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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.

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, Finnair and Finnair Plus, Iberia and Iberia Plus, Tesco Clubcard, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (99)

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

  • Joe says:
    8 Nov8 November 15:36

    Very O/T: does anyone know if Virgin has a referral bonus for existing credit card holders to refer new customers? I would like to apply for one but would to prefer to maximise points collection for both referrer and referee.

    • Rob says:
      8 Nov8 November 15:49

      Yes. It relaunched a couple of weeks ago. Some, but for some reason not all, cardholders were emailed about it.

    • Boi says:
      8 Nov8 November 16:57

      I was one of those emailed about it.

  • Vijay Odedra says:
    8 Nov8 November 16:15

    OT With regards to the 2-4-1 BA voucher do you have to fly before the expiry date or can you book flights after that date? I have one that expires November 2017 but not sure I’ll be flying before then.

    Many thanks

  • Tilly71 says:
    8 Nov8 November 16:15

    Cheers

  • the real harry says:
    8 Nov8 November 17:39

    yep Mystery Reds look good to try for £3.80 bottle delivered

    they sell some quality stuff so we might just get lucky 🙂

  • jen says:
    8 Nov8 November 17:43

    O/T but Vueling seem to be cancelling some routes. I booked Luton to Zurich in the bargain 4.99 sale for a cheeky ski weekend. Just got notification that my 95min direct flight had changed to go via Barcelona, taking 8.5 hours in one direction and 11.5 in the other. Spending two full days flying/hanging around BCN doesn’t sound like an effective use of a weekend break. I don’t know if other winter routes have also been quietly scrapped and replaced with massive reroutings

    • Timothy Arnold says:
      8 Nov8 November 18:21

      My flights to Rome have just been rerouted via BCN. Outbound is a day later (acceptable) however return flights are ridiculous! Was scheduled to return 23/01. Now 26/01 to BCN and 27/01 back to MAN! What was four day holiday now seven…

      How flexible are they for any other flights to anywhere to accommodate the fare, or will they just push a refund?

  • Simon Spanswick says:
    8 Nov8 November 18:45

    Thanks, Rob, for the brilliant Tallinn TP run idea! An excellent way to gain a useful 200 TPs seeing a new city in a country not visited before. Have just booked on the BA website, choosing AY flights, including the A359 out for sunny January… With an Airbnb in the centre of the city, a nice break at a bargain rate.

    What would we do without HFP and FT? Thank you again.

    • andy L says:
      8 Nov8 November 21:32

      Simon – you will have a great time in Tallinn – visited with friends in May. My suggestions (FWIW) would be the KGB museum tour, Soviet Prison tour (please note it was dank, dark and exceptionally cold in MAY – so dress accordingly) and for something completely different (safe and fun) Tactical Shooting Tallinn. We ate at Von Krahli Aed twice we liked it so much. I genuinely think you will have a superb time in Tallinn – I am actually a little jealous esp about the A350 !

      • Maptwo says:
        9 Nov9 November 07:05

        Thanks for those useful tips, Andy. Will definitely make sure I have decently warm clothing for in and outdoors!

  • Ryan says:
    8 Nov8 November 21:04

    Anyone get the BA flights for £234 each? Closer to £350 when i try- of course, going for the A350 if possible ( though seat guru lists A350 or A321 as possible choices for many flight numbers so hard to know which plane it will be!)…..trying for March 24-26/27th…..

    • Kinkell says:
      8 Nov8 November 22:54

      Paid £260 for INV-LHR-TLL via HEL. Both Finnair flights on a350. Going late August 2017. I though it was a decent price starting from Inverness, and convenient for me. Mind you , Inverness flight times are rubbish, which means I get to spend some time with my son in London who will be able to give me a heads up re: best things to do and where to eat ,as he has booked a trip to Estonia for May.

  • Eugene says:
    8 Nov8 November 21:18

    Just paid £221 each for BA direct return in May. They’re not showing amount of tier points on calculator- maybe cos it’s a new route. I looked at Finnair and their club was showing £250 plus each way. Can’t see how to get the lower fare and the points with them lest u go in midwinter and it’s brass monkey weather up there then !

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

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