Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 600 Avios, 500 Miles & More or 500 Virgin miles with a new WorldPoints sign-up promo

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BAA WorldPoints – the loyalty scheme for Heathrow’s duty free shops – has launched a new sign-up promotional bonus via partner Lufthansa.

The way the scheme works is that you earn 1 point for every £1 spent in Heathrow (1 per £10 on foreign exchange). You can redeem your points for Avios, Virgin Flying Club miles, Miles & More miles, Heathrow shopping vouchers and some other odd bits and pieces, usually at 1 point = 1 mile (for Avios it is 1 point = 1.2 Avios). Full details here.

In conjunction with Lufthansa, new members who join BAA WorldPoints via this link will earn 500 bonus points when they spend £30 in one day before 15th March. The promotional code tracks automatically.

There is no obligation to use the 500 points for Miles & More miles – you are free to redeem them for Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles instead.

Now, you may well have a WorldPoints account already. However, take a minute to think. Is there anyone in your household or in your Avios household account who is not a member?

If so, get a card in their name, use it yourself (this is not a problem) and send the miles over to their account. This is more lucrative than simply adding an extra 30 points for £30 of spend to your own WorldPoints account next time you are in Heathrow. Once you’ve got the bonus, it is easy to cancel a WorldPoints account by simply unsubscribing from their emails.

If your card does not arrive before your next Heathrow trip, don’t worry. Save your receipts and scan or post them to WorldPoints – they will be dealt with promptly. WorldPoints has the best and most efficient customer service of any loyalty product I deal with.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (11)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • maltapoints says:

    Thanks Raffles.

    What’s your policy with redeeming Worldpoints? I’ve got a fair few but I’m waiting on a redemption bonus offer before I convert them across to Avios (or possibly M&M).

    I know there has been one in the past – but do you think I’ll be waiting forever?

    • Raffles says:

      I am sitting on mine. There have been 2 Avios bonuses in the last 18 months or so, so no reason not to wait (as long as you don’t let them expire!). Never seen a bonus for Virgin or Lufthansa, though.

  • Ben E says:

    there’s a section for entering a recommending friend’s card number… not sure if you get a bonus, but happy to put your number in if you email me Raffles. thx

    • Raffles says:

      Hi Ben. Thanks, but do not put a number in there. It may stop you getting the Lufthansa bonus. I remember some issues historically here, although I have forgotten the details.

  • gagravarr says:

    When transfering from WorldPoints to BAEC, do the names on the accounts have to match? And if not, are you allowed to transfer from WorldPoints to two different accounts? (Just wondering if I can sign a friend up, buy something and credit their account, then we split the bonus points!)

    • Raffles says:

      You can’t transfer WorldPoints. You could, though, redeem your friends points for a £5 shopping voucher instead!

      Avios rules say “Please note you can only transfer WorldPoints to an Executive Club account in your own name. Requests for a transfer to another person’s Executive Club account are not permitted.”

      What you could do is open another account in your name (different address, different email) and then send the points to the opposite of where you normally send the points (ie Avios instead of BAEC, or vice versa) so they don’t pick it up via that either.

  • Russell Evans says:

    So could you combine this with the earlier mentioned Amex Currency exchange offer? Would forex transactions count toward the £30 minimum spend here or can you only use airside in Duty Free shops? Just trying to calibrate whether a trip to LHR is worth it or to pay the home delivery fee for my Forex purchase. Thanks everyone.

  • Quix says:

    Agree with the customer service comment. Last time I signed up I forgot to include the promo code (didn’t click through from HfP – oops), but an email got them to add the code instantly.

    If you unsubscribe from emails and wait 3? months for your account to be cancelled, will you be eligible for more signup bonuses in the future?

    • Raffles says:

      Yes, although nothing stops you opening a new account now (different email definitely, different postal address possibly) whilst your old account is being cancelled – just don’t do a transfer out either, so they don’t spot the same BA number being used. After 3 months you could change back the postal address.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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