More avios.com deals when you redeem for hotel stays
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Avios.com has been keen to promote its hotel booking platform recently and sent me over a sample of current hotel deals on offer.
In general, redeeming Avios for hotel points is not a great deal. There is nothing wrong with the selection of hotels they offer, but you will generally only receive a touch over 0.55p per point. You should be able to do far better than that from a flight redemption.
The other snag when using Avios for hotels is that you will not receive hotel loyalty points or status benefits on your stay. In theory. Sometimes you will but you should not rely on it. This makes paying cash even more attractive.
What makes a difference is when Avios negotiates an aggressive deal with a particular hotel. This is often possible because avios.com is seen as a ‘membership site’ (ie the public cannot book without signing up) and so hotels can dump excess capacity there without being exposed to ‘best rate guarantee’ claims.
This is a sample of deals currently available:
Coconut Court Beach Hotel, Barbados ***
From 6,300 Avios + £685 for 7 nights room only for 2 people in a Deluxe ocean front double room
Compare with: Expedia – £1,367 (Avios price cheaper by 47%), BA Holidays – £1,185 (Avios price cheaper by 39%), Hotels.com – £1,324 (Avios price cheaper by 46%)
Capella Marigot Bay, St Lucia *****
From 16,300 Avios + £1,550 for 7 nights with full American breakfast for 2 people in a resort view twin room
Compare with: Expedia – £2,829 (Avios price cheaper by 42%), Booking.com – £3,059 (Avios price cheaper by 47%), Hotels.com – £2,829 (Avios price cheaper by 42%)
Turim, Lisbon ****
From 3,450 Avios + £175 for 3 nights with a hot buffet breakfast for 2 people in a standard double / twin room
Compare with: BA Holidays – £321 (Avios price cheaper by 40%), Booking.com – £494 (Avios price cheaper by 61%), Hotels.com – £491 (Avios price cheaper by 60%)
It is amusing how avios.com is so keen to show how much cheaper it is than BA Holidays.
In all cases, you can choose to pay with more Avios and less cash if you wish – although the delta is the usual 0.55p – 0.6p so you may want to use as few Avios as you can.
You certainly won’t find many hotel deals on avios.com to be as good as these but they are available. The three deals above are definitely bookable at the moment.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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 £12,000 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
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) 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.
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