[Albion] Alternative (legit) way to secure Semi Final Tickets

[kingcole]

If any of you have read some of my past ramblings you will have learnt I am a what some refer to as an air miles whore! Indeed, my other passion is travel and this somewhat expensive habbit is made possible by using air miles well.

To the point.........

Emirates Airline are offering semi final tickets (not just us, for all 4 semi teams) for 26,000 Skywards miles. You can choose whether they are in the home or away end. I have no idea how many they have available.

There are also VIP hospitality packages available and bids start at 40,000 miles.

Although the value of airmiles is subjective, I like to ensure I get at least 1p per mile value when I redeem, so this looks to be an expensive redemption. However, if for any reason you have a bucket load of miles with emirates and would not miss 26,000 or you had no other way of getting a ticket, this could prove a useful route.

There will also be tickets available for the final via this route.

I apprecaite there is probably not a massive army of ‘mileage whores’ on NSC and even less who collect with Emirates or have suffient balance to redeem a ticket, however, there is another route......

If you have an American Express card and collect American Express rewards (not the BA card or the cashback one, typically a green, gold or platinum one) then you can transfer your points to Emirates at the rate of 1 Amex reward per Skymile. The transfers are instant although you willl need to open an Emirates account first and link your accounts.

 

[HHGull]

I too am an air miles whore, although focussed mainly on a Virgin with a little bit of BA. Do you know of any good sites I might be missing?

 

[kingcole]

I too am an air miles whore, although focussed mainly on a Virgin with a little bit of BA. Do you know of any good sites I might be missing?

Head for points and flyer talk are my go to sites. I’m a BA and Hilton man

 

[Shuggie]

Head for points and flyer talk are my go to sites. I’m a BA and Hilton man

Me too - Obviously starting in SD makes it a bit easier.but I've just done 10 days in Hawaii courtesy of BA (redeemed on AA) and Hilton for under £100.

I'd also recommend Flyer Talk: it was invaluable when work dropped standard travel class from Business to PE. I never had to try very hard to keep Gold in the past but now it takes a bit of work. Gawd bless 'em.

 

[kingcole]

Me too - Obviously starting in SD makes it a bit easier.but I've just done 10 days in Hawaii courtesy of BA (redeemed on AA) and Hilton for under £100.

I'd also recommend Flyer Talk: it was invaluable when work dropped standard travel class from Business to PE. I never had to try very hard to keep Gold in the past but now it takes a bit of work. Gawd bless 'em.

Well I’m writing this now from Sofia. Flights booked for a song in the NY sale. Needed these 160 tier points to hit gold just before my year ends. In the hilton on one of their extra point promos so earning well with HH too. Saving my HH points for a Maldives Rangali redemption

 

[Jesus Gul]

I had an Etihad gold elite card when I was shuttling around the Middle East. Points accrued extremely quickly. Amazing for free short haul flights, first class lounge and obligatory upgrades. Oh and I could spend all my points on Man City tat due to the tie up with them!

 

[Norman Potting]

Any hints for those mortals among us with Tesco Clubcard or Nectar points. Unfortunately I have just had my £5 Morrisons voucher so my points balance is somewhat depleted

 

[Wrong-Direction]

I have about 50,000 BA air miles, the avios website is so shit though there's never any flights I want and I think using them on hotels is a rip off! Kinda wish I could transfer them all back to Tesco Clubcard vouchers!

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

 

[kingcole]

I have about 50,000 BA air miles, the avios website is so shit though there's never any flights I want and I think using them on hotels is a rip off! Kinda wish I could transfer them all back to Tesco Clubcard vouchers!

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

Too late now, but the answer is don’t exchange your clubcard vouchers until you need them. CC vouchers are a fluid currency and can be used for many things where as Avios have their limited use. Another reason is that from time to time Tesco have bonus promotions when coverting to Avios so unless you need them, it makes sense to wait until such a promo. 20% extra has been offered in the past.

Booking a hotel with Avios will net around 0.5p each in value - terrible.

To book reward flights you do need some flexibility on dates. Remember, 2 Club and 4 economy seats are released on every flight 355 days out, although redemptions on long haul economy are also terrible value. Short haul with £17.50 e/w in taxes can be excellent value.

Also, a lot more seats can be made available close to departure. If you are looking to book a couple of seats 2-6 months out for a specific route on a specific dates then you will likely conitnue to be dissapointed.

One other excellent use of Avios (your 50k would cover 2 of you) is an upgrade from premium to business on long haul.

Beauty with these is you can book your desired travel date and then if avios availability comes up, you just call to upgrade. Depending on route it will be about £50 extra in taxes plus 20k Avios. Considering a business ticket will typically cost £1000 (£500 each way) more the premium then this is an excellent redemption route which would have a net value of about 2p per Avios.

Collecting Avios isn’t for everyone. Hope that’s helped a bit!

 

[darkwolf666]

Well I’m writing this now from Sofia. Flights booked for a song in the NY sale. Needed these 160 tier points to hit gold just before my year ends. In the hilton on one of their extra point promos so earning well with HH too. Saving my HH points for a Maldives Rangali redemption

I'm writing this from the armchair... Oh, sorry Sofia, my mistake!

