topic Re: Best card for collecting Avios in Credit Cards

Best card for collecting Avios

-NewGuy- — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:24:10 GMT

So I have determined that Avios are the best airline program for me, and I am wondering which card is going to be the best to help me get them. The options I know of are:

Chase BA Sig Visa - I like the 1.25 Avios per dollar spend. The 2.5 on BA purchases won't ever apply for me. 50,000 avios bonus. $95 annual fee.

AMEX PRG - I won't hardly spend on airlines to get the 3x, spend a decent amount on gas and supermarkets for 2x. I know they frequently have transfer bonuses (like 20-50% bonus to transfer MR points to avios). $175 waived first year

CSP - Will use the 2x on dining (fast food and restaurants) 40000 UR points bonus to start. Already have Freedom and chase checking which is nice. $95 annual.

AMEX SPG - Can transfer 20000 starpoints to 25000 avios. 25000 bonus starpoints. $65 waived first year

Those are the ones that I have come up with. Please throw out any I missed. Honestly, I would rather have a Visa / MC because I already have the Surpass that I use a lot and it would be nice to have a non AMEX card as there as a few places a frequently use credit at that don't take it (why, In-N-Out, why????). I like the 1.25 avios earning on the BA Chase card as I could get a round trip ticket to Hawaii after 20k in general spend. However, the 5x categories + 2x always on eating out via CSP sounds like I could get more than one UR point many places anyway. Help me out everyone, what do you think?

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

rlx01 — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:34:38 GMT

If you spend more than 30k, than PRG is best due to the 15k MR spend bonus + 30-50% transfer bonuses.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

nmac — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:07:54 GMT

If you have the CSP and the chase freedom you can move ultimate reward points like this (freedom -> CSP -> avios.) This allows you to maximize the 5% quarterly categories. For example this quarter if you were to have spent $1500 at gas stations and Starbucks your could have 7500 avios. Also if you have a chase checking account you can earn a10% annual bonus on all UR points earned with the freedom card.

Another good possibility for you would be the not yet released amex everyday card. The preferred version sounds like a member rewards earing machine. 3x at grocery stores, 2x gas stations and 50% monthly bonus if you use the card 30 times. There is some debate as to if these points can be moved to frequent flyer programs, I guess we’ll know more in April.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:15:40 GMT

@nmac wrote:
If you have the CSP and the chase freedom you can move ultimate reward points like this (freedom -> CSP -> avios.) This allows you to maximize the 5% quarterly categories. For example this quarter if you were to have spent $1500 at gas stations and Starbucks your could have 7500 avios. Also if you have a chase checking account you can earn a10% annual bonus on all UR points earned with the freedom card.

Another good possibility for you would be the not yet released amex everyday card. The preferred version sounds like a member rewards earing machine. 3x at grocery stores, 2x gas stations and 50% monthly bonus if you use the card 30 times. There is some debate as to if these points can be moved to frequent flyer programs, I guess we’ll know more in April.

Don't think there is debate now, they have been confirmed as fully transferable.

The 3x supermarket is capped at $6K a year, but that's still 27K MR if you do the 30 a month.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

yudeology101 — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:28:08 GMT

@msf12555 wrote:
So I have determined that Avios are the best airline program for me, and I am wondering which card is going to be the best to help me get them. The options I know of are:

Chase BA Sig Visa - I like the 1.25 Avios per dollar spend. The 2.5 on BA purchases won't ever apply for me. 50,000 avios bonus. $95 annual fee.

AMEX PRG - I won't hardly spend on airlines to get the 3x, spend a decent amount on gas and supermarkets for 2x. I know they frequently have transfer bonuses (like 20-50% bonus to transfer MR points to avios). $175 waived first year

CSP - Will use the 2x on dining (fast food and restaurants) 40000 UR points bonus to start. Already have Freedom and chase checking which is nice. $95 annual.

AMEX SPG - Can transfer 20000 starpoints to 25000 avios. 25000 bonus starpoints. $65 waived first year

Those are the ones that I have come up with. Please throw out any I missed. Honestly, I would rather have a Visa / MC because I already have the Surpass that I use a lot and it would be nice to have a non AMEX card as there as a few places a frequently use credit at that don't take it (why, In-N-Out, why????). I like the 1.25 avios earning on the BA Chase card as I could get a round trip ticket to Hawaii after 20k in general spend. However, the 5x categories + 2x always on eating out via CSP sounds like I could get more than one UR point many places anyway. Help me out everyone, what do you think?

