An interesting BAA WorldPoints arbitrage opportunity

The forthcoming potential to merge Avios and BMI Diamond Club miles from 3rd July has thrown up some interesting arbitrage opportunities. 

One is the conversion rate for BAA WorldPoints, the frequent shopper scheme at BAA’s airports (mainly Heathrow, Glasgow and Southampton).

You earn 1 point per £1 spent (different rates for foreign currency) or 2 per £1 if you spent over £500 in the previous or current year.  These can be turned into various goodies such as BAA shopping vouchers or airline miles, including Virgin Flying Club, Miles & More, BMI and Avios.

The Avios conversion rate is 300 Avios per 250 WorldPoints.  The BMI Diamond Club rate is 750 miles per 500 WorldPoints. 

If you’ve got at least 500, you should convert into a BMI account as long as you can wait until July 3rd to move them across to your BAEC or avios.com account.

More DC arbitrage ideas to follow.

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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:

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. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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.

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.

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.