannot add the exec number online, not sure why. You have to speak to them, via livechat or call.

550,000 or more under the new numbers.