Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 500 – 1,000 bonus Avios with all short-haul British Airways flights this autumn

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I get the feeling that British Airways is worried about the impact of the Avios devaluation on its leisure business.  When you are earning just 125 Avios points each way for a European flight in economy, it is hardly an incentive to turn to British Airways if another carrier is cheaper or more convenient.

BA has launched a new promotion, aimed at the leisure market, which will give you bonus Avios points for every flight you take this Autumn.

The net result is that you will almost – but not quite – be in the same earning position as you would have been before the devaluation.

You will earn 500 bonus Avios points for every return short-haul flight you take from September 1st to December 13th.

If you are flying to Spain, the Balearic Islands or the Canary Islands, you will receive 1,000 bonus Avios.

British Airways, Iberia and Iberia Express flights count as long as your journey starts in the UK.  Domestic flights are included.

The snag is that you must book your flight by July 31st.  This means that the offer will have limited value to the business market.

You must also pre-register or you will not receive the bonus.  You can register via this link.

This isn’t the greatest offer I’ve ever seen, but it does mean that you will earn at least 750 Avios points for every return flight you take during the period.

Don’t forget to register by clicking here – it is best to do it now before you forget.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (November 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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus 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 card

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.

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

Huge 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) 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.

Comments (40)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Colin JE says:

    How about flights already booked. Are they eligible for the bonus?

  • Peter K says:

    I think BA changes will take a little while to fully kick in and cause problems for them. By then things will be very hard for them to turn around. I have a friend who casually collects Avios via the Lloyds Card. He’s had a dream to fly to America or Scandinavia using them but was unaware of the Avios changes until I told him.
    He’s now not that bothered by it anymore and just wants to burn his 30k Avios ASAP. Others will find out like he did or when looking to see what they can get with their Avios. BA will thus lose a revenue stream.
    Some have said BA earn too much to be bothered by this, but actually they will be. A company that does not put flowers in the flower holders in FIRST to save money will be bothered by losing money elsewhere!

    • Mike says:

      The flowers have returned actually, in the A380 F anyway (as of a couple months ago). So maybe they were just a temporary disappearance for some reason.

  • Mandy Hall says:

    Am looking at flights to the states from NCL and its actually just as easy to via Schipol or CDG. Priced up an F return as a J upgrade with avios and a straight F cash return with AF to IAD the other day and AF was only £75 more expensive – what does that say about BA? AF will escort you to & from the gate – and this was a fare that is available everyday not the rare as hens teeth avios upgrade into F.

    • Daniel @ Propeller Travel says:

      I know at least one travel agency that can save you 5-10 pct off the fare on an Air France J/F (including discounted fares) on transatlantic journeys.. cough cough.

      • Mandy Hall says:

        Might take you up on it as trying to get Hubby to agree to the spend 😉

    • Alan says:

      AF F Lounge in CDG also meant to be superb, a big step up from the CCR! (esp with, as you say, being transported to the plane)

      • Mandy Hall says:

        I know – I flew F (an avios redemption last year) and was in the CCR – it was lovely. Then started to plan my annual trip to see a friend – avios redemptions are very hard to get and then I started checking on expedia and the price for AF astonished me so had a look at the website and umm yes I would like to try that out …

  • bob says:

    But there’s no information on what the meals are like

  • Polly says:

    And it can stop you getting an op upgrade, if you have pre chosen food. The word it, don’t pre book your food!

    • James67 says:

      Does this also apply to prebooking premium cabin menu where that’s available? I know it is an issue with special meals but would hate to miss out on chance of an op up just because I prebooked a meal

  • Kingy says:

    Since the devaluation i haven’t used BA once. I fly mainly Economy from MAN into Europe/Nordics on business several times a month. Occasionally i get over to US west coast or Singapore/BKK (with the odd upgrade to Business)
    On reflection i wont miss BA one bit once i get my lounge access back with SA or ST, in fact the direct flights and the avoidance of Friday afternoon chaos at T5 LHR more than compensate.
    I even have the option of BHX which is served well by Lufthansa/Swiss and KLM.
    BA service was shocking and in particular the longhaul routes let them down. This was very apparent when i flew on SIA in April. I had forgotten just how much difference there was in the two carriers.
    Just so my BAEC account ticks over i’m leaving my Shell card points on auto top up until i decide how best to use the reaming 100k points i have left.

  • Frankie McPolin says:

    I just booked 2 one way flights on BA.com from Gatwick to Bordeaux for 5th November. Hand Baggage Only. Price was £77. BA then wanted to charge £10 to use a credit card for the booking (didn’t it used to be £4.50?) and £10 per person for a seat reservation. I also booked 2 one way flights on easyJet from Bordeaux to Gatwick on 8th November. No hold luggage. Price was £55. £1.08 charge to use a credit card and £3.62 per person for a seat reservation. I would have booked easyJet both ways only the timings didn’t suit for the outbound.

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