There are two vouchers that dominate the UK Avios redemptions, and most confusion starts when people assume they are interchangeable. They aren’t. The real debate is whether you are trying to reduce the Avios you spend, or change where you sit on the aircraft. Both vouchers can be hugely valuable, but they reward very different behaviour. So, which wins if we pit the BA Cabin Upgrade Voucher vs the Companion Voucher?
Who offers which voucher
The Companion Voucher comes from the British Airways American Express cards. Spend £15,000 in a card year and you trigger one. On the free card it is economy-only and valid for 12 months. On the Premium Plus card it works in all cabins and lasts 24 months.
The Cabin Upgrade Voucher comes from Barclays. You earn it via the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard or Avios Plus Mastercard, and it also appears through Barclays Premier Avios Rewards. Spend £20,000 on the free card or £10,000 on the paid card and the voucher lands in your BA Club account.
What each voucher actually does
A Companion Voucher reduces Avios. Two people fly for the Avios of one, or one person flies for 50 percent of the Avios. You still pay taxes and carrier charges for every passenger.
A Cabin Upgrade Voucher doesn’t reduce Avios at all. Instead, it lets you book into a higher cabin while paying the Avios required for the cabin below. That applies to one person return, or two people one-way.
This difference sounds subtle on paper, but it drives everything that follows.
Why people keep getting this wrong
These vouchers have evolved over time. Companion Vouchers gained solo use, access to Iberia and Aer Lingus, and additional business-class inventory without ever being “relaunched”. Meanwhile, the Barclays voucher is still labelled an upgrade despite behaving nothing like a traditional upgrade.
That matters, because expectations shape frustration. People approach Companion Vouchers hoping BA releases seats. They approach upgrade vouchers assuming they can move cabins later. Neither assumption is quite right.
Once you stop thinking of the BA Cabin Upgrade and Companion Voucher comparison as a simple vs calculation, it becomes obvious that each BA tool rewards a completely different booking mindset.
The common ground
Both vouchers apply only to Avios bookings, not cash tickets. Both still require full taxes and charges. Both must be applied at booking. Both live inside your BA Club account. And both are disproportionately valuable on long-haul routes where Avios pricing jumps sharply by cabin.
The differences that actually matter
The Companion Voucher can be used in First Class. If you can find availability, you can book two First seats for the Avios of one, or fly solo for half the points.
The Cabin Upgrade Voucher cannot take you into First. The highest cabin it supports is Club World or Club Europe. You cannot upgrade from Club to First using it.
There are other practical differences. The Companion Voucher holder must travel. The upgrade voucher holder does not. Companion Vouchers work on Iberia and Aer Lingus. Upgrade vouchers are British Airways only and must depart the UK.
What you typically need to spend
For two people flying business class with a Companion Voucher, most readers aim for the BA Amex Premium Plus. That means £15,000 annual spend and a £300 fee.
For a Cabin Upgrade Voucher, the lowest barrier is the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard. £10,000 spend triggers the voucher, with a £20 monthly fee.
Barclays wins on spend. Amex usually wins on Avios efficiency.
How redemption plays out in practice
Take a London to New York Club World return.
With a Cabin Upgrade Voucher, you book Club World but pay the World Traveller Plus Avios rate. Off-peak, that’s around 94k Avios for one person return, plus roughly £399 in taxes and charges. The Avios discount applies, but the cash does not. For 2 people using 2 upgrade vouchers, you’re looking at 187k Avios and £798
With a Companion Voucher, two people in Club World typically cost around 176k Avios total off-peak, plus £798 in taxes and charges combined.
| Destination | Using 2 × Cabin Upgrade Vouchers | Cash (total) | Using 1 × Companion Voucher | Cash (total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (JFK) | 187,000 Avios | £798 | 176,000 Avios | £798 |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 209,000 Avios | £998 | 198,000 Avios | £998 |
| Dubai (DXB) | 187,000 Avios | £798 | 176,000 Avios | £798 |
Once you look at the numbers side by side, the BA upgrade voucher vs companion voucher choice becomes far less about generosity and far more about which BA redemption problem you are trying to solve.
The Companion Voucher saves a small amount of Avios (~11k in most cases), although we think this difference alone isn’t a reason to dismiss the upgrade voucher.
BG1 verdict
For us, the Companion Voucher still comes out on top. If two of you are travelling together, it simply burns fewer Avios for the same Club World seat, and, importantly, it keeps the door open to First Class (if availability plays ball). Booking in the higher cabin classes gets us the biggest return on our Avios.
The upgrade voucher is tidy, predictable and very usable, especially solo, but when the stars align the Companion Voucher delivers a level of upside that’s hard to ignore. When we’re sitting on Avios and planning a long-haul trip as a pair, that’s the one we’d back every time, keeping the upgrade voucher as a fallback.
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