Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Save up to £400 on British Airways flights with ‘Part Pay With Avios’

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Back in October 2013, British Airways introduced ‘Part Pay With Avios’. This was a new scheme which allowed you to reduce the cost of a cash ticket by redeeming Avios points. This had been rumoured for some time.

When it finally launched, it was a major disappointment. It was initially restricted to short haul flights only. The maximum discount was also capped at £30 (4,500 Avios) which was later increased to £50.

Given that you are receiving a pretty poor exchange rate for your points, it was a bit pathetic. Why can’t I redeem my Avios to cover the entire cost of a ticket? I would understand why not if BA was giving me a fantastic deal but 0.67p per point was never going to excite anyone.

Part Pay With Avios

Slowly but surely, BA is extending the scheme.  Until April 29th, you can now redeem your points for a cash discount on a long-haul ticket. Here are the rules:

You must book a long-haul flight before April 29th

You must travel by April 1st 2016

Your flight must depart from Heathrow or City, not Gatwick

If you book into World Traveller or World Traveller Plus, you can choose between:

£10 off for 1,500 Avios

£30 off for 4,500 Avios

£50 off for 7,500 Avios

£100 off for 15,000 Avios

For bookings in Club World or First, you can choose between:

£30 off for 4,500 Avios

£50 off for 7,500 Avios

£100 off for 15,000 Avios

£200 off for 30,000 Avios

£300 off for 45,000 Avios

£400 off for 60,000 Avios

The redemption rate is still the relatively weak 0.67p per point but you can at least now redeem for a more interesting sum.  Whilst this offer has run before, it has never offered a discount as high as £400 per person.  BA is also experimenting with a lower ‘entry level’ discount in Club World of £30.

The ‘Part Pay With Avios’ website is here.  Full details of this promotion can be found there.


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 (25)

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

  • Fenny says:

    Due to the current ongoing debacle with my BAEC account, I’ll be avoiding BA other than for European RFS from now on. The change from Airmiles to Avios and the new devaluation are enough to push me away for any flights I can get with other airlines. All my Tesco and MR points will go to Virgin. I’ve got enough Avios to last for a while on European flights.

  • Georgie says:

    Another big disadvantage of part pay with AVIOS is that you can’t cancel up to -24 hours, as you can with an award flight, if your plans change at the last minute.

    • Polly says:

      Was not aware of that, just hope other people take note. That’s a big advantage of avios. Big advantage for BA too, they get to keep the dosh….. And the insurance claim takes over. Avios def the better option if you have them to buy the ticket with.

      • Alan says:

        Although it is fairly logical given you’re only using the Avios as a method of part-payment. If it was a straight Avios redemption booking then you wouldn’t have access to the same availability as is applicable here (where it’s just the standard cash fare buckets, therefore nowhere near as restrictive)

        • Polly says:

          Agree, but most savvy avios collectors might wait until the club sales appear. We basically only use ours for F long haul, and the very odd RFS last minute flights to Dub.

          • Alan says:

            Oh, totally agree – just trying to highlight the different uses of Avios come from different fare buckets and therefore BA’s approach is consistent albeit potentially confusing for those new to the fun of miles earning/burning! 😀

  • Your guide to spending Avios | 2015 - Page 28 - FlyerTalk Forums says:

    […] a link to the relevant article published by Raffles at 'Head for Points' today: https://headforpoints.com/2015/04…art-pay-avios/ […]

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

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