British Airways adds Mr & Mrs Smith as an Avios-earning hotel partner

Mr & Mrs Smith started out as a publisher of boutique holiday guide books. They were certainly nicely presented and well written although (as with most hotel guide books) they never tell you that the hotels had paid a fee to be included.

(They also used to do a surprisingly good range of Smith-branded compilation CD’s, oddly enough! A couple are still available via their website.)

I have heard some good things about their online travel agency, which specialises in independent, boutique, niche or otherwise quirky properties. Rather like a version of American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, you will usually find that you can get a better package via Smith than you would by booking on the hotels own website.

Smith has now teamed up with British Airways to offer their packages via BA Holidays. This is a genuine improvement, because you retain all of the benefits of booking via Smith directly – ie the special perks given to Smith guests and the cashback loyalty scheme they run.

In addition, booking via BA, you will also receive up to 10,000 Avios with every booking.

Full details can be found here at ba.com.

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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:

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

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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

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.

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