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How to pre-order your British Airways duty free for at-seat delivery, and earn Avios

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I would be fibbing if I said that I had never bought any duty free items on a flight, but I’m rarely in the mood – especially when trying to keep two children under control.  The pre-order service – known as ‘buy before you fly’ – from British Airways is therefore worth a look, and very few people know it exists.

Avios wing 14

You can go to this website before your flight, and select duty free items at your leisure from the High Life Shop.

Your items will be delivered to your seat, and you will earn 2 Avios per £1 on your spending.

This is only available on long-haul flights, with ‘selected’ routes excluded (I can’t find a list of the excluded routes).  You need to order at least three days before you fly.

This method also allows you to compare prices before you fly, so you will know if you are genuinely getting a bargain or not …..

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.

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.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (18)

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

  • Nick Burch says:
    26 Jul26 July 05:09

    Not available on BA 1 through 4 at least

  • Jhk says:
    26 Jul26 July 06:46

    Beter TO fly with a non uk pound or us$ airlines because with The euro you are 30% cheaper

  • ee says:
    26 Jul26 July 07:40

    We pre-ordered some spirits ex-Hong Kong, and when the goods were delivered the CC member was unsure whether we had to pay (again) on board. I got the feeling they see relatively few pre-orders. She swipped our Exec Club cards, but the points never properly came through.

    • Jason says:
      26 Jul26 July 07:53

      I’ve bought on flights, giving them my BAEC number, and the points never showed.

  • square1 says:
    26 Jul26 July 07:45

    Not sure why you say it’s only for long haul. It’s advertised as available for pre-order on the European flights as well.

    Certainly not duty free, within EU – it’s duty PAID – but the prices are good eg 1 litre Smirnoff Blue 50% ABV £14.

    • Rich says:
      26 Jul26 July 08:36

      You wont be able to buy Smirnoff Blue for that price Duty Paid (intra EU)- I don’t think you can buy much (or any alcohol) on EU routes

    • Rob says:
      26 Jul26 July 10:20

      I just copied what the terms and conditions said!

  • Jerry says:
    26 Jul26 July 08:31

    Gordon’s is £14 a litre on board and £15 a litre in Morrisons currently. DF Gordon’s is 47% while domestic is 37.5% but it’s hardly a saving for all the carrying around.

  • Paul says:
    26 Jul26 July 08:49

    What an utterly pointless service! Why can’t they focus on punctual departures, fixing the hand baggage farce on short haul and pre ordering of the meals. On so many levels they are behind the competition and yet you get this rubbish.
    Flew with them on their monopoly route to Glasgow last weekend. Lounge was disgusting and flight late again. I have not been on an on time BA service this year!! Can’t wait for new lounge in T5 to open ( hope it will take priority cards) as BA need some competition on the ground and in the air.

  • Think Square says:
    26 Jul26 July 10:06

    7th October isn’t a Friday, so that’s one possibility ruled out

  • Steve says:
    26 Jul26 July 10:18

    I used this same service on KLM earlier this month from AMS to SFO. I didn’t know when the items would be delivered to my seat so I just left it.

    After the meal service the purser announced to the whole plane “Would Mr Steve please make himself known to the cabin crew, we have some articles to give to you and we cannot find you in the plane”.

    Considering I was still in my assigned seat as well as three others from my family in the same row, they couldn’t have looked at the passenger list too closely.

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