My first Avios redemption was from London to Edinburgh for my little brother’s Stag do. That was back in 2013 and in the following 5 years I have kept track of where and how I have spent then.

It struck me the other day that, with the purchase of flights for Christmas 2018, I have surpassed the 1 million Avios threshold in spectacular style!

I keep track of them on this page, but here is a quick summary of how and what I have used them for:

• 1,247,000 Avios spent
• 99 flights booked
• 5 BA Amex 2for1 voucher used
• 6 return flights in First to New York, Washington and Singapore
• Last minute flights to Rome to collect my iPad
• Peak time flights in school holidays when cash prices were astronomical

This latest redemption is the biggest I have made so far. Knowing that my wife needed to take the time off between Christmas and New Year from her annual holiday allowance, we decided to make the most of the holiday and go somewhere different. We decided on South East Asia as it gave the option to fly into and out of Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to make the most of  the public holidays.

Through very fortunate circumstances, we were able to book First class return tickets to Singapore on our preferred dates. It cost 280,000 Avios, an AmEx 2for1 voucher and about £1130 in taxes, but for 26 hours in First Class and access to the Concorde Room and Bar at either end it is a great deal!

To put how good this deal is into context, economy seats for the two of us on the same flights came to over £2,300.

The cash price of the First class seats is an eye-watering £10,100.

I can categorically say that I would never be in a position to drop £5k on some flights for one person on one trip, so a pence per Avios comparison is not a fair one. However, taking into account the taxes paid and the annual fee of the AmEx, I think that I got 3.1p/Avios value. As I said here, 1.67p/Avios is my minimum so I am very happy.

I am looking forward to being able to fly in First on the A380, to visit Singapore for the first time and to check out the Concorde Bar before flying home, and to writing about it here.