Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: 100 Clubcard points on kids books, football tickets for Emirates miles

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

News in brief:

100 Clubcard points on childrens books

Tesco Direct has launched a new promotion, offering 100 bonus Clubcard points (worth 240 Avios or 250 Virgin Flying Club miles) when you pre-order selected childrens books.

The selection is here.

These seem to be aimed at the ‘young adult’ market – there was nothing suitable for my 7-year old.  If you have a 9-10 year old or above then you should be OK.

The books are already massively reduced, some by up to 50%, so there may be potential to resell them on eBay in the run up to Christmas.  Alternatively, this is a good time to get an early Christmas gift for any 9-14 year olds in your family.  Click here for the full list.

Arsenal football tickets available for redemption via Emirates Skywards

I wrote an article in the Summer about the great day I had at the Emirates Stadium with my father-in-law, treating him to seats in the best positioned executive box in the ground courtesy of my Emirates miles.  That was for the Arsenal vs Chelsea match.

Emirates has f-i-n-a-l-l-y made the first wave of Arsenal tickets available via this page on the Skywards website.   This covers games up to Christmas.

You will need 12,500 miles (standard) / 20,000 miles (Superbox) for games against weak opposition and 30,000 miles (standard) / 45,000 miles (Superbox) for the best games.  The best options have already gone, unfortunately.

Remember that you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points into Skywards miles at 1:1 and they transfer INSTANTLY if your account is already linked.  You are limited to two Superbox seats per game per Skywards account – I don’t know if they cap standard seat redemptions.

One problem is that availability is not shown (apart from telling you that there IS availability) until you have enough miles in your account.  There is a risk that you transfer enough points for two seats only to find that just one is left.

If Arsenal isn’t your thing, you can also book for AC Milan, Hamburger SV, New York Cosmos, Olympiacos, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and SL Benfica.  Not a bad list!  Tickets for these clubs require fewer miles than Arsenal.  The idea of a Winter weekend in Madrid watching Real from the Emirates Skybox is not a bad one ….

More games will be added as the season progresses.

Arsenal Emirates

British Airways appoints new ‘brand director’ …. from Avis Budget

British Airways used to employ a guy called Frank van der Post.  He was appointed to a new role – now called ‘Director of Customer Experience’ – with a clear remit.  He was to act entirely in the interest of the customer, pushing forward changes across BA which would make life better for passengers.

Not surprisingly, he didn’t last long.  This was a shame as everyone I know who met him at BA events was very positive about him.

Frank came from Jumeirah, the Dubai-based luxury hotel company who – as I know from my many visits to its hotels – do a very good of ‘customer first’ luxury service.

The replacement for Frank has taken a while to find.  The guy is called Troy Warfield.  He comes, astonishingly, from Avis Budget.

On paper, this beggars belief.  After all, Avis Budget has just agreed an EU-wide settlement to change its ‘anti customer’ business practices.  Troy was “Chief Commercial Officer, Europe Middle East and Africa” for Avis Budget ….

There is no part of the travel industry which is held in as much contempt as the car rental sector.  I won’t even begin to list the ways that the major rental companies conspire to work against the interests of their customers.

One paragraph in the press release on his appointment explains why many people believe Frank left – “With the spotlight continuing to shine on our brand, we need to be agile to meet the growing and fast-changing expectations of our customers while maintaining a clear focus on cost control.”

Appointing someone from the car rental industry to a ‘putting customers first’ role in BA is, frankly, a bad joke.  Apart from Avis Budget, Troy’s career was spent at Unilever and Kimberly Clark – not well known luxury brands.  He may be able to provide insight into the quality of the toilet paper in Terminal 5, however, so all may not be lost.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

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

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

25,000 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 – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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.

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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Emirates and Emirates Skywards, Tesco Clubcard

Comments (87)

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

  • James67 says:
    13 Sep13 September 05:47

    I have been trying for over two months now to resolve a complaint with BA without success, I cannot even find a mechanisms within BA for handling formal complaints. Their treatment of customers is very shoddy and I will continue to use them only when it costs them and not me.

  • Frenske says:
    13 Sep13 September 05:48

    BA is a luxury brand? I did not know that.

