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Bits: last day for Avios / LEGO deal, interesting new information on LEVEL

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News in brief:

Last day to get 1,200 Avios for £30 LEGO spend

Today (Monday) is the last day to earn 1,200 Avios or 1,250 Virgin Flying Club miles for spending £30 on LEGO Disney Princess.

This is a Tesco Direct offer.  You will receive 500 bonus Clubcard points which you can convert into 1,200 Avios or 1,250 Virgin miles when you receive your Clubcard vouchers.

The full list of available LEGO Disney Princess sets is here.

More information on LEVEL

On Saturday I wrote about IAG’s new low-cost airline LEVEL.  Based in Barcelona, at least initially, it will offer another opportunity to earn or redeem Avios points.

Since I wrote that article I have got hold of some more information about how the airline will operate:

In Flight Entertainment will NOT be free on LEVEL.  It will be free on Day 1 but this is only an introductory offer.  If you’ve booked for a flight a few months out then you might have an unpleasant surprise.

Food will cost a fixed €35 each way which gets you two meals.  Both meals will have at least one hot option.  It seems that snacks and drinks will also be available for purchase.

Avios tickets will not book into the cheapest ticket category (LEVEL).  This means that you WILL receive a free checked bag, free seat selection and food.

There are reports that BA status card holders are getting free seat selection at the moment, probably because flights are being booked via the Iberia website.  In theory, though, you will receive NO status benefits on LEVEL if you have BA, Iberia or any other shiny oneworld card.  There are no circumstances, irrespective of status or whatever ticket type you buy, that you will get you lounge access, fast track security or an additional free luggage allowance.

Here is the bizarre bit.  LEVEL will be part of the Joint Business Agreement on transatlantic flights between AA, Finnair and IAG.  This means that the flights will be subsidised by higher paying economy and premium economy passengers from the other airlines.  Under the Joint Business Agreement, all of the revenue from participating airlines is thrown into one big pot and then divided up based on passenger volumes.  As LEVEL will in theory have cheaper ticket prices than AA or Finnair (or BA or Iberia), it will presumably receive more back from the JBA than it pays in.

Seat selection will cost as much as €67 each way (exit row aisle or window)

LEVEL flights will earn On Business points, although the numbers have not been agreed yet

LEVEL flights will earn tier points but ONLY for Iberia Plus cardholders

You WILL be able to book connecting flights on AA, BA, Air Nostrum and Vueling and have your luggage checked through to your final destination – but only if the connecting flight is an Iberia codeshare

No pets allowed

No unaccompanied minors allowed

Tickets allow re-routing on Iberia and British Airways in case of disruption.  This offers a degree of security given that LEVEL will only have two aircraft at the start.

My article from Saturday has more information on LEVEL’s airline routes and pricing.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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, Tesco Clubcard, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (41)

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

  • Concerto says:
    20 Mar20 March 09:41

    It’s incredible how fast all this crap is going. I honestly thought over the last couple of years airline service in general was rising back up, a bit, in quality. I think there’s only so far down that they can go. Over a certain distance of flight (about 3 hours for me) there has to be some sort of minimal comfort element. I really really don’t like this cheapskate stuff on longhaul.

  • Leo says:
    20 Mar20 March 09:54

    I can’t imagine going anywhere near this outfit even with a barge pole. I would however consider giving Norwegian a punt using their Premium seat as a cheap oneway to the States. What info do we have on the Level Premium offering – in particular pitch? I saw what I think was a picture but it looked like a wider economy seat – is this all it amounts to? Not good enough – I’ve seen good reviews of Norwegian’s Premium product which in fact provides lounge access (as opposed to not even allowing you to use the status you have already built up with IAG to get similar access). I’m not an IAG basher per se – but seriously this is not an attractive product.

  • rams1981 says:
    20 Mar20 March 09:56

    OT anyone received the bonus groupon points for the last Iberia AVIOS purchase?

  • Ro says:
    20 Mar20 March 14:56

    OT but looking to book a return flight to europe on BA in economy.
    Looking to book the more expensive economy fare that includes the checked in luggage. After it’s paid for would I potentially be able to pay cash to upgrade into club europe. And if so, would I just pay the fare difference? And will the booked fare class be upgraded too so that i’d earn more status credits and miles

    • Anna says:
      20 Mar20 March 15:02

      I’m not sure but would it not be easier just to book the Club Europe seat from the outset?

      • Ro says:
        20 Mar20 March 15:42

        Considering the increase to club europe is only £50 or so I wouldn’t mind paying the extra club europe.
        However, my grant will only reimburse me for economy flights and I have to submit my receipt showing i purchase economy flights. Hence doing it the long way round

        • Ro says:
          20 Mar20 March 15:59

          apologies for the poor spelling above
          *the extra for club europe
          *purchased

          • Anna says:
            20 Mar20 March 16:10

            I get it now! I think you can do it through the “Manage my booking” section or over the phone, you’d need to check about status etc.

    • Lumma says:
      20 Mar20 March 17:20

      It could be worth checking the upgrade on the BA app as well. Going to manage my booking on my laptop my booking to Berlin is offering £180ish to upgrade each way, but on the app it’s £100.

      I still don’t think that’s worth it for club Europe on such a short flight, but might be worth looking at if that’s what you want

    • AndyR says:
      20 Mar20 March 17:42

      If you do the upgrade as a change to your ticket then you’ll pay the fare difference plus a change fee. However, BA sometimes do ‘limited time offers’ where they offer the chance to upgrade for a special price via MMB. It’s not always offered though.

    • Alan says:
      20 Mar20 March 19:51

      You may be able to get a discount online upgrade offer, although this will only be available if flying direct to/from London, sadly.

      Also worth checking how flexible your grant folk are – I’m deal with claims for our funds and I’m happy to accept a price quote for economy with a receipt for business (and just pay out economy), but of course not everyone is as in the know and accepting about things 😀

      • Ro says:
        21 Mar21 March 07:56

        Thanks a lot for the advice guys.
        Wil be flying from london so hopefully will be a good price. Its not really a big deal if it isn’t though
        Good tip Alan although the answer in my case is entirely inflexible 😉

    • Bob says:
      21 Mar21 March 12:33

      Yes, when you buy an upgrade, via ‘Manage my booking’ or at the airport it will be the corresponding (=new) amount of Avios and tier points.

  • Anna says:
    20 Mar20 March 16:04

    And BA spouting its stock response about passenger numbers etc!

    • Genghis says:
      20 Mar20 March 16:11

      I think the story needs to be fact checked. Flowers disappeared from F a while ago and didn’t the water cuplets for Y happen much more recently than 2009? Also doesn’t tell the full story of BA flights from STN as is it really “BA schedules flights from London Stansted, selecting to go head to head with EasyJet and Ryanair on their turf.”?

      • mark2 says:
        20 Mar20 March 17:52

        Expecting accuracy on any subject in any newspaper is the triumph of hope over experience.

  • Alan says:
    21 Mar21 March 08:54

    What about charging for (USB) charging? 😛

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

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