Avios sale – the 2nd list of ‘50% off hotel’ deals is now live

The fifth deal in the Avios sale launched today at noon.

For 48 hours, until noon on Friday, you will be able to book selected hotels using your Avios points for 50% off the standard rate.

(Don’t forget that, until noon today, you can still book flights to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Jersey, Lisbon, Madrid, Nice and Rome for just £1 of taxes.  Click here for full details on that deal.)

The list of cities available will be:

• London
• Venice
• Edinburgh
• Guernsey
• Florence
• Milan

You will be able to book for stays up to 30th September.

Is this a good deal?

This is a great deal, because you are getting a 50% discount on what is already a competitive price.  Be very clear about this bit.

However, because Avios is reducing BOTH the ‘pay with Avios’ and ‘pay with cash’ rates, it does NOT necessarily make sense to pay with Avios.

If you do the maths, you will see that your Avios are being valued at 0.57p each.  This is not great, to be honest.  I would recommend, unless you are Avios-rich and cash-poor, that you pay cash for your room and save your Avios for a better-value redemption.

How to book

There were some issues with the hotel booking websites when this offer ran last week.

In theory, you can book either via avios.com or ba.com, using their ‘spend your Avios on hotels’ links.

Last week, the avios.com booking page was flakey and did not display many of the participating hotels.   The ba.com booking link is here, you may want to try both.

The participating hotels are often not clearly marked – you need to work it out by looking at the price they want and then comparing with Expedia.

Cancellation

The small print says “Amendments and cancellation are permitted subject to the Avios cancellation and amendment terms where a fee as stated on avios.com will apply.”  This appears to be a £25 fee for cancellation with 72 hours of arrival with all Avios and cash returned, although PLEASE clarify this before booking.

Good luck – there should hopefully be some good deals available.

(One final point.  Redeeming Avios for a chain hotel via avios.com, or paying for one via Expedia, is likely to mean that you will not earn hotel points from your stay.  You may also not receive any status benefits.  You should bear this in mind when booking, especially if your status would otherwise get you free breakfast or free internet.  For what its worth, Hilton is generally seen as the best chain for giving you your status benefits when booking via a third party.)

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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.