Does using 2 x ‘new’ 241 BA Amex vouchers for a family of four still make sense?

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One of the benefits of the 2-4-1 companion voucher that comes with the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card is that you can use two vouchers in the same booking for a family of four.

This may seen obvious, but it isn’t. Technically, the rules of the 2-4-1 voucher say that the cardholder must travel. This would block the use of two x 2-4-1 vouchers on the same booking, since the 2nd voucher would be used for two non-cardholders.

British Airways thought about this, however, and built in some flexibility.

British Airways BA Amex Premium Plus American Express

The flexibility is important because, with the Premium Plus American Express card, the voucher is valid for two years.

As you can earn one voucher per card year, it is very likely that you will have multiple vouchers in your account at some point.

Being able to use two vouchers at once for a family of four has, historically, been very handy. I have done it myself numerous times.

And yet ….

We wrote an article yesterday on how the new-style British Airways Premium Plus American Express card opens up a lot of extra Avios availability in Club World.

This is not marketing guff. The extra seats really are there.

A couple of people asked what happened if you tried to book for more than two people. We did some more experiments (thanks Mark) and the extra availability is still there. This means that, if you have a new style 2-4-1 voucher, you can book for more than two people and still get access to the extra Avios seats in Club World.

Does it now make sense to NOT use 2 x 241 BA Amex vouchers for a family of four?

This should make you question whether you should use 2 x 2-4-1 vouchers at once

On this basis, you should potentially think twice before using 2 x new-style 2-4-1 companion vouchers to book for a family of four.

If you use two vouchers in one booking, you won’t have a voucher left for your next booking – and this means no access to the extra Club World seats.

Of course, if you don’t earn enough Avios to just use 1 x 2-4-1 voucher when booking for a family of four, this isn’t an issue for you. Continue as you were, and use two vouchers per family booking.

For people who DO earn enough Avios, however, think about the following scenarios:

For Holiday 1, you use 2 x 241 vouchers to book for your family of four to Barbados, benefitting from the extra Avios availability

For Holiday 2, with no 241 vouchers left, you try to book for a family of four to San Francisco but cannot get seats due to not seeing the extra availability

Plan B seems better to me, if you have enough Avios coming in:

For Holiday 1, you use 1 x 241 voucher to book for your family of four to Barbados, benefitting from the extra Avios availability

For Holiday 2, you use 1 x 241 voucher to book for your family of four to San Francisco, benefitting from the extra Avios availability

Going forward, your 241 voucher from the Premium Plus card is a ‘joker’ which magically unlocks extra business class Avios seats. You may want to think twice about using two in the same booking.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus: