NEW: Book an Avios flight now, earn the Avios later
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Avios has launched, as a trial, ‘Avios Advance’. This has been knocking around for a while on a limited basis but is now popping up for more and more people.
This is something new for airline loyalty programmes although Marriott has been doing it for years with its hotel programme.
You can book an Avios flight even if you don’t have enough points. You have until 35 days before departure to earn them.
How does it work?
This is an avios.com initiative. You will not find it on ba.com and so you cannot combine it with a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher.
If all of your Avios are in British Airways Executive Club, you will need to move them over to avios.com before you can do this.
The exact rules for ‘Avios Advance’ have not been published. This is how it seems to work – but please do not take this information as fully accurate:
You seem to need to book 6 months ahead of travel
You seem to need to have 75% of the Avios required already in your account
Note that there is no guarantee that you will be offered ‘Avios Advance’ even if you do meet these criteria.
Go through the flight booking process on avios.com and, assuming your potential booking meets the criteria above, the box above will appear on screen.
It invites you to ring the Avios call centre and make your booking. This is what happens:
Avios reserves your seat
You pay your existing Avios balance plus the full taxes for the ticket (the box only mentions £35 Reward Flight Saver taxes but I assume you need to pay the full taxes figure)
You have until 35 days before departure to earn the balance of the Avios required
It isn’t clear what happens if you don’t have the remaining Avios in your account 35 days before travel. Do you forfeit your ‘deposit’ (ie all of the Avios you used)? That sounds too excessive. I am guessing that the booking is cancelled and you receive your Avios and taxes back less the usual £35 cancellation fee.
What do I think?
This is an interesting move by Avios. It is customer friendly but also has the potential to cost Avios money:
It saves the customer from buying Avios points to top up their account at the punitive 1.6p per point rate
It creates additional call centre work as these bookings cannot be made online
Let’s see how it goes – the fact that it is now being offered more widely implies they are happy with it. Hopefully it will be a success.
PS. The Marriott version of this scheme is FAR more generous. Marriott Rewards members can make reward redemptions without having any points in their account, You have until seven days before arrival to earn the points you need. I have a Ritz-Carlton booking for October currently booked via this route.
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 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 £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.
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