How to Use British Airways (BA) Avios & Companion Vouchers

1. Introduction: Why this Strategy Works

After 16 years of doing this, we’ve learned that earning Avios was never the hard part. Spending them is.

Want to celebrate something special? Start planning now! When you book a luxury getaway months ahead, anticipation becomes part of the experience. Moreover, having an adventure in your calendar provides a mental health boost during the gloomy winter months. British Airways (BA) Avios and BA Companion Vouchers are the key.

In addition, travelling somewhere can be even more special when you fly Business or First Class. Indeed, even with regular monthly spending, “turning left” can become a reality rather than just a pipe dream.

To illustrate: This is where DIY Luxury Travel Planning transforms your spending. First, establish a daily spending budget. Next, build brand loyalty. Finally, add a dash of luck. Consequently, your everyday purchases, such as groceries, petrol, utilities and insurance, can fund dream holidays. Indeed, we once funded Business Class flights to Bangkok using just one Maldives hotel booking!

Follow the process outlined below, and you too could be creating your own DIY Luxury Travel plans.

2. How the British Airways Avios System Works

Whether you are a fan of British Airways [or another airline with a loyalty programme], we try and maximise it to the full. For everything.

For instance, every purchase we make, we try and use the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card first. Indeed, whether it’s shopping online or using public transport, we ensure that Amex is our default card.

Why? Every £1 we spend earns 1.25 Avios, whether it’s groceries, petrol or a British Airways flight. Until October 2026 it was 1.5 Avios, with 3 Avios on BA bookings, so we’ve taken a cut like everyone else.

Is the card still worth £300 a year? For us, yes, but only because of the Companion Voucher – and in my view, only if you use it in Business or First Class. Without it, the gap between Premium Plus and the free card is a quarter of an Avios per pound. That doesn’t justify the fee on its own.

Spend more than the minimum and your travel companion can join you for free, apart from airport taxes, as Amex will give you a Companion Voucher that can be used when you book a flight. Travelling on your own? Then you use 50% of the Avios.

You could get the free BA Amex card instead. It earns 1 Avios per £1, and spending £15,000 still unlocks a Companion Voucher. The catch is that the voucher is Economy only and expires after 12 months, compared with two years and all cabins on Premium Plus. Premium Plus cardholders also get access to extra Business Class reward seats. The real value of a Companion Voucher is in premium seats, and that’s what the £300 pays for.

The lure of Companion Vouchers

The lure of Companion Tickets becomes irresistible, once you work out how they can be earned and spent. Simply, spend enough money in a year and Amex give you a Companion Ticket on a British Airways flight. All of which sounds very simple and easy to do. But it’s not. And here’s the reason why: these Companion Tickets rely on there being enough Avios redemption seats being available on the flight you plan to take. 

Normally, on a Boeing 777, with Economy, Premium Economy, Business and First, there might only be 8 economy and 4 business class seats available. Getting seats for First is nigh-on impossible (only 2 to 4 available per route) and the same for Premium Economy.  

How Many Seats Are Available?

A typical British Airways Boeing 777-300 would have 8-14 First, around 50 Business, 40 World Traveller Plus and 130+ Economy seats. So only 10% or so of the capacity is made available for those using Avios Rewards. And for a Companion Voucher to be used, there needs to be TWO seats available (one for you and one for your companion). 

For a British Airways Avios Companion Voucher, you can book two seats (one paid with Avios, one for your companion) on the same flight and cabin, or get a 50% Avios discount on a solo booking, but availability is key and varies by flight, cabin, and timing. You essentially get one “free” seat (paying only taxes/fees for the companion) or half-price Avios for yourself, but it’s subject to reward seat availability, not guaranteed, though some cabins (like economy) have more.

3. 10 Essential Tips for Maximising Your Avios

Tip 1: Choose One Primary Card and Stick With It

Focus your spending on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card. You’ll earn 1.25 Avios per £1 on everything, BA bookings included, and spending £15,000 in your card year unlocks the Companion Voucher.