    • Paul says:
      13 Sep13 September 08:11

      It’s worse than that, Club World is ” pure luxury” according to their web site! Clearly the marketing team have limited experience of luxury and even less experience of club world.

      • Jason says:
        13 Sep13 September 08:19

        🙂

      • Andy S says:
        13 Sep13 September 09:53

        Having just returned from Johannesburg this morning in First I fully agree. The promised “impeccable service” and “delicious and indulgent” dining did’t materialise…

  • VP says:
    13 Sep13 September 07:01

    In a similar situation as James 67 but since more than 6 months. Does anyone know if there is an Ombudsman or regulator for airlines where one can lodge a formal complaint?

    • JoshBosh says:
      13 Sep13 September 09:41

      I’ve been looking into this myself. It seems like the only outside place to assist with your complaints is the CAA.
      As BA have basically ignored me thus far in my complaint, i think i have to leave it until 3 weeks with no response before i contact the CAA.

    • James67 says:
      13 Sep13 September 13:35

      I can even beat that VP, I am still waiting for them to honour the prize I won in the 2013 Xmas advent competition.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:
    13 Sep13 September 07:07

    This reads like a very public character assassination of a person you have never met. Perhaps they left Avis Budget because they were unable to change the culture as they desired?

    Not all bad companies employ bad people and vice versa.

    • Raffles says:
      13 Sep13 September 07:52

      His published CV shows no experience of the hospitality industry at all, which I would have assumed was a pre-requisite.

      • Leo says:
        13 Sep13 September 08:24

        He deserves a chance though!

      • Mr(s) Entitled says:
        13 Sep13 September 08:49

        And yet one would assume that he successfully navigated multiple interviews so perhaps, just perhaps, he offered something that people in a better position to judge thought would benefit BA.

      • avioscollector says:
        13 Sep13 September 14:50

        Since when have BA been in the hospitality business?

        Car rental seems a far better fit. Move people from point a to b, and if there’s a problem you blame someone else.

  • Tilly71 says:
    13 Sep13 September 07:47

    Cheapest children’s book is £5.50, this was £3.84 earlier this week but then shot up in price.

  • GB says:
    13 Sep13 September 08:04

    Re BA complaints I had to take them to court to get any resolution to mine….

  • Paul says:
    13 Sep13 September 08:07

    I agree with you. On paper this seems barking mad.
    I have just recently had an awful experience with Hertz which was resolved only when I got my local trading standards involved. Basically a £62 rental became a £142 rental when I provided my Hertz Plus Rewards card Number. It transpired that this simple act changed the reservation from “I don’t want insurance” to ” please rip me off and charge me every type of insurance you can dream up” when I collected the car I even stated that my Amex card was covering the insurances but the agent simply ignored that. My failure was trusting these charlatans and not reading the rental agreement. ( it was well after 11pm and I had two kids in tow) If ever an industry was in need of some EU261 type legislation it’s the car rental business!
    Perhaps BA is harking back to its glory days with this appointment. I recall Sir Colin Marshall came from Avis and he was credited for creating the worlds favourite airline. That was a long time ago and BAs descent since, has been long and at times tortuous.
    They still make money though and as that is the only thing which matters, the substandard products and inconsistent delivery will continue.

    • Jason says:
      13 Sep13 September 08:22

      Which Amex card did you use?
      I’m hiring a car twice next month, for the first time in a long time, and it would be handy to know which card to use.

      • Polly says:
        13 Sep13 September 09:34

        Jason. AFAIK it’s only the Platinum that has this full cover. Raffles can correct me.
        We just had a similar exp with enterprise car hire in sw France, where they automatically lopped on the full insurances, making it a further £20 per day. It was only when my OH mentioned , that was not so cheap, that I realised what had occurred. I had gone on ahead of him, so he picked up the car a few days later. A simple phone call sorted it out. But he could not believe he had been caught out like that !

        • Nick Haley says:
          13 Sep13 September 11:05

          Platinum has been worth the money for me, for bonus points but moreover for nightmares with car hire. A plastic bumper scratch from Avis Waterloo turned into £550 (!) which I simply shrugged, accepted and claimed via Amex Plat.

