Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: Tesco trialling a 12000 Avios bonus for the Premium Credit Card, Aer Lingus traffic data

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

News in brief:

Tesco trialling a 12,000 Avios sign-up bonus for the Tesco Premium Credit Card

I was unexcited in my review of the Tesco Premium Credit Card when it launched a couple of months ago.  Whilst the benefits package could work for some people, most would struggle to get any value unless you spend £5,000 per year in Tesco to trigger the annual bonus.

There aren’t many of those people.  I would also guess that many of those who do are feeding large families – not filling their trolley with lobster – and wouldn’t want to pay a £150 annual fee for a credit card.

I get a feeling that my lack of enthusiasm has been contagious.  A reader sent me a targetted email yesterday offering him 5,000 Clubcard points – 12,000 Avios – as a sign-up bonus.  There wasn’t even a spending target to hit!

Given the £150 fee, even 5,000 Clubcard points doesn’t necessarily make the card worth it.  As I don’t need the travel insurance benefit, am not planning on buying any Club Europe flights in the next two months and won’t spend £5,000 this year in Tesco, it wouldn’t swing it for me.

If you were thinking of getting the card I would hold off.  An ‘open to all’ sign up deal may be on the way.

Interesting Aer Lingus traffic statistics

Aer Lingus sent me a lengthy press releases yesterday to remind me how wonderful it is.  I will spare you the details but there were some interesting numbers in it which made it clear how successful the airline has been in picking up North America traffic from the UK regions.

you can now connect to North America flights on Aer Lingus from 19 UK airports

Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool have seen 18% year on year growth in Aer Lingus departures to North America via Dublin

Manchester is the most popular Aer Lingus starting point for a US trip, followed by Birmingham

Dublin was the fastest growing major European airport in H1 2016

For Head for Points readers, the more important facts about Aer Lingus are:

You can redeem Avios points on Aer Lingus, but only by calling British Airways (see this article for details)

Tax in Business Class is under £75 return if you ticket from Dublin to avoid UK APD

Dublin to Boston is under 3,000 miles and so costs only 75,000 Avios return in Business Class

You can clear US immigration and customs in Dublin, allowing you to enter the US with no delays

There is a brand new lounge just after US immigration at Dublin Airport

Whilst delayed, Aer Lingus will be launching its own Avios scheme, AerClub, very soon.  I am currently thinking about how we will integrate this into HfP.

I am also very keen to review the new Aer Lingus business class seat and the Dublin lounges and this will be our key travel priority for the Autumn.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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

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, 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.

Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub, Tesco Clubcard

Comments (47)

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

  • Andy Lea says:
    11 Aug11 August 08:36

    For the Tesco premium card to tempt me – I would need circa 25k Avios signup and circa £100 annual fee

  • Bernard Peller says:
    11 Aug11 August 08:55

    I flew the new Aer Lingus Business class seat back in March from AGP to DUB, during the summer season the fly an A330 to AGP on the morning flight, that same aircraft then does the afternoon flight to JFK. As AGP is classed as short haul Europe I paid €80 supplement just to try the seat, there is no service difference from economy, you pay for your luggage, you pay for a drink etc. The seat is a vast improvement on the last angled incarnation but unless there was a huge sale on I would not pay business class money to fly with EI as I would not earn any Avios or tier point. But for some added comfort on a 3 hour flight I would pay the €80 extra every time. The seat layout is 1-2-2/ 1-2-1 All the A Seats are single but the single seats in row 3 & 5 K have extra shelf space so are great seats if you want to work or relax with you laptop etc.

    • ADS says:
      11 Aug11 August 09:38

      EI also fly a nasty old B757 on their US routes – not sure if the business class seat is the same.

      I hope Rob doesn’t end up in that when he’s trying to review the new product !

      • Rob says:
        11 Aug11 August 09:51

        Those have now been updated I believe.

        It will be A330 though. Not going to Hartford!

  • Will Squires says:
    11 Aug11 August 09:23

    Still waiting for a sign up bonus on the current account 🙁

  • Duncan S says:
    11 Aug11 August 10:31

    RE: DUB pre-clearance. If I book a flight from GLA > DUB > MCO with only about 90 minutes layover in DUB, will I be able to pre-clear or won’t there be time?

