I flew to New York and back for £100 using a nifty hack – it has transformed my holidays

It was a childhood dream come true. The tour guide had opened up an ordinary-looking door and led myself and a group of other tourists into a vast, wood-panelled and gilded arena that played host to dignitaries, celebrities and peacemakers for 80 years. A black lectern surrounded by desks and seats, with a giant circular logo of the Earth above it.

Walking into the United Nations General Assembly chamber in was truly magnificent. It was almost akin to Lucy walking through the wardrobe into Narnia.

When I stood by one of the desks looking into the main stage of the arena, I thought back to my childhood, dreaming of becoming a journalist one day reporting from the UN HQ. It was emotional.

I also thought to myself, “I can’t believe I bagged a £100 return to New York. Epic win.”

As I resisted the urge to declare the day of my visit ‘International Cheap New York Flights Day’, my fellow and I were ushered out of the main chamber and onto the food court, surrounded by – among other things – Hello Kitty UN figurines.

Inconceivable as it may sound, it is entirely possible for one to buy a return flight from to New York for the same price as a return train ticket between London and Manchester. It’s all a matter of playing your cards right.

I’ve been in possession of an American Express British Airways credit card for more than a decade and to say it’s revolutionised my holiday planning is an understatement.

With that card, I’ve been able to collect Avios – BA’s term for points – on my everyday spending and not worry about putting a separate pot of money aside from my monthly budget towards a holiday.

How it works is simple – you earn one Avios point for every pound you spend. You can earn even more points on top of that by linking your card to BA’s Avios app and shopping online via retailers such as Deliveroo, H&M, Curry’s and Reiss. The number of points rewarded depends on the retailer.

Once you’ve amassed all the points you need, you just need to visit the BA website, type where you want to go and see if the flights are available. The more points you have, the further in the world you can go – and for a flat cash fare.

Return flights within Europe cost £1 plus at least 18,500 points, while return trips beyond Europe start from £100 and at least 50,000 points. What’s even better is that the cash fee includes taxes and carrier charges.

In contrast, the average price for a return flight between Heathrow and JFK is £400 – and that sometimes includes just the seat and not checked baggage.

It’s also worth noting that BA offers peak and off-peak costs for using your points, which means you can use fewer points on off-peak periods (generally any time outside of the school holidays).

In my case, all those years of paying for my day-to-day spending, concerts and nights out all paid off when I decided to visit my friend in Manhattan last October. I booked the trip months in advance – Avios flights do sell out quickly – and had about 60,000 points on my Avios account.

I felt pretty excited when I went to the BA website to book my economy class flight. As it was an off-peak period, I paid for the trip using only 55,000 points and the magic £100 fee. Even though the cost included checked 23kg luggage, I decided to fly light with a cabin bag.

What’s more, I paid the £100 with my Amex card, meaning I earned even more points—those will come in handy for a future trip.

With the booking completed, I waited until October came for me to make some memories. And fulfil some childhood dreams. Kofi Annan and Antonio Guterres, past and present UN secretary-generals respectively, weren’t around on the day I visited the organisation’s HQ, but it was fascinating to see the corridors of global power up close.

In an age where we are constantly finding new ways to make our cash stretch further, this money-saving tip might just be one of the best things I discovered. The only downside to using an Amex card is that not many places accept it, so the best alternative would be to get Barclaycard’s Avios MasterCards.

But – and this is a strong but – do what I did, and please use your cards responsibly. Budget properly. Be sensible with your spending. Pay your bills on time. No holiday is worth putting yourself into debt, so do not spend beyond your means. Hopefully, you’ll find these tips useful. Happy travels, folks.