How to buy Avios for 1p per point

BMI Diamond Club is, until 30th June, allowing you to buy BMI miles with a 20% bonus (log-in to www.flybmi.com to see this, there is a link at the bottom of your activity chart under Your Activities). 

Why is this interesting, you say?

Well, from 3rd July you will be able to convert Diamond Club miles into Avios on a 1:1 basis, with no fee.  The cheapest deal is for buying the maximum 24,000 miles, which comes out at £255, although it is not a lot more expensive per mile to buy fewer.  This is a touch over 1p per Avios.

I usually say that I value an Avios at around 0.75p.  However, this is a purposely conservative estimate to ensure that I don’t overpay.  If I was taking part in some Tesco promotion or similar, I would want to be paying 0.5p or less to justify the time involved. 

Using an Amex 2-4-1 on your redemption, though, would double the values I give above, and of course if you need to buy some miles to reach the required level for an award, it is an even better deal.

I am not jumping in on this deal with over 2.5m Avios and DC miles in the bank.  However, after 3rd July, the only way to buy Avios will be via ba.com.  That will cost you £399 for 24,000, rather than £255 via the deal above.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 2023)

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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

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.

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.

EDIT: Applications for this card are temporarily suspended due to IT issues with the British Airways On Business SME loyalty scheme.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.