Is The British Airways Companion Voucher Worth It?

The British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review) is one of the best airline co-branded credit cards out there, as it offers lots of benefits for those who fly British Airways with any frequency, and it’s also offering a solid welcome bonus at the moment.

In this post, I wanted to take an updated look at the British Airways travel together ticket, which is a benefit that you can unlock if you spend $30,000 in total on purchases on the British Airways Visa in a calendar year. Is it worth putting $30,000 of spending on the card in order to earn a companion voucher?

I wanted to take an updated look at this topic, as several things have changed that I’d argue make this more compelling than in the past, including this voucher offering a lot more flexibility, plus the introduction of Reward Flight Saver on transatlantic flights.

The British Airways Card travel together ticket

The British Airways Visa perk that tends to cause the most differing opinions among people is the travel together ticket. I say that because some people find it to be invaluable, while others find it to be worthless. Let’s take a closer look at how this benefit works.

British Airways companion voucher basics

The British Airways Visa offers a companion voucher when you spend $30,000 in purchases on the card in a calendar year. Cardholders can earn up to one of these per year, and it will be deposited in your Executive Club account four to six weeks after you’ve completed the required spending. Here are the basic things you need to know when it comes to redeeming the certificate:

• It’s valid for travel on British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus, though not for travel on other partner airlines; regardless of which airline you fly, you need to book through British Airways Executive Club, so you can’t redeem through Aer Lingus AerClub or Iberia Plus
• You can use it for a one-way or roundtrip ticket originating anywhere in the world, so the ticket doesn’t have to originate in the United States
• You can use it either to have a companion travel with you without requiring any Avios, or alternatively, you can use it to get 50% off an award ticket for one person
• You can use it for travel in economy, premium economy, business, or first class
• You need to redeem the certificate within 24 months of when it’s issued (outbound travel has to occur by that date, though you can return on a later date)
• You’re allowed to have stopovers on the ticket
• There needs to be award availability for two passengers on the flight you want in order to use it
• You need to pay the taxes and carrier imposed surcharges for both passengers, though you only need to redeem Avios for one passenger

This voucher has a lot more flexibility than in the past. Now you can use it for travel originating anywhere in the world (rather than only for travel originating in the United States), can use it on Aer Lingus and Iberia (rather than only on British Airways), and can even use it for 50% off an award for a single person (rather than only for a companion).

Redeeming the British Airways travel together ticket

On the surface taking advantage of the British Airways companion voucher might seem like a no-brainer. After all, if you can get a two-for-one international award ticket, that sounds like a great deal. But there are some things to be aware of, which I wanted to address below.

How much does British Airways charge for award tickets?

British Airways Executive Club has roughly distance based pricing, with both peak and off-peak award costs, depending on when you’re traveling. The cost of an award is calculated per segment. While this is no longer used 100% of the time, below you can find a rough estimate of the Executive Club award chart.

Now, what has changed over time is that British Airways now offers Reward Flight Saver on most long haul awards, whereby you can redeem more Avios and pay less in fees. So the Avios costs would be higher, but you won’t be paying $1,000+ for a one-way premium cabin award seat.

Carrier imposed surcharges & UK APD

It’s worth understanding the fees associated with redeeming Avios for travel on British Airways:

• British Airways traditionally has very high carrier imposed surcharges on award tickets, which can easily total $1,000+ for a one-way premium cabin award; however, thanks to Reward Flight Saver, you can pay a much lower fixed amount and instead redeem more Avios, and in almost all cases that represents a better deal
• If your ticket involves a departure out of the UK with a stopover of more than 24 hours there, you’ll pay the UK Air Passenger Duty, which for a long haul flight can cost up to $116 in economy and up to $255 in premium economy, business class, or first class (and this doesn’t include any of the other taxes)

British Airways Visa carrier surcharge rebate

While there may be hefty carrier imposed surcharges when redeeming through British Airways, the good news is that you can stack benefits. When redeeming your companion ticket you can also take advantage of a $100-200 statement credit, as the BA Visa offers up to $600 in statement credits per year toward award ticket carrier surcharges. The way this works:

• You can get a $200 reward for a reward flight in British Airways first or business class
• You can get a $100 reward for a reward flight in British Airways premium economy or economy

Those won’t be reflected in the amounts shown below, because this rebate is credited after the fact. Note that you can only use this discount once per itinerary, so if two people are on one ticket, you’d only qualify for one of these discounts.

Where to find your British Airways companion voucher

The terms indicate that your companion certificate will post within four to six weeks of when you complete spending. When I earned mine, I received an email letting me know that I had earned a companion certificate within two weeks of the eligible statement closing date.

Once the certificate is in your account, you’ll see the option to redeem it every time you go to the award search tool.

