Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: big BA delays at JFK T7 security until next year, win a volunteering holiday with Avios

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

News in brief:

Delays at JFK Terminal 7 security for British Airways passengers

Passengers at New York JFK Terminal 7 – the home of British Airways – have to expect l-o-n-g delays getting through security from 22nd June until the end of January 2018.

This is due to BA’s £52 million investment to improve JFK’s Terminal 7 – see the image below for an example.

World Traveller and World Traveller Plus passengers who have scheduled flights after 5pm will be affected.  It does not impact the private security channel used by Club World and First Class passengers.

British Airways is asking passengers to allow a full extra hour at the airport to clear security if they want to ensure that they do not miss their flights.  Full details should appear on ba.com in the next couple of days.

You can read more about the transformation at JFK Terminal 7 on this BA website although it doesn’t mention the new security delays.

British Airways JFK improvements

Win a volunteering trip to South Africa

Voluntourism is becoming more and more popular.  According to an Avios study 69% of Britons are interested in volunteering whilst on holiday.

To promote voluntourism Avios has teamed up with Tusk to run a competition giving away three volunteering holidays in Southern Africa.

Tusk is an organisation with over 60 projects in Africa supporting communities, protecting wildlife and promoting education.  Three winners will help in one of three projects Tusk is running in Southern Africa:

The Nakavango Conservation Programme

The Vulture Conservation Programme

The Mokolodi Education Centre and Nature Reserve

The three prizes are a placement in one of the three projects, return flights to South Africa, two nights in a 5 star hotel and a GoPro.

To enter the competition you must either upload a three minute video of yourself or write a short essay answering three questions.  The questions, how to enter and more information about the competition and the Do More For Africa project can be found here.  Entries close on 24th July.

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.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (46)

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

  • James Ward says:
    16 Jun16 June 05:01

    I have a connection YYZ-JFK-LHR scheduled for July. Do you know whether I’ll be impacted just like someone starting their journey at JFK or if I’ll bypass this security area by staying airside?

    • scott says:
      16 Jun16 June 09:15

      James. You cannot stay airside at JFK. I presume you are flying American Eagle which will arrive into T8 so you will need to clear Customs at T8 and then exit the terminal and take the air train to Terminal 7. No avoiding at Security at Terminal 7 unfortunately.

      • JAXBA says:
        16 Jun16 June 10:54

        Customs would be pre-cleared in YYZ; those flights arrive into JFK as domestics, which will save some time on arrival.

      • The Dude says:
        16 Jun16 June 11:07

        James,
        you’ll land “domestically” at T8. If you are flying with AA to LHR then you’ll just need to walk to your Gate! Somehow I suspect you are flying on BA metal so you will need to unfortunately re-clear security at T7.

  • James Ward says:
    16 Jun16 June 05:03

    I have a connection YYZ-JFK-LHR scheduled for July. Do you know whether I’ll be impacted just like someone starting their journey at JFK or if I’ll bypass this security area by staying airside?

    Is the private channel offered to CW and First passengers only, or do BAEC Silver get an invite?

    • Rob says:
      16 Jun16 June 05:26

      I couldn’t remember ….. only ever used it in J/F. Hopefully someone will know.

      Ironically on my trip last year the private lane was so slow they started telling people to use the main lane on the other side of the terminal!

    • The Urbanite says:
      16 Jun16 June 06:42

      I was there yesterday on a CW ticket, definintely open to Silver BAEC members.

  • Genghis says:
    16 Jun16 June 06:20

    OT. Any very recent datapoints on how long it takes for Amex Plat referral points to post? (Some have commented recently on then taking a while to post and want to find out if this is the new norm). TIA.

    • Jason says:
      16 Jun16 June 06:54

      Auto accept from Tuesday…still waiting…need to close account today to avoid fee!

    • Andrew* says:
      16 Jun16 June 06:55

      Within a week or so / same day cards arrived. (This May)

      • Genghis says:
        16 Jun16 June 06:57

        Cheers guys. Sounds like no change then

        • Jason says:
          16 Jun16 June 08:56

          Does anyone know if the referral points would still get added to a closed account if the application was accepted before account was closed ?

          • Alan says:
            16 Jun16 June 12:45

            I’d be very doubtful – best to keep it open if you can until the referral points post.

          • Polly says:
            16 Jun16 June 22:57

            Agree, and the referral points moved out before you cancel too…much to do then before saying bye bye!

  • JamesB says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:36

    OT: It *may have been mentioned before whilst I was away but if not then there is a 30000 nectar bonus points offer available on the amex card for application by end of June for target spend of £2000. Not as good as the 40k offer last October but still good for those who might have exhausted other amex options at the moment. I imagine it’s targetted so check nectar online accounts.

    • johnny_c-l says:
      16 Jun16 June 09:26

      Thanks for this, had been debating which card to go for next.

    • Crafty says:
      16 Jun16 June 22:28

      Nothing in mine, is there a link you could post for others to try?

  • Neil says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:53

    The worst thing about this security change is if you arrive an hour early and there is no queue, because there is nothing to do at T7!

  • Oh! Matron! says:
    16 Jun16 June 09:11

    I’ve had some huge delays in JFK over the last three weeks, but on planes. There’s maintenance on one of the runways meaning that, at peak times, there’s hideous taxi times (40 mins on VS46 on sunday) and if the weather is even slightly bad, all hell breaks loose… 🙁

    • John says:
      16 Jun16 June 18:10

      +1 had a taxi time of 55 minutes 2 weeks ago, the cabin crew did a third round of drinks…

  • Oli says:
    16 Jun16 June 09:59

    BA are still asking me to pay for seats on my existing HBO bookings… Anyone else had any more luck? Might just pay and ask for a refund straightaway!

    • Andrew says:
      16 Jun16 June 10:58

      Although supposed to be free for status cardholders from Wednesday, seats on our October booking in ET were chargeable that day. They went free yesterday (so I nabbed an exit seat).

      I wonder whether they’re lifting the charges in date order of the flight – I think that’s how they’re processing refunds for those who paid for seat reservations.

      • Oli says:
        16 Jun16 June 11:26

        Still £11 for my flight in October… Might give it a few more days then

    • AndyR says:
      16 Jun16 June 11:45

      Apparantly if you call or contact Twitter team they will select them for free for you.

  • Scottydogg says:
    16 Jun16 June 10:11

    OT , sorry

    I held the white Virgin card about a year ago , perhaps slightly longer , I’m looking at signing up again to get this enhanced 10,000 points sign up . is there any understanding on how long between cards you need to be with virgin /mbna to get the sign up bonus again ?

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!