Special ‘Part Pay With Avios’ deals on London City and Manchester routes – good deal?
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British Airways has launched a ‘Part Pay With Avios’ special offer on selected routes from London City and Manchester this Winter.
Here are the rules:
Book before 5th November 2017
Fly before 31st March 2018
Valid for one way or return flights
Valid in Euro Traveller or Club Europe
You can learn more about ‘part pay with Avios’ on ba.com here.
‘Part Pay With Avios’ lets you use Avios to reduce the price of a standard cash ticket. You book via the standard booking page of ba.com and will be offered the chance to use some Avios to partially (not completely) reduce the cash price. Unlike a normal Avios redemption, you will earn back Avios and tier points as usual when you fly in the same way as a ‘100% cash’ booking.
Here are the routes included:
Routes from Manchester
- Chambery
- Salzburg
Routes from London City
- Malaga
- Palma
- Ibiza
- Paris Orly
- Milan Linate
- Zurich
- Prague
- Keflavik (Reykjavik)
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Dublin
But is it a good deal?
Not really.
Here is a typical example using a Reykjavik flight from London City in Economy / Euro Traveller:
Save £13 with 1,250 Avios – you get 1.04p per Avios
Save £25 with 3,000 Avios – you get 0.83p per Avios
Save £50 with 5,500 Avios – you get 0.91p per Avios
Save £75 with 8,500 Avios – you get 0.88p per Avios
Save £113 with 14,000 Avios – you get 0.81p per Avios
The best deal you can get is 1.04p per point, but that is for a paltry 1,250 Avios maximum. It is hard to recommend redeeming for something around 0.9p per Avios unless you are very Avios rich and / or you earn all your Avios from flying paid for by your employer and so your points had no cost to you.
If you are earning Avios via credit cards, Heathrow Rewards transfers, Tesco Clubcard transfers, hotel point transfers etc then you really need to getting over 1p per point. Otherwise, you could have got a better deal using your non-transferred points for something better.
As an example, Tesco Clubcard points now convert at 1:3 into Uber credit. £10 of Clubcard vouchers gets you £30 of Uber rides or 2,400 Avios. Assuming you are a regular Uber user, you need to be getting over 1.25p per Avios point before Avios becomes a better option than free rides.
In this Iceland case, the total fare was £185, so the best deal you could do (if you want to reduce the cash price the most) was 14,000 Avios plus £72. You would also earn up to 3,200 Avios back depending on your BA status, plus a handful of tier points.
A standard Avios redemption on this route, for comparison, is 17,000 plus £35. Because the cash price is relatively low compared to the Avios price, the ‘all Avios’ booking is an even worse deal given the £185 cash fare – unless you need the flexibility to cancel offered by an ‘all Avios’ booking.
Conclusion
It is only fair to give BA credit for continuing to roll out ‘Part Pay With Avios’ offers. If you are booking one of these routes you should do the maths to see if it makes sense or not. My gut feeling, however, is that it won’t.
If you want to learn more about ‘Part Pay With Avios’, read this page of ba.com. You will also find full details of the offer on that page.
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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