The travel together ticket is rarely worth it in economy

Redeeming Avios for travel in British Airways economy isn’t necessarily a great deal. While the fees aren’t that high, the number of Avios required is higher than you’ll pay with other programs.

For example, using the British Airways companion voucher, you could fly roundtrip from New York to London in economy off-peak for two people for 50,000 Avios plus $400 (the cash price below is for one traveler).

That’s not a terrible value, but the Avios requirement is significantly higher than what you’d find through most other programs. While this isn’t necessarily a terrible deal, keep in mind that you had to spend $30,000 on a card to earn that companion certificate, so there’s quite an opportunity cost to that spending.

The travel together ticket could make sense in first & business class

Generally speaking, the sweet spot for redeeming on British Airways is for first and business class tickets, given how much these tickets would cost if paying cash.

For example, you could use the companion voucher for a roundtrip off-peak business class ticket between New York and London and pay just 160,000 Avios total, plus $700 per person. That’s an average of 80,000 Avios plus $700 per person.

What about if you want to travel further? You could fly all the way from New York to Johannesburg in business class for 340,000 Avios total, plus $1,600 per person. That’s an average of 170,000 Avios plus $1,600. Ouch.

That pricing is really rough, if you ask me. But still, if you want to travel nonstop to and from London, this could be a great opportunity, especially given all the markets in which British Airways has service.

British Airways has an award seat guarantee

One awesome thing about British Airways Executive Club is that the program guarantees a certain amount of award availability per flight. Specifically, the airline makes at least four business class award seats available on each flight when the schedule opens.

There are many airlines that don’t regularly release any award space when the schedule opens, so this is a pretty awesome feature. If you’re quick, at least you’ll know that you can redeem your Avios (and companion voucher) on your choice of flights.

The travel together ticket is a good deal on Iberia

It’s exciting that the travel together ticket is valid on Iberia, given that Iberia has much lower surcharges than British Airways. For example, you could fly one-way off-peak business class from Boston to Madrid on Iberia for 34,000 Avios total, plus $120.60 per person. That comes out to an average of 17,000 Avios plus $120.60 per person, which is amazing.

Is the British Airways travel together ticket worth it?

Above I’ve given some examples of how you can redeem the British Airways companion voucher. This raises the question of whether the companion voucher is worth earning. As usual, there’s no “one size fits all” answer to that.

Who shouldn’t earn the British Airways companion voucher

If you’re not someone who values premium travel immensely, and/or are not someone who is willing to spend quite a bit on fees associated with award tickets, then the voucher probably isn’t for you, aside from some niche redemptions.

I think it’s totally fair that many people avoid programs with high surcharges, given how many options are out there that don’t involve huge surcharges. With this voucher, you’re still paying the surcharges for two passengers (minus a rebate of up to $200 per itinerary).

While British Airways has reduced surcharges in many markets, the number of Avios required for a ticket has increased significantly, so the value hasn’t necessarily improved much.

Who should earn the British Airways companion voucher

I also think there are many situations where the British Airways companion voucher is well worth it. British Airways’ business class product is improving significantly with the Club Suites product, and the airline has an incredible route network in the United States, and increasingly flies to secondary markets.

If you’re someone who values the convenience of a nonstop flight to London and wants to fly first or business class, then the companion ticket is likely going to be one of the best options.

Furthermore, the companion ticket allows you to have a stopover in London, so if you’re someone who values the ability to do that enroute to your final destination, I think it could also make sense.

The way I mentally approach the companion voucher is like a way to get a heavily discounted business class ticket on your pick of flights for two people, assuming you book at the right time. While British Airways has some great paid business class fares, they’re rarely available from the United States to London, so for many this is the most affordable way to fly nonstop between between the US and the UK in comfort.

Bottom line

Overall I find the British Airways Visa to be a well-rounded card. In addition to its big welcome bonus, the card also offers perks like 10% off British Airways tickets, and up to $600 per year in statement credits to offset carrier surcharges. If you fly British Airways with any frequency then this card is worth having and holding onto, in my opinion.

The British Airways companion voucher is something that some people swear by, while others find it to be worthless.

Whether or not it’s worth it really depends on your travel patterns. If you value the ability to travel nonstop to London in comfort then I think it absolutely could be worth it. If you’re looking to travel to other parts of the world, and if you don’t greatly value the ability to fly nonstop, the value proposition isn’t as obvious.

If you’re someone who usually prefers to fly economy, or who absolutely won’t pay surcharges on award tickets, then this probably isn’t for you. There are still some valuable niche redemptions, like redeeming on Iberia, but it’s not like there’s that much award availability.

If you have the BA Visa, have you earned a travel together ticket? If so, how did you use it?