Get 1,000 Avios, Flying Club or Miles & More miles with new Heathrow Rewards promo

Heathrow Rewards – the loyalty scheme for Heathrow’s duty free shops – has launched a new sign-up promotional bonus via partner Virgin Atlantic.

These sign-up bonuses come and go.  But this one is the most generous we have seen for a while, and the best since Heathrow Rewards replaced BAA WorldPoints.

(It could be better, though.  This deal requires a £25 spend, whereas the last 1,000 mile bonus required just £10!)

The way that Heathrow Rewards works is that you earn 1 point for every £1 spent in Heathrow (1 per £10 on foreign exchange) or on the Heathrow Express (online bookings only).

You can redeem your points for Avios, Virgin Flying Club miles, Miles & More miles, Heathrow shopping vouchers and some other odd bits and pieces, usually at 1 point = 1 mile.  Full details are here.

In conjunction with Virgin Atlantic, new members who join Heathrow Rewards via this link will earn 1,000 bonus points when they spend £25 in one day at Heathrow before 30th September. 

(The link does not specifically mention the 1,000 points promo but you see that a special Heathrow Rewards promotional code is automatically inserted.)

For the purposes of this promo only, bureau de change transactions are not qualifying purchases – although you still earn points when you exchange money at Heathrow.

You may well already have a Heathrow Rewards account.  If so, you have three options:

open an account for someone else who shares a BA or Avios household account with you, then transfer the Avios to that account

Heathrow Rewards now lets you transfer points between different people – this is a new feature as part of the relaunch.  You could get a card in a random name, spend £25, and then ring Heathrow Rewards to transfer the points to yourself.

if you have only previously converted to one airline programme, you could open another account in your name (different email, different postal address) and then send the points over to Virgin or Miles & More if you usually send them to Avios (or vice versa)

As an extra carrot, everyone who joins via this promotion will go into a draw to win £500 of Heathrow Rewards vouchers. 

(I wonder if they mean 50,000 Heathrow Rewards points or if they automatically convert them to HR shopping vouchers for you?!)

If your card does not arrive before your next Heathrow trip, don’t worry. Save your receipts and scan or post them to Heathrow Rewards.  Reports are that there usual ‘lightening fast’ response to queries is no more, but you should still get your points in the end.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.