Based on your info, I would go for the CSP. You can definiftely maximize the Freedom + CSP UR points combo for Avios... also comes in VISA which is more widely accepted just about anywhere. My AMEX in Koreatown in LA seems pretty worthless because just about no one accepts them.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

-NewGuy- — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:01:57 GMT

Well, now this has gotten me thinking. I hadn't really read about the new, er, EP card? The EPC? EDP? Guess we haven't come up with that yet. Anyway...

I am going to assume that I would use the Everyday Preferred card 30 times a month for the sake of discussion. That means that even at a base of 1.5MP per dollar spent, it's better than the BA cards 1.25 avios per. So although the Chase BA card has a much better sign up bonus, daily value would be less. We'll discard the AMEX SPG card too. That leaves the EDP and the CSP.

For me, the pluses of the CSP are acceptance and combining with Freedom and checking, which could be nice. I have also used the UR Shopping mall to accrue extra points as well. The downside for me is that there are a ton of spend categories where I will only be accruing 1ppd. They also transfer to Avios at 1ppd as much as I've seen.

AMEX is intriguing. I've really only found two places around me that I use that don't take AMEX. I also like the fact that I will always be getting at least 1.5MR ppd. Also, I know that AMEX does many transfer promotions where they offer 20-50% point bonus to transfer to Avios throughout the year, which could bump up my earnings even more.

I am quite confused at this point to be honest, LOL.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

-NewGuy- — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 18:05:43 GMT

Let me also throw some numbers out there and have you guys check my math and thinking to make sure I am getting this right.

British Airways charges 25k Avios for a roundtrip flight from LAX to the Hawaiian Islands (via their partnership with AA, but you still pay in Avios). That roundtrip flight costs 844 bucks on AA. That means each Avios (avio?) is worth 3.38 cents if redeemed in this fashion. With the new EDP card, I would earn 1.5 MR points for each dollar. That means (assuming I didn't wait for a transfer bonus and transferred MR to Avios at 1:1) that each dollar I spent on the card would be worth 5.06 cents if redeemed for that specific flight. Is that right?

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

Walt_K — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 18:46:55 GMT

@msf12555 wrote:
Let me also throw some numbers out there and have you guys check my math and thinking to make sure I am getting this right.

British Airways charges 25k Avios for a roundtrip flight from LAX to the Hawaiian Islands (via their partnership with AA, but you still pay in Avios). That roundtrip flight costs 844 bucks on AA. That means each Avios (avio?) is worth 3.38 cents if redeemed in this fashion. With the new EDP card, I would earn 1.5 MR points for each dollar. That means (assuming I didn't wait for a transfer bonus and transferred MR to Avios at 1:1) that each dollar I spent on the card would be worth 5.06 cents if redeemed for that specific flight. Is that right?

Assuming that the flight you want to take would othewise cost $844, and that you would otherwise pay that much for the flight, then yes, it would be like earning about 5% cash back. A little less considering that you will be foregoing miles you would have earned if you had purchased a revenue ticket.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 18:54:43 GMT

@msf12555 wrote:
Let me also throw some numbers out there and have you guys check my math and thinking to make sure I am getting this right.

British Airways charges 25k Avios for a roundtrip flight from LAX to the Hawaiian Islands (via their partnership with AA, but you still pay in Avios). That roundtrip flight costs 844 bucks on AA. That means each Avios (avio?) is worth 3.38 cents if redeemed in this fashion. With the new EDP card, I would earn 1.5 MR points for each dollar. That means (assuming I didn't wait for a transfer bonus and transferred MR to Avios at 1:1) that each dollar I spent on the card would be worth 5.06 cents if redeemed for that specific flight. Is that right?

you also need to take into consideration fuel surcharges.

certain airlines are notorious for imposing extremely high fuel surcharges, and BA is one of them. They were even taken to court for charging outrageous fuel surcharge fees. http://thepointsguy.com/2013/11/british-airways-gets-sued-for-outrageous-fuel-surcharges/

However, BA fuel surcharge fees depend on your origin and destination. If your travel is within the US, the fees are generally minimal.

http://milevalue.com/when-does-british-airways-add-fuel-surcharges-to-avios-awards/

The other problem is award seat availability. During peak seasons, most of the award seats may have already been taken, so you may have to play around with the scheduling as well. If your dates are extremely inflexible, then book way ahead of time, or just be prepared to fork out cash for it.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

-NewGuy- — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 19:45:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@msf12555 wrote:
Let me also throw some numbers out there and have you guys check my math and thinking to make sure I am getting this right.

British Airways charges 25k Avios for a roundtrip flight from LAX to the Hawaiian Islands (via their partnership with AA, but you still pay in Avios). That roundtrip flight costs 844 bucks on AA. That means each Avios (avio?) is worth 3.38 cents if redeemed in this fashion. With the new EDP card, I would earn 1.5 MR points for each dollar. That means (assuming I didn't wait for a transfer bonus and transferred MR to Avios at 1:1) that each dollar I spent on the card would be worth 5.06 cents if redeemed for that specific flight. Is that right?
you also need to take into consideration fuel surcharges.
certain airlines are notorious for imposing extremely high fuel surcharges, and BA is one of them. They were even taken to court for charging outrageous fuel surcharge fees. http://thepointsguy.com/2013/11/british-airways-gets-sued-for-outrageous-fuel-surcharges/

However, BA fuel surcharge fees depend on your origin and destination. If your travel is within the US, the fees are generally minimal.
http://milevalue.com/when-does-british-airways-add-fuel-surcharges-to-avios-awards/

The other problem is award seat availability. During peak seasons, most of the award seats may have already been taken, so you may have to play around with the scheduling as well. If your dates are extremely inflexible, then book way ahead of time, or just be prepared to fork out cash for it.

Enharu, Thanks for the heads up. I read about the absolutely insane fuel surcharges that BA charges, especially you actually fly BA where they route you through London. I would be using Avios to pay through a partner airline. I am in the sweet spot on the West Coast where a round trip flight from LAX to any of the Hawaiian islands is only 25k Avios with very minimal added fees. I might possibly use Avios for in country flying, like maybe LAX to New York or something like that. If I had to go out of country, I would use Avios for one hop to the East Coast, and then go Aer Lingus to Dublin, or transfer to Iberia Avios and fly using them to get around it. One of the blogs you mentioned above has a great article about how to get around out of country without getting screwed with fees.

Seems like the EDP card could really be a winner. I know that AMEX frequently has transfer bonuses to avios of 20+ percent. Lets assume I do it at 20%. That means I could get 25000 Avios (a round trip ticket to Hawaii) with 13,890 of general spend (not even including the supermarket and gas categories). That seems pretty awesome to me.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

Omnipotent — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 19:48:02 GMT

IF you do decide on the BA Chase card, look out for the 100K sign up bonus. 50k after 2k spend in the first 3 months. 25k additional after an additional 8k spend within the first year. 25k additional after 10k spend (still in that first year for a total of 20k spend).

BUT again, it depends on where most of your spending is.

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

CreditScholar — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 01:48:00 GMT

Is there any chance you can use the companion ticket with the Chase BA card?

Re: Best card for collecting Avios

-NewGuy- — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:31:25 GMT

@CreditScholar wrote:
Is there any chance you can use the companion ticket with the Chase BA card?

CS,

I could use it in certain circumstances, but not enough for it to really be much of a bonus for me beause of the way it has to be used. First of all, it has to be used on BA, it can't be used on any of their partner airlines (AA, Iberia, etc) like the Avios themselves can be. Also, you have to originate and finish in the United States. This means that you will have to take an inter-country flights on BA, which means you are going to get taxed like crazy. Even in the small print, it says that it comes with taxes between 600-1200+ for BOTH the person using Avios and the companion using the ticket.

One of the travel blogs did an article showing that it could save money if you were going to take a first class trip halfway around the world, where the tickets would normally run 10K, it would only cost 2.5k with the pass. But that's not me. I'd rather take flights from LAX to the Hawaiian Islands with pretty much no fees, or maybe to other parts of the US, or transfer some Avios to Iberia or another partner airline (that doesn't screw you with surcharges) if I want to go out of the country.

That AMEX EDP card really sounds interesting.