          Then a Hertz downtown LA mistakenly rented to me, to return when the station was closed — on 4th July. Amex advised I keep the car until I heard anything, days later on. Amex took up the battle for me, winning me back my incurred parking costs (which weren’t even spent on an Amex, but on a Travelex Supercard) AND got a refund on the extra days that Hertz tried to bill me for when I returned the car “late” (despite them being closed and me unable to return the car.

          If you are looking for a hassle free car hire experience I can highly reccomend Platinum (which also comes with discounts and Gold status yadda yadda)

          • AndyGWP says:
            13 Sep13 September 12:33

            I know we are heading slightly OT here, but can I ask how the fuel policy works when you do the pickups at major locations? I have one soon at MIA and can’t get my head around how they know whether I wish to pre-purchase (etc.)

          • Alan says:
            13 Sep13 September 12:44

            Haha but that’s what these ‘bits’ articles are best for 😀

            Personally I always go with the standard option of picking up with a full tank and returning it with a full tank. The other options are either to return it empty (which I find quite a pain, constantly having to watch how much you have left so you don’t return it with too much and effectively give the hire company free fuel!) or return it and let them refill it (very expensive, mainly just used by corporate clients when someone else is paying!). I always keep my receipt from my last fill-up near the airport just in case they ask for it – they never have but some locations are apparently doing this more often now so no harm having it handy just in case.

          • AndyGWP says:
            13 Sep13 September 17:52

            Thanks… so it’s all sorted on return then? 🙂

            First time we’ll be using the “collect and drive away option” (in fact, first time using Hertz! They were cheaper direct than any agency price tho which normally points us towards using Dollar).

            Historically we have always been asked at the desk what we wish to do (I’ll be doing return full too). Sounds like we can just show them a full tank on return tho and it will be handled accordingly 🙂

            As always, thanks Alan 🙂

          • Alan says:
            13 Sep13 September 23:06

            Hi Andy

            For non-Gold Plus Rewards reservations they’ll probably ask at collection which fuel option you want, but the pickup and return fuel is the default one. They don’t ask on ones made through your profile as they’ve got your choice recorded already and as I say at many locations you don’t even need to go into the office (can be fantastic when there are big bank holiday queues to pick up cars as I’ve had in San Francisco and Melbourne before!). The fuel receipt is something I keep handy just in case (reports of increasing numbers of places wanting it, esp on short rentals), but have never been asked for it yet. Often with Hertz I just drop it off and they email me the receipt after, has worked well on about 10 rentals over the past year or so 🙂

          • Danksy says:
            14 Sep14 September 10:23

            I’ve been waiting for some points for about 6 months… they said they were credited 18 months ago when I made the booking…. but i didn’t even know about the trip at that point :P. I’ll try the twitter guys!

          • AndyGWP says:
            14 Sep14 September 12:22

            Cheers again Alan – yes, I’ve got the “Platinum / Hertz” status (Five Star) thing, and as well as price, the benefit of just picking up a vehicle (at the risk of being given something shoddy!), was one of the big perks that drew me towards Hertz 🙂

            I like the choice of selecting “any car from row x”, as you can ditch the ones that stink of cigarettes (etc). I just don’t like the queuing for up to an hour to collect it!

            Be interested to see how it all pans out anyways!

          • Alan says:
            14 Sep14 September 12:24

            Fingers crossed all goes well 🙂

    • Will says:
      13 Sep13 September 11:28

      How BA ever made a loss with such a monopoly at Heathrow is beyond me.

  • Deb says:
    13 Sep13 September 08:24

    The car rental industry has such a bad reputation and the agreements are so lengthy with so many charges if something goes wrong, I always feel nervous about even after more than 20 years. Recently I’ve used Sixt in Sicily (with my own additional insurance) and Florida (without any additional insurance) and was really impressed, no additional charges where they could have justified them. Also I’ll never forget the Catania Hertz employee on his day off coming over with his beach umbrella to rescue my frying kids, and he wouldn’t take any money. So why make an industry give itself a bad name?

    • cheekychappie says:
      13 Sep13 September 09:03

      I always take out separate insurance & decline the car rental co’s insurance option. You can typically save £15 a day & the company I use is no-quibble. I still take photos of car before & after, though – and get any minor defect listed before accepting the car.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

NEW: Sign-up bonuses boosted to 3,000 and 18,000 points

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!