Already a cardholder and unhappy about the cut? Several readers on other forums report that contacting Amex through in-app chat produced a retention offer of 20,000 Avios for £5,000 of spend. It’s not guaranteed, but a polite conversation costs nothing.

Action step: Apply for the BA Amex Premium Plus Card, or start with the free card if you’re testing the system.

Tip 2: Layer Your Point Earnings (4 Use Cases)

Don’t earn once on a purchase when you could earn several times:

1. Pay with your BA Amex (1.25 Avios per £1)
2. Buy from Sainsbury’s (1 Nectar point per £1, worth about 0.6 Avios)
3. Book through the Avios portal (often 10+ Avios per £1 on hotels)
4. Use Balance Boost afterwards to multiply eligible earnings

Real example: a £100 Sainsbury’s shop earns about 125 Avios from Amex plus roughly 60 from Nectar. That’s around 185 Avios before any boost.

Tip within a tip: don’t convert Nectar points automatically. Nectar regularly runs 20% bonus conversions to Avios, so let them sit until one comes round.

Tip 3: Hack the “No Amex” Problem

When merchants don’t accept Amex directly, use these workarounds:

– Apple Pay/Google Pay: Load your Amex as default payment

– PayPal: Set Amex as primary funding source

– Curve Card: Routes transactions through your Amex

Result: You still earn Avios even at Amex-hostile merchants.

Tip 4: Double Your Companion Vouchers with the Two-Card Strategy

Once you hit £15,000 on your card:

1. Apply for a second BA Amex in your partner’s name

2. Get an additional card for yourself on their account

3. Switch all payments to the new card set

4. Accumulate a second £15,000 threshold

Critical: Ensure you have a Joint Household BA account so both vouchers pool into shared Avios.

Timeline: Potentially earn two Companion Vouchers every 12 months instead of one.

Tip 5: Always Book Through Avios Portals

Before any hotel or retail purchase:

1. Open the Avios app/website

2. Navigate to Avios Hotels or Shopping

3. Check the multiplier (typically 10-15 Avios per £1)

4. Complete purchase through their portal

Important: Keep the browser tab open until confirmation: cookies track your purchase!

Tip 6: Book Reward Flights at Midnight GMT

BA releases reward seats 355 days in advance at midnight GMT. To maximize availability:

– Set an alarm for 11:55 PM GMT

– Have your route and flight booking details ready

– Refresh the page at midnight

– Book immediately—seats disappear within minutes

Pro Tip: The dedicated Avios booking line (24-hour) sometimes sees availability before the website updates.

Tip 7: Be Flexible with Dates and Routes

Finding two reward seats for Companion Vouchers requires flexibility:

– Search +/- 3 days from ideal dates

– Consider alternative airports (e.g., Gatwick vs Heathrow)

– Check connecting flights vs non-stop

– Monday-Thursday flights have better availability

Tool: Use BA.com’s “Low Fare Finder” to spot availability patterns.

Tip 8: Target Long-Haul Business Class for Maximum Value

Your Companion Voucher delivers dramatically different value based on cabin:

– Economy short-haul: Saves ~10,000-15,000 Avios (modest value)

– Business long-haul: Saves 100,000-120,000 Avios (exceptional value)

Strategy: Save your Companion Vouchers exclusively for Business or First Class on long-haul routes: this is where you get 5-10× more value.

Tip 9: Strategically Time Your Spending Threshold

Your Companion Voucher’s issue date determines when it expires, and when you can actually use it. Therefore, timing when you cross the £15,000 threshold becomes crucial for maximizing its value.

Why Timing Matters: Companion Vouchers expire exactly 24 months after issue. If you trigger yours in December during peak holiday spending, it expires in December two years later—right when everyone wants to travel and reward seat availability plummets.