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Too late now, but the answer is don’t exchange your clubcard vouchers until you need them. CC vouchers are a fluid currency and can be used for many things where as Avios have their limited use. Another reason is that from time to time Tesco have bonus promotions when coverting to Avios so unless you need them, it makes sense to wait until such a promo. 20% extra has been offered in the past.

Booking a hotel with Avios will net around 0.5p each in value - terrible.

To book reward flights you do need some flexibility on dates. Remember, 2 Club and 4 economy seats are released on every flight 355 days out, although redemptions on long haul economy are also terrible value. Short haul with £17.50 e/w in taxes can be excellent value.

Also, a lot more seats can be made available close to departure. If you are looking to book a couple of seats 2-6 months out for a specific route on a specific dates then you will likely conitnue to be dissapointed.

One other excellent use of Avios (your 50k would cover 2 of you) is an upgrade from premium to business on long haul.

Beauty with these is you can book your desired travel date and then if avios availability comes up, you just call to upgrade. Depending on route it will be about £50 extra in taxes plus 20k Avios. Considering a business ticket will typically cost £1000 (£500 each way) more the premium then this is an excellent redemption route which would have a net value of about 2p per Avios.

Collecting Avios isn’t for everyone. Hope that’s helped a bit!

Yeah I set my club card up years ago to convert straight to avios, plus my Lloyds MasterCard and American express cards gave me more avios so filling up the motor at Tesco was like double points, I did fly business to Switzerland a few years back but didn't use the lounge and didn't have the on board food as I'd been drinking and eating with mates in the bar at the airport! Plus business class is only the seats at the front of the plane so all the other plebs have to walk past you!

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Too late now, but the answer is don’t exchange your clubcard vouchers until you need them. CC vouchers are a fluid currency and can be used for many things where as Avios have their limited use. Another reason is that from time to time Tesco have bonus promotions when coverting to Avios so unless you need them, it makes sense to wait until such a promo. 20% extra has been offered in the past.

Booking a hotel with Avios will net around 0.5p each in value - terrible.

To book reward flights you do need some flexibility on dates. Remember, 2 Club and 4 economy seats are released on every flight 355 days out, although redemptions on long haul economy are also terrible value. Short haul with £17.50 e/w in taxes can be excellent value.

Also, a lot more seats can be made available close to departure. If you are looking to book a couple of seats 2-6 months out for a specific route on a specific dates then you will likely conitnue to be dissapointed.

One other excellent use of Avios (your 50k would cover 2 of you) is an upgrade from premium to business on long haul.

Beauty with these is you can book your desired travel date and then if avios availability comes up, you just call to upgrade. Depending on route it will be about £50 extra in taxes plus 20k Avios. Considering a business ticket will typically cost £1000 (£500 each way) more the premium then this is an excellent redemption route which would have a net value of about 2p per Avios.

Collecting Avios isn’tt for everyone. Hope that’s helped a bit!

Like the poster above, I've got loads of Avios which I've done nothing with. Judging from your post - and you clearly know your onions - Am I backing the wrong horse accumulating all these points that I can only use 355 days in advance, on the 3rd Thursday in the month as long as it's a full moon for a short haul flight? If so, Am I better using a Tesco credit card or something else? Avios seems a bit shit.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Too late now, but the answer is don’t exchange your clubcard vouchers until you need them. CC vouchers are a fluid currency and can be used for many things where as Avios have their limited use. Another reason is that from time to time Tesco have bonus promotions when coverting to Avios so unless you need them, it makes sense to wait until such a promo. 20% extra has been offered in the past.

Booking a hotel with Avios will net around 0.5p each in value - terrible.

To book reward flights you do need some flexibility on dates. Remember, 2 Club and 4 economy seats are released on every flight 355 days out, although redemptions on long haul economy are also terrible value. Short haul with £17.50 e/w in taxes can be excellent value.

Also, a lot more seats can be made available close to departure. If you are looking to book a couple of seats 2-6 months out for a specific route on a specific dates then you will likely conitnue to be dissapointed.

One other excellent use of Avios (your 50k would cover 2 of you) is an upgrade from premium to business on long haul.

Beauty with these is you can book your desired travel date and then if avios availability comes up, you just call to upgrade. Depending on route it will be about £50 extra in taxes plus 20k Avios. Considering a business ticket will typically cost £1000 (£500 each way) more the premium then this is an excellent redemption route which would have a net value of about 2p per Avios.

Collecting Avios isn’t for everyone. Hope that’s helped a bit!

Great knowledge but I honestly don't know how anyone can be arsed with this shit. It's the definition of tedium.

It's not free if you've spent countless hours working it all out. Time is money.

 

[herecomesaregular]

Great knowledge but I honestly don't know how anyone can be arsed with this shit. It's the definition of tedium.

It's not free if you've spent countless hours working it all out. Time is money.

OH God, what about all the time I spend on NSC !

 

[LlcoolJ]

OH God, what about all the time I spend on NSC !

That is money well SPENT.

 

[kingcole]

Great knowledge but I honestly don't know how anyone can be arsed with this shit. It's the definition of tedium.

It's not free if you've spent countless hours working it all out. Time is money.

Again subjective. I genuinely save ocer £20k a year due to my air/hotel miles habit. I’m in the extreme but even an average lplodder could easily sort 2 long haul business class flight a year for about £550 each in tax ( saving £3k). If youre happy flying the cheapest economy ticket then airmiles aint for you.