Is the Annual Fee Worth It?

Why a fee can still be the cheaper option

A £300 annual fee sounds like a lot next to a free card — until you look at what it buys. The premium Avios cards earn at a higher rate and, crucially, unlock the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher. For a household that already spends heavily on a card and travels long-haul in premium cabins, the extra Avios and a single well-used voucher can be worth several times the fee. The fee is only “expensive” if you don’t use what it unlocks.

How the calculation works

We add up two streams of value. First, the Avios you earn: your annual spend multiplied by the earn rate, valued at whatever one Avios is worth to you. Second, the Companion Voucher — but only if your spend clears the £15,000 card-year threshold and you tell us you will actually use it. From that total we subtract the annual fee. A positive number means the card pays for itself; a negative number means it doesn’t, on your inputs.

The two levers that matter most are spend and voucher use. Nudging your spend above £15,000 flips the voucher on, and being realistic about the voucher’s value — a long-haul Club World voucher is worth far more than a short-haul economy one — changes the answer dramatically.

When a fee-free card wins instead

If your spend is modest, or you simply won’t organise a trip around the Companion Voucher, the maths often favours a free Avios card. You give up the higher earn rate and the voucher, but you also stop paying £300 a year for perks you don’t use. Run both scenarios above — with the voucher on and off — to see the gap for yourself before you commit.