**Before we start, if you are not responsible enough or do not have enough money to pay off your credit card in full every month, do not get it! You should pay your statement in full every month and not accrue any interest charges for the loan. This is non-negotiable!***
Welcome to part 2 of the travel hacking for beginners series. In part 1 we gave an outline of how I was introduced into the world of travel hacking, and the start of my journey of accruing Avios points and companion vouchers for flights.
In part 2 we look at the latest credit card I have taken on to give me more Avios and vouchers, and a brief overview on the strategy on how to use all this stuff.
In July this year after reading an article on the Head for Points website I heard about a new card on the scene. The Barclaycards Avios credit card. At the time there was a bonus offer where if you took out the plus version of the card, which had a charge of £20 per month, and spent £3000 in the first 3 months you would get a whopping 50,000 Avios! This rate was amazing. If you spent £10,000 in the year on it you would then get an upgrade voucher, so simply put if you paid for a premium economy ticket you could use this and get a business class ticket.
The aim is when I spend the £10,000 required I will then cancel this card and take their free option, which I would expect to get to in about 8 months I reckon. So it will be £160 for 50,000 avios and a free upgrade - which is an absolute bargain!
Now if you have read both parts of this series it would be reasonable to think I have gone full-on credit cards with the aim of racking up bonus points and vouchers, spending money to get these perks, but with no use for them and ultimately just playing a game.
Which is a fair assumption. I can assure you this is not the case.
My aim with the cards is to be able to do a long haul flight business class with my family. For this there would be 3 fare paying people we need to sort out. By the time I have gained
As a summary I have one companion voucher from my AMEX that can be used departing from the UK with British Airways, and hopefully in a few months time an upgrade voucher that again can be used departing from the UK with BA. I will also have at the time of my second voucher being live I would predict between 170-190,000 avios.
This will allow a few combinations of where I can go as a family of 3 with BA.
To add to the mix I have 140,000+ Virgin points at the time of writing. Now Virgin has partnered with numerous airlines and some of them have amazing redemptions. Most notably with Japanese Airlines, which in itself could offer a whole trip away from the vouchers I already have.
Now I have focused my Avios points and spending for flights, but you can spend avios and Virgin points on so much, and there are so many reward programmes available. Hotels is another area you can focus your time on, which if you use more than flying or means more to you then that would make sense.
You can also use these points to purchase items which may be more appropriate if it's an essential household appliance you need replacing which means you don't need to dip into any savings.
Final thing to make you aware of is a sneaky little website BA has specifically for shopping where you get extra Avios redemption when purchasing through their link. If you check this website for purchasing something, or booking a hotel, you can get extra avios.
For example, let's say you had planned on staying in an AirBnB. If you clicked through on this website first, you would 3 Avios for every pound you spend. They often have offers where this is at a higher rate. So not only do you get the Avios for using your credit card on the night away, you get an extra 3 Avios per £1 spent on top of that. Virgin have a similar deal and you can access this through online and through their app.
The important thing to remember her is to stick to your normal spending habits. Don't buy things to solely get the Avios, or if there is an offer for an inflated Avios redemption with a brand purchase something from them which is more expensive than a competitor. This is a dangerous path to go down as you start increasing your spending on things you don't need - which is not ideal at all.
The last suggestion I would give is try and stick to one programme and fully commit. I have not done that at the start but I wish I had - lesson learned. If I had stuck with Avios since day one I could potentially have an extra 100,000 Avios right now. I would also add onto this do not go for the paid option of the credit cards initially. You will make mistakes so best to do it when there are no fees associated with it.
So there we go, a whistle stop tour of Travel Hacking or those based in UK.
Have you got any tips or tricks?
Anything here I didn't explain well and you need more info?
What's your experience with UK travel hacking?
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