How to Optimize Your Trigger Date:

1. Identify Your Blackout Months

• School holidays if you have children
• Work commitments (annual projects, busy seasons)
• Peak travel periods (Christmas, Easter, summer holidays)

2. Work Backwards from Ideal Travel Windows

• Want to travel in April/May? Trigger voucher in April/May
• Planning September escapes? Cross threshold in September
• This gives you the full 24 months starting when availability is better

3. Delay Non-Essential Spending

• If you’re at £14,500 in November, hold off that new laptop until January
• Push annual insurance renewals to align with your strategy
• Stock up on gift cards after crossing the threshold (they still earn Avios)

4. Avoid Peak Fare Triggers

• Peak periods require 10-20% more Avios for the same route
• Off-peak voucher = more redemption flexibility
• Check BA’s peak calendar before pushing through final purchases

Pro Strategy: If you’re running two cards (yours + partner’s), stagger the trigger dates by 6 months. This gives you two vouchers with overlapping validity, doubling your booking windows.

Example Timeline:

• January: Cross threshold on Card 1 → Voucher valid until January (Year 3)
• July: Cross threshold on Card 2 → Voucher valid until July (Year 3)
• Result: Continuous voucher availability for 30 months instead of 24

Tip 10: Use Balance Boost Strategically (Buying Avios at a Discount)

Above all, “Balance Boost” is Avios’ paid multiplier service that allows you to multiply eligible transactions from the previous 30 days. Unlike earning Avios through spending, Boost requires paying cash to amplify your recent Avios earnings—but at better rates than buying Avios directly.

How Balance Boost Works:

Within 30 days of earning Avios through eligible transactions (hotels, shopping, etc. via Avios portals), you can pay to multiply those earnings by 1x, 2x, or 3x. This effectively lets you “buy” additional Avios at discounted rates.

Pricing Structure (First 300,000 Avios per year):

Note: The multiplier indicates how many times your original amount you’re BUYING (as additional Avios), not what you’re multiplying TO. So 3x means you buy 3 times your original amount and add it to what you already have.

After 300,000 Avios boosted per year:

• All multipliers cost £0.0177 per Avios (56 Avios/£1)
• Becomes less attractive once you exceed the 300k cap

Comparison to Other Purchase Methods:

What’s changing for tier points in April 2027?

This is the one piece of good news this year.

From 1 April 2027, Premium Plus cardholders still earn 1 tier point for every £10 spent on the card. The difference is that the points arrive as you spend. Today they only land in lumps when you cross £15,000, £20,000 and £25,000. The annual cap also rises from 2,500 to 3,000 tier points.

What does that mean in practice? Every cardholder will earn some tier points, even on modest spending.

At the top end, the maths gets interesting. Spend £30,000 on the card and you’d bank the full 3,000 tier points. Bronze status in The British Airways Club needs 3,500. That leaves you around £500 of British Airways spend short of Bronze, without needing to fly much at all.

We’re Gold for Life, so this doesn’t change much for us personally. For a couple putting their household spending through one card, though, it turns status from a frequent flyer’s game into something within reach.

4. Step-by-Step: Setting Up Your Avios Strategy

Getting started with Avios may feel overwhelming, but breaking it into actionable steps will make it far more manageable. Follow this guide to build your foundation properly.

Week 1: Research and Planning

Before changing anything, understand where your money goes and how much you actually spend. If you don’t spend more than £15,000pa on essentials, then this plan is not going to work for you.

Then, download statements from banks and credit cards and sort into main categories. Some suggestions would include:

• Groceries
• Petrol / Transport
• Utilities
• Insurance
• Dining out / Entertainment

Once you have this consolidated for 3-12 months, you are already in a great place to plan your future annual spending.

Week 2: Set up infrastructure

Apply for your Amex card either using their link: americanexpress.com/uk There are frequently new signing bonuses (currently 30,000 Avios if you spend more than £6,000 in the first 3 months.

My link gets you 31,000 Avios for the same spend threshold (and I get 9,000 Avios if you use my link).

