Triple Avios from Amex Currency Exchange and Moneycorp

British Airways is running a special promotion in conjunction with its two foreign exchange partners, American Express Currency Exchange and Moneycorp (Terminal 5 only).

From today until 6th January, you will receive 3 Avios per £1 exchanged.  You must exchange a minimum of £400 to qualify.

P-l-e-a-s-e, though, do not take up this offer with Moneycorp.  Due to the terms of BA’s agreement with Amex Currency Exchange, Moneycorp will only award Avios points for ‘walk-up’ purchases.  The ‘walk-up’ rate at Moneycorp – and indeed Travelex – at Heathrow is absolutely shocking.

If you pre-order for collection at Moneycorp in Terminal 5, you will not receive any Avios points.  You will, though, save a fortune, so I recommend you take that route.

American Express Currency Exchange (website here) will deliver to your home, and delivery is free if you spend over £500.  You can also order for collection at Edinburgh and Birmingham airports.  They are closing all of their Heathrow outlets – Terminal 5 has already gone and T1, 3 and 4 are following soon if they are not already closed.

Remember that pre-order and home delivery purchases at American Express Currency Exchange on an Amex-issued American Express card are treated as a purchase.   This means that you will also earn SPG points / Avios / Membership Rewards points on the transaction, and spending counts towards any sign-up bonus.

(Whenever I write this, someone rings Amex to check that I am right.  The Amex call centre tells the caller that I am wrong.  I am not.  Trust me.)

For clarity – ONLY Amex-issued Amex cards are treated as a ‘purchase’.  If you use an MBNA Amex card (eg BMI, AA, United) or Lloyds Amex card, you will be charged the 3% cash advance fee and you will not earn any miles from your credit card.  Be warned!

American Express Currency Exchange will also sell you Sterling Travellers Cheques for a 1.5% fee.  Most banks will allow you to pay these into your account directly.  It is not clear if these count for ‘triple Avios’ or not – in theory, £ travellers cheque purchases do not give Avios.  The transaction does count as a purchase on your Amex-issued Amex credit or charge card, though.

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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.