Special ‘part pay with Avios’ deal gets you 1p per point (good for cheap tier points)

Back in October 2013, British Airways introduced ‘Part Pay With Avios’. This was a new scheme which allowed you to reduce the cost of a cash ticket by redeeming Avios points.

This had been rumoured for some time. When it finally launched, it was a disappointment. It was restricted to short haul flights only. The maximum discount was capped at £30 (4,500 Avios) which was later increased to £50.

Given that you are receiving a weak exchange rate for your points, it was a bit pathetic. Why can’t I redeem my Avios to cover the entire cost of a ticket? I would understand why not if BA was giving me a fantastic deal but 0.67p per point was never going to excite anyone.

British Airways is still tweaking the scheme.  Last year there was a short-term trial of offering discounts on long-haul flights.

For the next 10 days, there is a new offer.

If you book a cash ticket on any of the following new routes …

Seville

Madeira

Split

Bodrum

Rhodes

Cagliari

Fuerteventura

…. you can part-pay with Avios at the higher rate of 1p per point.  This is a pretty decent result and as good as I would expect if I was redeeming for a standard short-haul redemption.

The options for Euro Traveller / economy will be £10 off for 1000 points, £30 off for 3000 points and £50 off for 5000 points.

In Club Europe, you can also part pay with 10,000 Avios and receive £100 off your booking.  This is a good deal because these are generally low yield routes in the first place.

The BA ‘low fare finder’ tool shows that Seville, for instance, is just £220 from May onwards on the cheapest dates.  Redeeming 10,000 Avios takes the Club Europe fare down to an excellent £120 return! 

If you are Avios-rich but are in need of some tier points to gain or retain British Airways status, this could be a good way of doing it.  You would pick up 80 tier points for that £120 return ticket to Seville, for example.  Madeira / Funchal  is even better as a 160 tier point route.  Why not book yourself a few weekends away at these prices?

The ‘Part Pay With Avios’ website is here. This offer is NOT mentioned there but you will see it if you do a dummy booking on ba.com.

You MUST book by February 15th to take advantage of this offer.  The travel dates are  Seville 29 March – 30 June 2015, Madeira 11 May – 30 June 2015, Split 1 May – 30 June 2015, Bodrum 27 April – 30 June 2015, Rhodes 27 April – 30 June 2015, Cagliari 27 April – 30 June 2015 and Fuerteventura 3 Feb – 30 June 2015.

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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.