Disclosure: This post contains a referral link. If you apply through my link, I receive 9,000 bonus Avios from American Express at no extra cost to you. You’ll receive the same card benefits and a slightly higher signup bonus when you apply through my link compared to directly through Amex. I only recommend products I personally use and believe will benefit you. This helps support HindlesWorld and our travel content.

Make sure you have a British Airways Club and create a Household account once you’ve added your partner.

Download the Avios App and Nectar Apps start earning Avios!

Week 3: Start Earning

– Update all payment methods to your new Amex card

– Make your first portal purchase (test with something small)

– Link Nectar to your British Airways Club account for automatic conversion (although sometimes it’s better NOT to do this and wait for the occasional 20% bonus on transferring).

– Track your first month’s spending toward £15k threshold

Week 4: Plan Your First Redemption  

– Research your dream destination and Avios requirements

– Check reward seat availability patterns (355 days out)

– Set calendar reminders for midnight booking

– Calculate how long until you hit £15k threshold

5. How we flew to Bangkok after one hotel stay

To illustrate the value of Avios, in 2024, we booked a £10,000 Maldives hotel for Mel’s retirement celebration through Avios Hotels during a 15 Avios/£1 promotion. That single booking earned 150,000 Avios! Using Balance Boost, we turned that into 300,000 Avios for just £1,440. This funded our 2025 Bangkok Business Class flights (worth £6,400) with 115,000 Avios leftover.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

How much do I need to spend annually?

In short, to get a Companion Voucher, you have to spend more than £15,000 during your membership year (starting when you first join).

Can I use multiple cards?

Indeed: I have a card and my wife is an additional card holder on my account. She also has a card in her name and I am an additional card holder on her account. When we exceed the £15,000 threshold on my card, we stop using those two cards and only use her account.

How do I find reward seats?

Actually, British Airways has a dedicated link to find Reward Seats. Interestingly, I find it easier using the BA App, which has a good Reward Seat finder by month option.

What are typical taxes on companion tickets?

Air Passenger Duty (APD): The biggest component, calculated by destination band (distance) and class of travel (premium/business pays more).

Band B (2,001-5,500 miles): Around £216 (standard rate, 2025).

Band C (Over 5,500 miles): Around £224 (standard rate, 2025), rising to £253 in 2026.

Which card should I choose?

Generally, the real value comes from the British Airways Premium Plus Card that gets you access to Business and First Class seats. The British Airways “Blue” Card is free, but you still have to spend £15,000 per annum and only get access to Economy tickets.

How long does it take to accumulate Avios?

First, it depends how much you actually spend in a normal year. Second, it depends on how you spend it. 

Example timeline (2026 earn rates):

– £15,000 annual Amex spend: 18,750 Avios
– Sainsbury’s shopping (£6,000/year): about 3,750 Avios via Nectar
– One hotel booking through the Avios portal (£3,000): 30,000 Avios
– Total first year: about 52,000 Avios

Since the December 2025 price rise, a long-haul Business Class return for two using a Companion Voucher typically needs 120,000–200,000 Avios, depending on route and peak dates. Most people get there in 18–24 months of focused spending, which is a little longer than before.

Can I book for someone else?

Avios are transferrable, but I usually travel with my wife, so I book for her.

What if BA cancels my reward seat?

BA rarely cancels confirmed reward seats, but it can happen if they change aircraft or oversell. If BA cancels your booking, your Avios are refunded immediately to your account. You can rebook on alternative dates or routes. Changes you initiate cost £35 per person, but BA-initiated changes are free. Consider travel insurance that covers reward ticket cancellations for added protection. 

How do I set up a Household Account?

Easy: Once you are registered on British Airways, and your partner has a British Airways Club number, you can create a Household Account.

Is this worth it for short-haul only?

Using a Companion Ticket on short-haul is not worth it, compared to the cost saving gained when booking a Business Class long-haul flight. I have however often used Avios to book a flight last minute instead of paying the cash price. For example, I flew to Marseille recently (booked on a Monday, fly that Friday) for a cost of 9,000 Avios + £1. The fare cost was in excess of £400 as I was booking so late. Being Gold For Life (GFL) helps as there’s extra Avios seats made available for Gold Card holders.

7. Is It Worth It?

Yes, if you’re targeting premium travel.

The ROI is undeniable for long-haul Business or First Class:

– Our Bangkok trip: £2,840 total cost for £6,400 worth of flights

– Savings: £3,560 (56% off cash price)

– Plus: 115,000 Avios remaining for the next trip

Best for:

– Couples or families who spend £15,000+ annually on essentials

– Those willing to plan 12 months ahead

– Travelers targeting premium cabins on long-haul routes

– People comfortable with some booking complexity

Skip it if you:

– only fly short-haul Economy (minimal savings)

– can’t spend £15,000/year on card

– need last-minute booking flexibility

– prefer simplicity over optimization

The Bottom Line:

Bottom line: If you’re already spending £15,000+ annually on groceries, petrol, and bills, why not route it through a card that funds Business Class travel? We’ve done this since 2008 and it’s transformed how we explore the world.

If you want to travel to far-flung destinations and prefer to travel in comfort, then using the process I’ve described will enable you to fly Business Class using Avios more frequently.

If you can’t generate enough Avios to build a bank to book the flights (I’d suggest you need to target 200,000 per year), there may still be some merit in just booking Avios flights in Economy. But, with so many cheap economy flights available through a variety of other carriers, you might need to consider different options.

8. Ready to Start?

Apply for your Amex card either using their link: americanexpress.com/uk There are frequently new signing bonuses (currently 30,000 Avios if you spend more than £6,000 in the first 3 months.

My link gets you 31,000 Avios for the same spend threshold (and I get 9,000 Avios if you use my link).

Disclosure: This post contains a referral link. If you apply through my link, I receive 9,000 bonus Avios from American Express at no extra cost to you. You’ll receive the same card benefits and a slightly higher signup bonus when you apply through my link compared to directly through Amex. I only recommend products I personally use and believe will benefit you. This helps support HindlesWorld and our travel content.

9. Read where we’ve Been & Scene

We’ve been using American Express and Avios since we joined their programme in 2008. From memory, we’ve flown business class to:

• St Lucia – twice!
• Dominican Republic
• Cancun – twice!
• Miami
• Costa Rica – read our self-drive tour review here
• Singapore – multiple times; we used this as the departure point for our 2025 Asian tour.
• Kuala Lumpur – multiple times
• Bangkok – multiple times
• The Maldives – 3 times, including Emerald Faarufushi, JA Manafaru Resorts and Niva Velassaru. If you want to know what we thought of all three, we’ve produced an article that explains why.
• Sri Lanka

We booked the trip to Sri Lanka using Avios, but not the Companion Voucher, as British Airways did not fly directly to Colombo. We flew out via Doha on British Airways and connected using OneWorld partners Qatar and Sri Lankan Airways. This might not be the best use of Avios, but we had a large “Avios Bank” and I’ve still a spare Companion Ticket this year to go Cape Town. The good news is that British Airways has started flying a seasonal route to Colombo (CMB) directly, so that gives another option too.

What this cost us in cash:

– Flights: Mostly just taxes (£500-1,200 per trip)

– Cards: £300/year annual fee × 16 years = £4,800

– Total cash outlay: ~£20,000 over 16 years

Cash value of flights if we’d paid:

– 20+ Business Class long-haul flights × £3,000-6,000 average

– Estimated value: £80,000-120,000

Net savings: £60,000-100,000 over 16 years—while still earning points on spending we’d make anyway.

This isn’t manufactured spending or financial gymnastics. It’s simply routing our everyday grocery, petrol, and utility spending through a card that rewards us with travel.