More avios.com deals when you redeem for hotel stays

Avios.com has been keen to promote its hotel booking platform recently and sent me over a sample of current hotel deals on offer.

In general, redeeming Avios for hotel points is not a great deal.  There is nothing wrong with the selection of hotels they offer, but you will generally only receive a touch over 0.55p per point.  You should be able to do far better than that from a flight redemption.

The other snag when using Avios for hotels is that you will not receive hotel loyalty points or status benefits on your stay.  In theory.  Sometimes you will but you should not rely on it.  This makes paying cash even more attractive.

What makes a difference is when Avios negotiates an aggressive deal with a particular hotel.  This is often possible because avios.com is seen as a ‘membership site’ (ie the public cannot book without signing up) and so hotels can dump excess capacity there without being exposed to ‘best rate guarantee’ claims.

This is a sample of deals currently available:

Coconut Court Beach Hotel, Barbados ***

From 6,300 Avios + £685 for 7 nights room only for 2 people in a Deluxe ocean front double room

Compare with:  Expedia – £1,367 (Avios price cheaper by 47%), BA Holidays – £1,185 (Avios price cheaper by 39%), Hotels.com – £1,324 (Avios price cheaper by 46%)

Capella Marigot Bay, St Lucia *****

From 16,300 Avios + £1,550 for 7 nights with full American breakfast for 2 people in a resort view twin room

Compare with:  Expedia – £2,829 (Avios price cheaper by 42%), Booking.com – £3,059 (Avios price cheaper by 47%), Hotels.com – £2,829 (Avios price cheaper by 42%)

Turim, Lisbon ****

From 3,450 Avios + £175  for 3 nights with a hot buffet breakfast for 2 people in a standard double / twin room

Compare with: BA Holidays – £321  (Avios price cheaper by 40%), Booking.com – £494 (Avios price cheaper by 61%), Hotels.com – £491 (Avios price cheaper by 60%)

It is amusing how avios.com is so keen to show how much cheaper it is than BA Holidays.

In all cases, you can choose to pay with more Avios and less cash if you wish – although the delta is the usual 0.55p – 0.6p so you may want to use as few Avios as you can.

You certainly won’t find many hotel deals on avios.com to be as good as these but they are available.  The three deals above are definitely bookable at the moment.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2025)

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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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.