Earning Avios on Amex- which card and is it better than cash back?

[SilkRoads]

I have an Amex card which gives me cashback at 1.25%- it adds up over the year as I'm a high spender and put everything I can on the card.

I've been wondering about switching to an Avios version instead. I know there are people who are really adept at getting the best value out of Avios. I think I'd earn about 80000 points a year and would get 75000 points bonus (on a card with £650 fee) + companion voucher- can anyone give me a rough idea what that translates into for flights? Or on a fee free card I'd just earn the 80000 points a year and have the companion voucher. Any idea what this is worth, roughly? Or I could pay a £300 fee and then earn points at a higher rate, so would earn 120,000 in a year.

I'm struggling to work out what's the best value. Any tips welcome.

I found there were too many t&c’s to use the Avios. Plus they sometimes had to make bookings for multiple people under different booking numbers.

We have platinum Amex charge card and put everything through it; if you use PayPal you can still use it for sites who do not accept Amex. The points themselves convert to cash more than cover the annual fee plus reduce the bills at Christmas, or after holidays etc. The service is also top notch.

Thank you. Platinum is the one I currently have and I agree it's a good card. I didn't know you could use it via Paypal for sites that don't accept Amex- that's a really good tip, thanks!

If there are lots of T&Cs for the Avios then perhaps that's not for me. It would be frustrating to earn loads of points and not be able to use them.

We collect avios and companion vouchers on amex and use them every couple of years for a long haul business class flight. I haven't actually done the sums whether it is better than a cashback. I like it psychologically! We are quite flexible with dates etc, being retired, so it works well for us. A return flight to west coast USA is around 200k avios per person, so 200k for 2 with a companion voucher. You do need to swot up on rules, timings of buying, most popular routes and all sorts. You also pay taxes and fees. There's websites that are useful like Headforpoints.

Hello I'm looking at flights at the moment with avios and economy return to Japan for me and my son with a companion voucher:
77,000 points + £380
66,000 Mauritius+ £260

Those are off-peak. If you don't have a companion voucher it would that amount of points and half the amount in cash per person.

I also went for £300 return in business class to Mexico a few years ago. Can't remember how many points though.

Check the website headforpoints for the best info on avios.