What is the smartest way to spend Avios points?

RaymondLin

I finally have enough points for a return ticket to Tokyo but is that the smartest way to get the best bank for buck so to speak with the points?  It has taken me 3 years to get this many points and want to use them the best way to get the most of it it.  Does anyone have any tricks and tips?

scrumhalf

It varies hugely.

I've just spent most of mine getting a good price on a hotel, they didn't offer the flights I wanted so I paid for those "normally".

At other times I've used them to pay for flights.

Sporky

The smartest way to spend them is on something you actually want to do.

Which I know sounds obvious, but do you really want to go to Tokyo? If not then it'd be an awful waste of points. If you do then it seems a very good use of the points.

LoFi

IME (and assuming you're talking about BA), the best value flights are the middle-haul ones (3-5 hrs) - on the longer flights, you often find that you can find a flight with a different carrier for maybe £150 more than the taxes and charges that BA are charging, meaning it's not worth using 50,000-odd points (I know that taxes and charges are more-or-less the same on all carriers, but that's how it seems).

(Also, using Avios points for hotels is ridiculously expensive - 20K points for a standard hotel in a major city)

RaymondLin

Sporky said:

The smartest way to spend them is on something you actually want to do.

Which I know sounds obvious, but do you really want to go to Tokyo? If not then it'd be an awful waste of points. If you do then it seems a very good use of the points.

Yes, I REALLY want to go.

Sporky

Then subject to Lofi's advice I think using them to go to Tokyo sounds like a good plan.

scrumhalf

Is it pronounced avi-ose or avi-oss?

Sporky

It is pronounced "nutsack".

Weird, I know.

scrumhalf

Sporky said:

It is pronounced "nutsack".

Weird, I know.

Is that "nutt-sack", "nootsack" or, even "nack"?

stickyfiddle

Tokyo is awesome. Free trips to Tokyo? Even better!

Trude

Wine. Buy wine.

Sambostar

Sporky said:

The smartest way to spend them is on something you actually want to do.

But they don't accept Avios points down Empress Road, won't even take a credit card.