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Bits: Tallinn BA tier point run, 10% Clubcard to Virgin transfer bonus, 500 Avios with Iberia wine

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News in brief:

Tallinn tier point run on British Airways

Tallinn is being launched by British Airways as a new route next year as we wrote over the weekend.

In the meantime, British Airways is running a very attractive offer if you want to check out the city.

For £234, ba.com will sell you a Business Class return flight from Heathrow to Tallinn.  You can fly on either BA or Finnair.  This will earn you 200 tier points for the return trip because you need to change planes in Helsinki for a Finnair ‘all economy’ connection.

Even better, selected Finnair flights between Heathrow and Helsinki are operated by long-haul A350 aircraft which means you will get a flat bed.  I reviewed the Finnair A350 here and it is VERY impressive.

This is a very attractive deal which gets you a weekend away in a very attractive city and give you a leg up towards status (re)qualification.  Pop over to ba.com and have a play around with dates.

Tesco to Virgin Flying Club transfer bonus launched

Virgin Atlantic has launched a transfer bonus if you convert your Tesco Clubcard points – 10%.

I’m not sure what prompted them to offer something so weak.  20%-25%, which we have seen recently, seems like a minimum bonus to make it worth the effort.  An extra 10% of anything will never make a bad deal into a good deal.

At least there is some bonus, which will be a small benefit to anyone desperately trying to top up their Virgin Atlantic account before a lot of redemptions go up in price on 16th January.

You can find full details here.  The deadline to convert is 13th November.

Virgin Atlantic 787

500 Avios with Iberia wine deal

In the absence of any codes for bonus Clubcard points on Tesco Wine deals, you may be interested in this new Iberia Plus wine offer.

Via their UK wine partner Vinoseleccion, you can order a six bottle of case of two wines for half the usual price – £50 instead of £100 – and receive 500 Avios and get free delivery.

Remember that you will need an Iberia Plus account to receive the Avios, which can later be transferred into British Airways Executive Club or avios.com.


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.

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.

Comments (99)

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

  • Barks says:

    I can’t see any fights to Talinn whatsoever on BA.com from LHR and I’ve tried loads of different dates

    • Rob says:

      Try Tallinn? 🙂

    • Nick says:

      There is availability. I have just booked going on 16 March and returning 20 March. A350 in both directions. BA seems to stop offering this route from last weekend in March once their direct flights to Tallin commence.

  • JoshBosh says:

    The TLL flights price both ways, so it’s possible to do there and back on a Saturday and Sunday.

  • Graham says:

    I actually booked that to KRK several months ago – 4 star Novotel for 2 nights for £129pp in December – and then BA cancelled the Tuesday return flight (so flying back on the Weds instead) and they covered the cost of the extra night at the hotel 🙂

  • Rob says:

    Krakow is great, well worth a visit.

  • Riosoul says:

    Am I right in thinking that if I was to fly from Edinburgh, it would be EDI – LHR to LHR to HEL and HEL to TAL and vice versa on the way back…. would this could as six eligible flights flown in total? I am trying to work out the best way to get to my 50 flights to keep silver as I think 250 tp’s before Feb is going to be a real push.

    Thanks in advance

    • CV3V says:

      Good point on the EDI flights.

      To retain status, as an alternativehave you tried a status match over to, say, Alitalia, then a status match back into oneworld with Air Berlin? You will need a postal address in one of the qualifying countries. Oneworld sapphire sorted for another year.

      • Oli says:

        Can you actually, when flying BA, credit the Avios/TP’s to your BA card and just show your Air Berlin status card to enter the BA lounge and use priority check-in?

        • Rob says:

          Yes – but some lounge agents may insist on changing the FF number in your booking (which you immediately change back at the ticket desk in the lounge).

          • Oli says:

            That’s good! I never bothered getting status match on Air Berlin from my Flying Blue Gold card because I did want to continue crediting Avios on BA card. Will try to get this status match now

  • Jonathan says:

    OT: I’ve had the 1,000 Avios bonus pay for both my Avios and BA accounts.
    A really easy way to get the Avios bonus through a new payment for me was to spend at Pizza Express and register my payment card on the ios app Bink. 63 Avios earnt and 1000 bonus!

  • mark2 says:

    The Vinoseleccion wine is already sold out!

  • Seb says:

    Does the Talinn fare allow lounge access at Helsinki during the connection?

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