Use BA’s companion voucher on Iberia flights

I was never a fan of the British Airways Premium Plus Amex card, mainly because I was, for the most time, a solo traveller. Its companion voucher went through a major overhaul in 2022 though which made it much more appealing, and I will take a close look it today.

The Travel Together Ticket issued by the Chase British Airways Visa Signature card is, as far as I know, exactly the same, so the following discussions hold for both.

To earn the companion voucher, you need to spend £10,000 in a card year. The voucher is issued right after you’ve met the spending criteria, and valid for two years from that date.

• Applies to redemption tickets on BA, EI and IB metal
• The cardholder must travel
• The origin can be anywhere
• Works on one-way, return and open-jaw itineraries
• Works on all cabin classes
• Save 50% in Avios for one or two persons
• Full taxes and charges are still payable

There are two major improvements: firstly, solo travellers can use it for 50% discount; secondly, it’s extended to Iberia and Aer Lingus flights too.

Unfortunately due to the constant efforts of BA to devalue Avios, long-haul redemptions are, very often, no longer very good in value even when the voucher is applied. For short-haul redemptions the math works out better, but in absolute terms you aren’t saving a lot.

The best way to use this voucher lies with Iberia, as they have a very generous redemption chart.

A one-way flight from Madrid to New York, in business class, costs only 34,000 Avios. For South America it’s 42,500 or 51,000 Avios. This is incredibly cheap compared to BA.

Taxes and fees are also very reasonable. For Madrid – Buenos Aires return it costs 102,000 Avios + £236.30 – superb value! Note that the chart above is for off-peak dates, and it will cost more in peak season.

With the companion voucher applied, departing from Madrid in off-peak season, you will pay the following figures for a return trip per person:

• New York – 34,000 Avios + £215.60
• Bogota – 42,500 Avios + £224.20
• Buenos Aires – 51,000 Avios + £236.30

Note that you need to book on ba.com rather than iberia.com to use the voucher. You could add your positioning flight to / from Madrid in the same booking with the 50% discount applied too. However:

• Don’t add London – Madrid to the same booking, otherwise it incurs the hefty APD
• Don’t mix with BA flights, otherwise it increases the cost significantly

My recommendation is to book e.g. Madrid – New York – Madrid – London using the voucher, and then sort out London – Madrid separately. Here’s my trip to Bogota:

It costs 48,875 Avios + £244. As it’s an open-jaw booking, it’s not possible to do it online – confirm online that there’s availability and then call BA to book it, mentioning that you want to use the companion voucher.