Is a BA companion voucher worth it?

Is the companion voucher worth it?

Having a friend, or family member, fly for free alongside you, sounds like a good deal. Companion Vouchers don't quite work like that, and to get one you'll need to hit a certain spend level on a credit card. In this article I'll answer: is it worth it?

What is a companion flight voucher?

In simple terms a British Airways Companion Voucher is a virtual voucher that allows you to book two seats using Avios. The number of points you need to use is the equivalent of the Avios for just one seat.

You're not quite getting a second seat for free, as you'll still have to pay taxes for each seat. However, it is a very effective way to reduce the total number of Avios needed to fly. It can have a considerable impact on your Avios balance, meaning you can have more trips or you can travel to destinations that were previously out of reach.

How do you get a Companion voucher?

There's only one way to get a companion voucher at the time of writing, and that's via a British Airways American Express card. There are two cards available;

• The British Airways American Express® Credit Card has no annual fee. For the rest of this article, I'll call this the Basic Card.
• The British Airways American Express^® Premium Plus Card, which has a fee of - at present - £300 per year. I'll call this the Premium Plus card.

Getting a companion voucher is simple; if you hit a certain spend level on the card each year then the voucher will be given to you. A card year starts on the day you are approved for the card, rather than a calendar year. So if I was accepted for a card on the 1st of April, my card year would run from the 1st of April to the 31st of March.

The spending levels needed to get a companion voucher are:

• Basic Card: £15,000 (was £12,000)
• Premium Plus Card: £15,000 (was £10,000)

You might be thinking that the Basic card offers the best value. Unfortunately, any companion voucher issued off that card can only be used in Economy, and the voucher only lasts for a single year (from the date that it was issued).

The Premium Plus companion voucher can be used in any cabin, including Club Europe (Business class in Europe), Club World (Long haul business class) and First Class. It also has a lifetime of two years from the date of issue. That can be useful if you want to travel as a family and use two companion vouchers on a single flight, as you can collect a voucher in year one, and a second one in year two, and both will be active in that second and potentially a third year.

What if I don't have companions?

Solo travellers can use a Companion Voucher to book one return flight, and the Avios required is reduced by 50%. This was a very useful change that BA/Amex introduced two years ago. Not everyone travels in a pair, and the previous rules were unnecessarily punishing solo travellers.

What else can companion vouchers do?

In 2022 American Express introduced the Premium Plus companion voucher. That voucher had significantly more benefits than the original. I've mentioned the change around solo travellers, but the new voucher also unlocks more seat availability. This is a very powerful change.

You can see this in action by starting the Avios booking process and selecting a Premium Plus voucher. A message at the top of the flight selection page will say "Extra reward seat availability" if you're being shown flights that you wouldn't normally see on an Avios search. This is genuinely useful and has been a help to me when making bookings.

How do you access a Companion Voucher?

Once you've hit the required spend level you'll receive a notification from American Express. The voucher will appear in your British Airways Executive Club account within 48hrs. When you want to book an Avios flight visit the "Book flights with Avios" page on BA.

At the top of the booking form you can choose which voucher you would like to use.

Can I check my spend progress towards a voucher?

Yes, recent changes to the American Express app allow you to see how much you have spent in the current card year. Click the Membership button at the base of the screen, and it will tell you your spend to date, as well as the remaining spend required to get your voucher. It will also give you confirmation on your spend year, or at least the final day of the year.

How do you keep track of your vouchers?

You may end up with more than one companion voucher, and you also may end up with other vouchers (namely the Barclays Barclays Cabin Upgrade voucher). On the Executive Club Homepage you'll see a total of your vouchers in the Dashboard section.

Clicking on that will give you a breakdown of all the vouchers you have, including the date they were issued and when they expire. You can also see any recently used or expired vouchers.

So, is it worth it?

Let's look at the cost of getting a Companion Voucher. The reality is that the free BA Amex card isn't going to be suitable for most people, because the goal is to fly in business class or first class. That means an annual cost of £300. Hitting the required spending limit shouldn't mean you incur any additional costs. Ideally, you just switch spend from another card, be it a debit or credit card, to the Amex, meaning that the net cost of that spend is zero.

If using a companion voucher means you only have to spend half the Avios on a flight, what saving does that represent? Flying business class to New York costs 80,000 AVios off peak or 90,000 peak. Buying that number of points, at the absolute cheapest rate (Through Avios Boost) at 0.92p/Avios would cost you £736, representing a saving of £436.

The reality is that most of my Avios will have cost me more than 0.92p, meaning that the savings are higher.

There's also an opportunity cost (or in this case value): having a companion voucher may give you flight options that are not showing for regular Avios fares. That's invaluable if it helps you find flights on the days that are most important to you.

There is a risk with companion vouchers. Both myself and my wife collect one each year, and sometimes we aren't able to use them and they lapse. We've also had trips where - because of either availability, or flight times - we've flown out with BA, and then back with another airline. That reduces the saving by half.

To answer the original question; in most cases working towards, getting and then using a Companion Voucher is absolutely worth it.

Which airlines can you use Companion Vouchers on?

Recently Aer Lingus and Iberia have opened up to allowing Companion Vouchers. Both bring more options: Aer Lingus with their strong US connections via Dublin, and Iberia with their strong Latin American connections.

Companion Voucher FAQs