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Earn 250 Avios when dining at restaurants – now finally launched

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Back in September 2016 Rob wrote about Restaurant Circle, a new restaurant booking portal that would let you earn Avios when making a reservation.

It was set to launch in October but kept being delayed.

Now it’s finally live.

Avios restaurant circle

You will earn 250 Avios every time you make a restaurant booking through the portal.

How does it work?

You need to create a Restaurant Circle account and add your Avios or BA Executive Club membership number to your profile.

If you live in Ireland, you can add an AerClub number.  There are a large number of Irish restaurants included.

For every booking you make via the Restaurant Circle site, you will receive 250 Avios.  As long as you turn up for your reservation (!), the Avios will be added to your account within two weeks.

Where can I dine and earn Avios?

You can search for restaurants on the Restaurant Circle website by postcode, city or restaurant name.

There is a decent selection of restaurants included although it is not as comprehensive as, say, OpenTable or even ResDiary, the company that runs Restaurant Circle.  This is because restaurants have to pay an extra fee to Avios when you dine. Included is, for example, my favourite brunch place in Clapham, Ben’s Canteen.

You can read more about this new partnership on the British Airways website here.


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.

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.

Comments (38)

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

  • William Avery says:

    Not looking good…Waterloo, 4 people. Computer says “no”. Come one!!

  • Roger I says:

    Anybody else remember the original Air Miles Dining scheme? 🙂

    ISTR it was 50 old miles a time with significantly more restaurants, including a nice curry house in Finchley.

    I did a ‘what if’ search in the new scheme for Zurich and Cape Town, for both of which I found several entries. Most were not familiar to me.

  • Roger I says:

    Thanks for this. My eyes lit up when I saw mention of Switzerland. Unfortunately they have only partial coverage there, in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud.

    France looks more promising.

  • JD says:

    Plenty of restaurants in Newcastle and we are always the last to get this kind of stuff. Probably on par with open table with a few on there you cant get on other booking sites

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

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