How Brad is flying around the world for 112,000 airline miles and just £173

HfP reader Brad dropped me an email with details of a round-the-world itinerary that he has just booked.  It is, I have to say, very well put together and takes advantage of a number of ‘sweet spot’ redemptions.  I thought it was worth sharing.

This is what Brad is doing:

He is covering 27,717 miles in total!  This is how it was booked:

Berlin – Abu Dhabi

12,500 Avios + £31 taxes (airberlin)

Dubai – Hong Kong – Tokyo

30,000 Avios + £26 taxes (Cathay Pacific)

Tokyo – Sydney – Auckland – Fiji

12,500 United Airlines miles + £29 tax (ANA, Air New Zealand)

Fiji – Samoa – Honolulu

25,000 Qantas points + £79 (Fiji Airways)

Honolulu – Kahului – Lihue

12,000 United Airlines miles + £5 (United Airlines)

Lihue – San Jose – Chicago – Manchester

20,000 American Airlines miles + £3 (Alaska, American)

This comes to a total of 112,000 airline miles plus, more importantly, just £173 of taxes and charges!  It is an ‘all economy’ itinerary of course but still excellent value.  The itinerary is deliberately a little obscure because Brad was keen to see some different cities to places he had been before.

Whilst Head for Points tends to focus on business class redemptions, it is good to show what can be done in economy if you have the time and patience to plan the best routes.

One advantage of spreading the trip across various airlines is that it would be possible to get most of the miles purely from credit card sign-ups – United offers a 12,000 miles bonus on its free UK credit card a couple of times a year, for example.  The only part of the above itinerary that would be tricky would be getting the Qantas points given their lack of UK partners – they are not a Starwood Preferred Guest or Amex partner.

Enjoy your trip Brad.

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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.