Using a British Airways 2-4-1 voucher on a one way redemption

British Airways & American Express recently announced changes to their 2-4-1 vouchers triggered after the 1st September 2021.  Full details are on the Head for Points site for both the free Amex card and the paid for Amex card.

One aspect of the changes that I want to look at is the new option of starting a redemption outside the UK (currently all 2-4-1 redemptions must start in the UK).  And specifically using a voucher for a single redemption flight from a low fees point of departure (e.g. Brazil or Hong Kong) back to London.

Firstly let's look at a standard return redemption from London to Brazil during August (using peak redemption calculations)

LHR - GRU return

Economy  80,000 avios plus £200 per person

Premium Economy  120,000 avios plus £483 per person

Business  180,000 avios plus £586 per person

So a pair of Business class redemptions saves you 180,000 avios with a spend of £1,171 for taxes and FEES

Now let's assume you book a cash ticket from the UK to Brazil, and let's look at a single redemption flight from GRU to LHR

Economy  40,000 avios plus £8 per person

Premium Economy  60,000 avios plus £8 per person

Business  90,000 avios plus £8 per person

So a pair of Business class redemptions saves you 90,000 avios with a spend of £15 plus the cash fare from the UK to Brazil

To try and compare these options, let's assume you buy a one way cash ticket for £300 per person (and that you're happy to fly Economy on a day flight to Brazil)

So it's a choice between saving 180,000 avios and spending £1,171 on a return redemption or saving 90,000 avios and spending something like £615 on a single redemption

If you value avios at 1p, then a return redemption is generating a saving of £1,800 less £1,171 in fees - so a net saving of £629

A single redemption is generating a saving of £900 less £600 for the cash tickets and just £15 in fees - so a net saving of £285

Whilst the single redemption will have limited use (Brazil and Hong Kong routes only, and those willing to book single cash tickets), it may appeal to flyers who don't have 180,000 avios available for a return Business class redemption.  It may also be attractive to those who don't want to spend nearly £1,200 on a pair of return redemptions, when they could spend around half that on Economy outbound seats and Business class inbound seats.