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Bits: good Amex / Nespresso deal, Vueling sale, British Airways flights to Tehran resumed

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News in brief:

American Express and Nespresso deal launched

Three people dropped me a note about a new American Express promotion which, to be honest, I saw on my account but dismissed without investigation.  Two readers rated the deal highly, one thought it stunk.

Details of this deal should be under the ‘Offers’ section on your American Express online account. Check under each card you hold.  It should be there for one of them.

This is the deal – you order a specific coffee machine (link removed as broken overnight) which sells at £129 but you pay just £39.  However, you must order 400 Nespresso coffee capsules at the same time which cost you a minimum of 29p each.

Nespresso products are rarely heavily reduced so this is a decent deal in terms of value for money.  Whether you want to commit to buying 400 capsules upfront – especially as you may not be familiar with most of the flavours – is a different question.

Major Vueling flight sale now on

Vueling is the little known sister of British Airways and Iberia.  International Airlines Group, the parent of BA and Iberia, took full control of the Spanish low cost carrier in 2013 and since then it has expanded rapidly to serve over 160 airports across Europe.

You can redeem Avios points for flights on Vueling as long as you transfer them to Iberia Plus first.  This is good news for travellers outside London who have a wider range of regional Avios redemption options.

From the UK, Vueling flies to (some services seasonal):

Birmingham – Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga

Cardiff – Alicante, Barcelona, Majorca, Malaga

Edinburgh – Alicante, Barcelona, Paris, Rome

Leeds Bradford – Barcelona

Liverpool – Barcelona

London Gatwick – Asturius, Barcelona, Bilbao, Florence, Paris, Rome, Santiago de Compostela

London Heathrow (T3) – La Coruna, Barcelona

London Luton – Amsterdam, Barcelona

Manchester – Alicante, Barcelona, Rome

Newcastle – Barcelona

Until 13th September, Vueling has a major sale with 1 million seats at €29.99 one way.   This could be a decent option for a cheap Autumn break in Spain.  Details of the sale are here.

British Airways Airbus A350 Aircraft

British Airways resumes flights to Tehran

British Airways flights to Tehran resumed last week, opening up an interesting range of new tourist options for more intrepid readers.

The service will operate six days per week with a four class Boeing 777.

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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

British Airways and Avios, Vueling and Vueling Club

Comments (74)

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

  • LEE says:
    5 Sep5 September 11:26

    Just booked my first 2 for 1 tickets (2 Adults) for New York flying out on Boxing day On the Dreamliner with the New First class cabin thanks to Head for points .

    Im going to use my points from IHG to stay at the intercontinental in Times Square over New Year any ideas for getting some good hotel deals would be much appreciated. Is annoying that the IHG card is holding back my free Night award to my card anniversary date im looking for Hotel dates for the 26/27/28/29/30 Dec 2016

    Ive seen the W downtown for £280 for 2 nights and 1400 airmiles so far…

    • Polly says:
      5 Sep5 September 12:11

      Lee, congrats on getting F using your 241, ESP flying out of JFK??? The F lounge there is Amazing. Truly enjoyable. We upgraded from J to F coming bk from JFK on the Dreamliner. Fab experience all round. Hotels don’t know, we did Airbnb, chap with a garden near times sq. another great experience. Perfect for summer but not winter!

      • lee says:
        5 Sep5 September 16:43

        thanks polly , We are flying in and out out of Newark as the new Dreamliner 787-9 doesnt seem to fly to JFK but We cant have it all we choose to have the New First class cabin rather than fly 747 or 777 to JFK ,

        Whats the best lounge to use at Newark ?

    • Simmo says:
      5 Sep5 September 14:59

      Did F from JFK also, really enjoyed the experience – Get there early if you want to experience it all! However don’t get there too early as the First security and Concorde room doesn’t open until a certain time before the flights, we had to ‘slum’ it in the regular queues and the First Lounge for an hour or so until the Concorde room opened up.

      We also stayed at the Intercontinental Times square using points (IHG Spire/ambassador) and although I cannot fault the location for a first time NY visitor, I wouldn’t stay again due to the fact I felt that they didn’t like the fact I used points (no mention of status, no upgrade, no real perks etc) and then had an uncomfortable call from the front desk following my feedback from the check in experience. Personally felt that I’d be more suited to a Hilton property, where I feel the tend to look after Diamond guests a little better.

