News you might have missed at Points Well Made - 18th October
We’ve got a guest post this week from Jordan at Spend Less, Travel More, and it’s a refreshing take. A lot of people in this hobby of ours just talk about maximising redemption value and chasing business class, but Jordan makes a strong case for using your points in economy, especially if you haven’t got a massive stash to begin with. It’s not a crime to redeem in economy, and their year of travel is proof of that.
On the cards front, Barclays is paying new customers up to £600 to switch to a Barclays Premier current account, plus a 25,000 Avios joining bonus for signing up to Avios Rewards. I’ve also written up why the Barclaycard Avios Plus should be your backup Avios card, before downgrading to the free Barclaycard. Intrigued?
We’ve also kicked off a series on the hotel statuses bundled into the Amex Platinum, starting with Hilton Honors Gold, and Yonder has launched a new feature that lets you earn points on your rent or mortgage (with boosted welcome rates until the end of December). And if you’ve ever been searching for Avios flights on the BA website and been offered a fare that’s missing an entire flight in the middle, you’re not imagining things. You'll find my take (moan) about them too.
Sam
Today's post has been kindly written by Jordan Sinclair, one half of Spend Less, Travel More. Take a guess what they like to do with their points?
When people talk about points and companion vouchers, it’s usually all about aiming for that lie-flat business class seat on a long haul flight. I have to admit, that was also my goal when I first set out collecting points a few years ago. But for now, I’ve shifted my priorities. You’ll hear points gurus bang on about getting the best redemption value, but the biggest question is what it’s worth to you. It’s not actually a crime to redeem your hard earned points in economy, especially if you haven’t got a huge stack of them to begin with. And that’s exactly what we’re doing for our year of travel.
In the height of wedding planning, I was set on that dreamy business class seat for our honeymoon… until I realised two things - firstly, I naively thought I could pay for everything wedding related on credit cards to accrue lots of points quickly but, as it turns out, most wedding suppliers are small businesses and are paid via bank transfer. This meant that we wouldn’t gain enough points fast enough. Secondly, that classic all inclusive honeymoon starting with a bougie flight is just not who we are.
If you would like to see how Jordan managed it head on over to the article here.
You'll get Hilton Honors Gold if you take out either the Hilton Honors Plus debit card or the Amex Platinum, but is it any good? Over this series we're going to go through the five complimentary hotels statues bundled into the Amex Platinum's £650 annual fee, because it's easy to let them sit unused in your account without ever working out what they're actually worth.
First up is Hilton Honors Gold, and there's one reason Hilton Gold stands apart from the others.
Want to find out that reason? You can find that in the article here.
Did you know you can get Avios every month just for having a bank account?
You don’t have to spend anything or remember to use a particular card. You pay a monthly fee, and by default you’ll get more Avios back than the fee is worth!
It’s called Barclays Avios Rewards, an add-on you can switch on if you have a Barclays Premier current account. And there’s a good offer on right now. Barclays is paying new customers up to £600 to switch their current account to Premier, plus a 25,000 Avios joining bonus for signing up to Avios Rewards.
The catch? You can find that in the article here.
"Why do you have an Amex? Not many places take those!" Heard that one before? As much as I would like to say it's not true, there is a kernel of truth to it.
So if you're looking to collect as many Avios as possible, you'll probably already have a British Airways Amex, but you'll want a backup card that earns Avios too. In the UK that means Barclaycard, with your choice either of:
Barclaycard Avios is free.
Barclaycard Avios Plus costs £20 a month.
To me, a backup is meant to sit in your wallet doing nothing until computer says no. Paying £240 a year for a backup won't make sense for a lot of you, so the free card looks like the obvious pick.
I'm going to tell you that it's the right card to end up with, but the wrong one to start with.
Want to see Sam's logic behind this? You can find it here in the article.
Ad | This article has been produced in partnership with Yonder and contains affiliate links. If you apply through one of our links, Points Well Made may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep the lights on and carry on creating independent travel rewards content.
If you're like us, your rent or mortgage is probably the biggest payment you make each month, (boooooooo!) and I wouldn't be surprised if at the moment you were earning zero points on this (also boooooo!) Yonder, however, have just entered the chat with a new feature on their cards that may help you with this.
Rent & Mortgage Rewards is now live on every Yonder membership, free and Premium, debit and credit, allowing you to earn points on your rent or mortgage. There are also boosted welcome rates running until 31 December 2026, so this is the window to make the most of it.
Have you ever been searching through the BA website for Avios tickets and come across a fare that looks like this?
If you haven't, then what this ticket is offering you is a flight from Heathrow to Doha, and then a flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo Haneda. See what's missing? A whole flight between Doha and Hong Kong!
Now, we are a proponent of "springboarding", which is basically travelling as far as you can with points, before using cash to travel the rest of the way.
So you may think Sam is a fan of what's being offered here? No.
Points Well Made is a passion project from Sam and Helena. If you've enjoyed this and want to help us keep the lights on, please consider buying us a Ko-fi or subscribing monthly. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for more of the same. Thanks for reading.
Comments