Three of my best Avios redemptions, and the one I haven’t taken yet

Foreword: We recently asked our friend Sam, head honcho of Points Well Made, to tell us about his three favourite Avios redemptions, to help inspire our members, and he kindly obliged.

Points Well Made is a UK-based points, miles and travel-rewards website run by Avios addicts Sam and Helena. Its main focus is helping ordinary UK travellers understand loyalty programmes and use points to travel more affordably.

Here’s what he told us:

When people find out how seriously I’ve taken this Avios “hobby”, one of the first questions they often ask is “what’s the best flight you've ever booked?” Generally what they’re asking about is the most expensive one, because understandably, that’s how most of the public thinks about flights, in terms of pounds.

So here are three of my favourite redemptions, and the one I want to target.

Los Angeles, our first ever redemption

This was our first redemption. I'd been collecting Avios for around four years by this point, plugging away with the free British Airways American Express credit card. Hardly the most optimum, but I wasn’t earning much at the time, so a card with no fees appealed to me. But I knew that I wanted to go big with my first redemption.

We booked utilising our hard-earned Companion Voucher (back then the free card and the BA Premium Plus earned the same Companion Voucher), and with anticipation rising, the day of departure rolled around quickly, 8th September 2022, although you may remember this day for a completely different reason in British history. Oblivious to what was going on in the outside world, we boarded and there they were: two of our very own Club Suites, all paid for thanks to a free credit card.

That's the moment the whole thing stops just being a dream. You spend years watching a number climb in the app, and it means nothing. It's all immaterial until you actually book it. Then one day the number turns into a bed, a glass of something, and eleven hours of your knees not being crushed by the person in front of you, and then you’ll finally understand why you were doing it all along.

If you've already had that moment, then you'll know the one I mean. If you haven't yet, and you're sitting on a pile of Avios you're a bit scared of spending wrong, I look forward to one day hearing you tell us about your “moment”.

Club Europe, to start a holiday properly

The one nobody expects me to defend is Club Europe.

On paper it's indefensible, as you’ll know that a short-haul European business class seat is just an economy seat with the middle one blocked off by a table, whoop-de-do! Anyone with a spreadsheet will tell you the value per Avios is poor, and they're right.

But I don’t do spreadsheets!

I don't book Club Europe for the seat. I book it so that holiday feeling starts the moment you arrive in the terminal.

Stuck in a never-ending Disneyland-esque queue in security? Not with fast-track security you won’t. Trying to get into the lounge? Whilst you're stuck in the queue for the Club Aspire in T5, there’s no queue for the BA lounge. Would I like another glass of champagne? Yes, yes I would!

The seat doesn’t come into it. What I’m paying for is setting the tone for everything that comes after.

Singapore, in First

You know what I said about not including the most expensive flights? Well, I lied.

Singapore, in First. Not many other destinations in the BA network have such consistent demand as Singapore, and we’ve done it in the premier cabin.

I'll be honest about the price; it was 238,000 Avios for the two of us, no Companion Voucher. Even in our own review of the flight Helena called it an inefficient use of points. We did it anyway. Some things you want to do properly once.

In that vein, I managed to blag 1A for Helena, a seat we are not entitled to as lowly Blue members, because BA reserves 1A for its Gold members. I also had a glass of Johnnie Walker Blue, a bottle of which costs £150. This was completely wasted on me because I don't drink whisky, but sometimes you do things not because you should, but because you can!

Was it worth the extra over the Club? Depends what you mean by worth.

Was the ground experience better? The Concorde Room is undoubtedly a nicer place to spend time compared to the Galleries Lounge.

Did I arrive any faster compared to a “lesser” seat? Uhhh, no, same plane.

Did I sleep better compared to Club? No, worse in fact, because the bedding was so thick I overheated (definitely nothing to do with my aggressive sampling of the bar!).

Did we have a great time, and create some long lasting memories? Yes, absolutely. We both spent moments on the flight metaphorically pinching ourselves asking “how is travelling like this part of our lives?”

That’s the power of points, helping you achieve what otherwise would have been inaccessible. We still had to get the RailAir bus to T5, though…

Tokyo, which I still haven't booked

Which brings me to the one I haven't done.

Tokyo. We’ve wanted to travel to Japan for years, but as a trip, this one has always been the bridesmaid, never the bride.

The trip you haven't taken yet is the only one on this list you and I have in common. You most likely don't care how Singapore felt to me. But you've got a Tokyo of your own. Everyone does.

So that's my favourite redemption. The one I can already picture, yet can't quite book.

But when I’m ready, I’ll have Reward Flight Finder in my pocket letting me know when my seats drop.

Sam, Points Well Made