Cashback vs reward cards – is cashback always king?

I find most rewards schemes don’t offer any value to me whatsoever, so a cashback card will always win for me.

I had thought that Avios (previously BA Miles) were more valuable than cashback, given that they can be spent on a business or first class ticket worth thousands of pounds. Because American Express issues the relevant credit card for earning Avios, the mileage earning rate is quite high, given that Amex charges retailers higher fees. However, British Airways doesn’t release enough seats to honour the number of Avios that it issues. For example, a LHR-SYD flight in Club World costs 200,000 Avios, whereas a paid ticket on the same route earns 15,848 Avios for an Executive Club standard Blue member. There are 70 Club World seats on a British Airways 747. It therefore follows that in order to honour the number of Avios it issues, British Airways needs on average to allow 15,848 ÷ 200,000 x 70 = 5½ seats per flight in Club World to be booked using Avios on this route. Silver and Gold Executive Club members earn 26,413 Avios for this flight, meaning that there ought to be up to 9 Avios seats per flight. There are also many British Airways customers who earn Avios other than through flights, e.g. spending on American Express cards, meaning that the number of Avios seats needs to be even higher. Counterbalancing this, some passengers are not Executive Club or OneWorld members who earn no Avios or equivalent. On balance, at least an average of 5½ Avios seats in Club World on this route seems a modest estimate. British Airways releases much fewer than 5½ Avios Club World seats on this route, and likewise proportionately less than it needs to on other routes. The result is that those who hold Avios are unable to spend them because British Airways fails to make enough seats available for Avios bookings to honour the number of Avios that it issues. Consequently only a minority of Executive Club members manage to get the seats they want, and usually only by putting in a lot of time and effort into finding the very few Avios seats that are available. It’s a total disgrace on British Airways’ part. Other airlines are just as bad though.

It depends on overall use – I have a so called “loyalty card” I use it purely and simply because the nearest supermarket uses it – and two or three businesses use the same card. So I get cash off my supermarket purchases when the points build up – but as I stated this does not persuade me to use the supermarket – it is simply the nearest and most convenient. I also always pay my credit card in full every month without fail – so it is free anyway. I no longer fly anywhere usually – and when I do it is free to me – so flight miles never enter my equations.