    • Daftboy says:
      11 Aug11 August 11:47

      You have to pre-clear, or you won’t get on the flight – it is not an optional step (the US-bound flights leave from a dedicated set of gates which you have to pass through US immigration to access).

      If you are booking it as one ticket/journey with luggage checked through and the website offers you a 90 minute connection then you will be fine; that is enough time.

      If separate tickets (e.g. Ryanair and Aer Lingus) and needing to collect and re-check luggage then 90 minutes will not be enough.

      • Duncan S says:
        11 Aug11 August 17:32

        Thanks for that. It’s actually for my FIL, but he’s looking at a GLA > MCO flight via DUB booked as one ticket on the Aer Lingus website, so that should be fine.

        I think he might prefer to have an overnight stop in DUB anyway, which Aer Lingus don’t allow you to specify online. I think he might just book GLA > DUB and DUB > MCO separately but on different days.

    • Brian says:
      11 Aug11 August 17:32

      If you book on the one ticket you should be fine. I have connected on to the EI105 flight at 1050 from the earlier GLA-DUB flight. On arrival at DUB the cabin crew will announce if anyone is connecting to JFK, who then get off last and then are bussed to the Pre-Clearance area (with obvious priority to get through).

  • Scottydogg says:
    11 Aug11 August 10:54

    Re Aer Lingus , I remember reading that Dublin to Boston was a good deal with regards to Avios redemption , I see you quoted a business class return in the article , but my question is
    Do you know what price Dublin to Boston 1 way would be , how many avios and taxes ?
    I don’t want to have to phone BA for the price

  • Renwaldo says:
    11 Aug11 August 12:47

    Does anyone have an update on whether it will be possible in the future to redeem avios for RFS style flights on Aer Lingus? Particularly interested in MAN – DUB as it can get very expensive when you need to fly last minute.

    • Rob says:
      11 Aug11 August 13:00

      No idea. If Aer Lingus does revenue-based redemption it would be crazy to have flights openly bookable on ba.com for 4,500 Avios.

  • GC says:
    11 Aug11 August 16:35

    One reason for the driver in Aer Lingus may be the BA site itself. When I put in ABZ-JFK or ABZ-MCO in recent searches, it forces the return leg in most cases via DUB with no option (apart from Multi City but even that has it’s limits due to the 2 hour stopover minimum) to fly via LHR. Most casual travellers won’t check for other options not shown on BA.com.

  • Alex W says:
    11 Aug11 August 18:17

    OT:
    I am coming up to the anniversary for the Lloyds Premier Avios card and don’t want to pay the £140 fee. I rang Lloyds to downgrade to the £24 Avios card, I have been told that I can’t do it, as it is effectively a new application and I am showing as ineligible to apply for a new product?! Therefore I have to either pay the £140 fee, or cancel the card.
    I have just checked my credit score (via Barclaycard) and it’s 831 which should be fine.
    I am about to cancel Amex Plat as I have got all the value I can out of it after 5 months’ use.
    I have a BAPP and earned the 241 and have 4 months left to run.
    I have several other non-Amex cards – Hilton, Santander 123, Nationwide Select and my main card at the moment is the new Creation IHG card.
    I will be selling my house and applying for a new (joint) mortgage next year.

    1. Should I cancel the BAPP (£195 fee due in December)?
    2. Given that I am not allowed to downgrade, should I just cancel the Avios Premier (£140 fee due in August)?
    3. Can I pay for the BA 241 taxes with a Supp to my wife’s Gold Card?
    4. Should I be worried about the effect on getting a new mortgage next year?

    Many thanks!

    • harry says:
      11 Aug11 August 18:41

      there is definitely a negative effect as regards your mortgage application but it goes away after a few months

    • Alex W says:
      11 Aug11 August 19:02

      Thanks Harry… I am thinking I should cancel the Lloyds card and downgrade to the free BA card… any thoughts?

      • harry says:
        11 Aug11 August 19:19

        many! you already get it AFAICS, cancelling cards does impact negatively but it goes away after time

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.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

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

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

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? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

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!