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You didn't mention that Amex Gold gets double points on non-GBP transactions and also on air fare purchases (directly with the airline, not travel agents). So if you buy an air fare in non-GBP you'll get 4 points per £1. Probably worth the FX conversion charges.

I use a Starling Bank card for overseas transactions

Superb plane !

Had a trip from London to Edinburgh today. Not the best experience. Bit of a rant coming up 😢 The seat is too hard and the shape isn't great. There were no headrests on any of the seats. The cabin was dirty in places and rattled like a can of nails the whole way. Fortunately I had headphones, which made it bearable. The cabin also felt cold and the ride quality is awful. I don't take intercity trains very often, but this means that I really noticed how bad it is compared to older trains. They offered the dish menu and items weren't available or became unavailable quickly. The toilet wasn't maintained and there was an unfortunate surprise which wasn't cleaned away before departure (I was first on board, so it's the lack of cleaning). It took over two hours to take away glasses and litter, and even then, I had to ask for this. They came relatively regularly with drinks though. The two crews were variable.

The Barclaycard ones don't work with Google Pay which is a real pain!

HSBC premier credit card is £1 - 3 points, is this not better than the £1 - 1.5 avios conversion rate?

Thanks for Vid!! Would you suggest doing the premier Barclays switch?

Nice video Charles - I did open a Chase debit account for abroad spending as didn’t find alternative options out there for credit cards, is Yonder fairly new? Would you recommend this ultimately over Chase now?

If anyone needs an Amex Referral for Platinum Amex and want to earn 100k Avios after spending £10k in 6 months before 14th Jan then let me know asap.

Nice overview sir!

Thanks for the great video, Charles. What’s your advice on downgrading the American Express premium plus to the normal card bearing in mind the possible depreciation of avios points in the future? They are no longer granting Jersey residents UK credit cards and as a result if I decide to downgrade my existing BA PLUS Amex, I need to be careful that I may not be able to upgrade again in the future. Is it really worth the £300 a year subscription fee-I earned over 40,000 Avios last year. Also being based in Jersey British Airways is a vital link for us and Heathrow a huge hub for us visiting Europe and abroad your thoughts appreciated. Thank you.

this video aged badly :(

9:47 have you considered pre booking a special meal?

We had 6 flights across the pond last year and another 6 this year and although we are gold until next year we shall not be trying to get gold at that again. We managed on silver for a long time so have no issue with that. I hope BA see a big dent in profits in time

It all gives me a headache. I just can't be bothered anymore. I'm done with status. I'll simply take each flight on its individual merits from now on. I'll continue to collect Avios for long haul upgrades.

I think i must be the only person that is happy with these changes although I have slowly started moving away from BA to Aer Lingus just because I'm sick of transferring in Heathrow for all of my flights from Manchester and with Aer Lingus and VA I can go directly to New York and Orlando. I generally fly using reward flights and book BA Avios Hotels and pay for everything on my BA Amex so I feel like I'm possibly the only person that may benefit from these changes as the majority of my flights are booked last minute on a need so don't always get the cheapest fares

Next time you go to a Qantas first lounge make sure you get the calamari…it’s a Qantas staple Re the comment you made on the flight times..when I lived in Asia i found those night flights the best for managing jet lag and efficient for business travellers…I think that’s the logic to have the red eyes. It also gets passengers into Heathrow in the morning allowing for passengers to transit onto other flights.

Hi are you doing a review with new changes - can' t decide which card to take.

Thanks for this one Charles! This was a great deep dive on everything, even for people who have been in this avios game for years haha

Book your avis car through BA....it will state you get 5 avios per pound when you do it....then you get 3 avios per pound on top using the BAPP

Has anyone else used the Royal Jordanian airlines new status match, they accept hotel elite status and part of one world, bumps you up to silver equivalent on BA

I’m a big fan of Seatspy very easy to find reward seats on lots of airlines including BA.

If you have a companion voucher can you add the return later once the return is available and still use that companion voucher?

Thanks for all the details …. When I first read the announcement , I thought it would be good for me as I fly mostly on short haul destinations from LCY , which generally cost more per mile flown (you don’t get much Tier points for a 45min flight but the tickets cost as much as a 2-3 hours flight) .. Now that I watched your video I am not that sure..

You think Virgin charges a lot for award flights? BA is awful. It makes redeeming Avios with BA next to pointless.

Good route network, not if you want to go to the Far East or Australia , they have only just started flights back to Bangkok and KL.

I find searching for reward flight availability via the Avios app as opposed to the British Airways app or website to be the fastest.