    • Leo says:
      5 Sep5 September 20:10

      I really don’t rate the IC TS at all – and wouldn’t stay again. That said room rates are high over new year so doubtless you are getting good value. I can see why a first time visitor might try the IC TS for location (very touristy which can be a good thing) but if you have been a few more times I’d try the IC Barclay or Indigo Lower east side. Or the Conrad if you have HH points. I mainly paid cash at the IC TS and am an ambassador – got no perks either aside from 4pm check-out which was very useful. I cashed in the IHG visa free night as well – no issues. Rob has said many times here that the IC TS is a “bed factory” and he is spot on.

      • Kinkell says:
        6 Sep6 September 04:00

        Currently in the IC TS. Agree, it’s fine for location. Used points and Ambassador weekend voucher for all of our 5 nights. Very pleasant check in, all staff wished us a pleasant stay and no attitude regarding the fact it was all on points etc. Upgraded to sky view room on 32floor , view up 8th Ave. Got welcome fruit platter, chocs, water, papers and late checkout. Suited us fine, but if we come to NY again, would probably try somewhere else.

  • Clive says:
    5 Sep5 September 12:16

    There are some trip reports on FT regarding Sri Lankan. SFO77 did one I believe.

  • Jonathan Brown says:
    5 Sep5 September 12:20

    Whats happened to the amex referral for a starwood card, has it disappeared?

    My wife wants to refer me (but cant find the link )

    • James67 says:
      5 Sep5 September 13:35

      It was working as of last week, got one from my dad but he’s going to be disappointed, my credit score dipped below 900 for as long as I can remember.

    • Rob says:
      5 Sep5 September 14:23

      Link is online as long as she has a SPG Amex too.

  • Genghis says:
    5 Sep5 September 12:50

    Good job I didn’t buy one of their unlimited travel passes…

  • David2910 says:
    5 Sep5 September 12:52

    Wow. Was this inevitable?

  • James67 says:
    5 Sep5 September 13:28

    I have fliwn Sri Lankan a couple of times in J: ow back from BKK. I was impressed with the service, and their local cuisine for main meals are as good as any inflight food I have experienced but their foray into other stufv like mini burgers for the second meals are poor. They have nice comfortable leather seats immediately adjacent to each other so good for couples. They are full flat and although not comparable to the best flat seats, personally I rate them above CW. The front row should be avoided because the AVOD screens mounted on the wall ahead are much too low to provide comfortabke viewing regardless of whether seat is upright or reclined. The lounge in CMB is very good. Flysmiles is best avoided as most of burning chart is expensive, other collection and redemption opportunities are limited, and the mile expiry is stringent so best credit flights to BAEC or elsewhere. Once, on a third flight they made a schedule change that did not suit me and they rebooked me BA direct to LHR no drama at all. All in all, they provide great valud for money. Fof this reason I would be wary of booking economy with a view to upgrading it; given their premium cabin prices I doubt there will be many unsod seats between CMB and LHR.

    • David2910 says:
      5 Sep5 September 14:03

      Thanks james

    • Alex W says:
      5 Sep5 September 22:54

      I did Sri Lankan business return from DXB to CMB. Loved it. The only irritation was economy Pax boarding first while you wait for the special J bus.

      The best part – 280 BA tier points for £400. Thank you very much!

  • JamesLHR says:
    5 Sep5 September 14:56

    Looked at the Nespresso offer. On their website is a better deal, buy 150 capsules and the machine is £69.

    • Chris says:
      5 Sep5 September 16:43

      Don’t even have to but the 150 capsules to get the £69 price – if you buy the 150 capsules you get the Aeroccino free

      Discover the Nespresso Pixie coffee machine at the special price of £69, for a limited time only.
      Plus, enjoy a FREE Aeroccino Milk Frother when you order 150 or more Grand Cru capsules.

  • Phil says:
    5 Sep5 September 17:02

    Do they still serve Nespresso in First? It used to be Capriccio.

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

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