My last 17k avios will be used with Qatar because from 2025 to 2027, I'm traveling to the Motherland & Middle East. Im so sick of LHR

Really easy choice for me. Was going to do a gold run, 😂😱. I only fly bizz so I’m ok on the face of it I’m not at a disadvantage but I will fly EasyJet return from Belfast to Geneva twice, dropping 8 BA flights! They will realise this eventually.

Household Avios is only a BA executive club thing tho. So if you want to transfer your avios to say Qatar, one of you needs to transfer all the Avios needed from ONE account

Thanks Charles, I’m just getting started with Avios and this is really helpful!

Would be handy to see a comparison video since the changes have been made by BA also….

Re the Barclays/Barclaycard 7k points vs upgrade voucher even though in theory the voucher is much more valuable, ive found myself in a situation where i'll have to go for the 7k points for at least some of them because theres no way i will be able to use all the upgrade vouchers. I could have potentially 4 vouchers in a years time, (since they are valid for 2 years) and maybe enough points to use perhaps 2 of them (and then only if i booked WTP on Economy avios). I'm also thinking of going for the Amex card which gives a better upgrade voucher (eg the companion) and 1.5 points per £1 so the 7k avios will come in better use that way. Otherwise many of my vouchers will just expire unused. Unfortunately i wont get a sign up bonus because i already have the blue card.

Can you use a companion voucher with the other one world airlines not just BA?

Family of 4 always in business done, Japan, Miami and Miami. All since 2018 using the companion voucher. Only disappointed I never knew this sooner

Will you make a workout video :)

If anyone need an Amex referral let me know!

For me, getting a Companion Voucher is a waste of time. There are never any flights that I can take.

Some great tips there. I have the standard Avios Barclaycard and BA Amex credit card but cannot get the up level cards. I have been using the BA estore for about 12 months and thats certainly increased my balance. BP me has been good as they often have bonus points which obviously increases your points for conversion to Avios. Avios for thoughts has earnt me just under 10,000 Avios but its so annoying when you start to complete a survey and then after a while you get thrown out and earn 2 Avios. Thanks for all your suggestions i will never get near 500k but doing my best to maximise points at the lowest cost.

It’s so difficult to use an Amex Premium Plus companion voucher.

It's such a shame that this newer plane has no IFE monitors.

Can you get the sign up bonus if you already hold the free version of the card? I have the free version of both the barclaycard and BA Amex and was tempted to upgrade to the premium Barclaycard

The reason you're not getting any refreshments is because you're travelling a very short distance where a service isn't feasible. Crew changes happen at Newcastle, which means catering crews starting from Newcastle are preparing the trolley for service and may not be able to do a service in the 10 minutes it takes to get to Durham. For the TPE train, the crew would be cleaning up at that point meaning no service. This is coming from someone who does catering for a different TOC who runs on this same line

You’ve missed Qantas, which has a special partnership with Emirates whilst they don’t have avios it could be an option out of Newcastle

No surprise. American Airlines did this years ago

I got fed up of the UK, so I got residency in Dubai. Now I'm fed up of BA, I am moving to QR. This makes sense as I do trips between the Middle East and UK. Plus, I can fly from a more local airport to me (BHX). QR also offer extra luggage allowance and lounge access at HIA on their Silver tier (oneworld Ruby) so is already appealing to me.

We got a redemption to Johannesburg in First Class using the Companion Voucher. It was less Avios than Business Class but more taxes. Still an amazing deal. We are then using local airline Fly Safair for a quick connection to Capetown. Our return is also on First via Johannesburg. I also find Iberia redemptions really great deals

Great video Charles, a complete overreaction by most people and they've got status way too cheap. Obtaining status should never be the main reason for flying although I will likely find it easy to achieve Silver status with the BA holiday option, in the past I've got some fantastic deals flying to the US and adding some hotels/car hire and it adds flexibility.

And let's not forget the unreliability of BA. Last year, my brother and I booked four flights. His flight to Geneva? They lost his skiing equipment, taking half of his holiday to reunite him with it. The flight back? They cancelled it, pushing him onto a flight the next morning. He had to arrange his own accommodation. They quibbled about the bill, and his compensation took SEVEN months to arrive. My flights were OK. So, a 50% screw-up rate. This year? I had four flights booked. My flights to/from Santorini in June have just been cancelled and moved to LHR. I took the option to cancel those and get a refund, booking replacements with EasyJet, and leaving me £110 out of pocket. Again, a 50% screw-up rate. And achieved in the first week of ....... January.

This has only relevance as a comparison if people actually want to go to Paddington, which most people don't.. Practically anywhere else and the Lizzie is a no-brainer. It might be different when HS2 goes live at OOC but still not for the majority..