Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: BA Holidays NYC deal, 100% bonus buying IHG points, 25% off Iberia from Cardiff

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

News in brief:

British Airways New York Christmas deal

BA Holidays has launched two excellent deals if you want to get away for Christmas or New Year:

Club World flights + 3 nights in a hotel from £1,199 per person

First Class flights + 3 nights in a hotel from £1,949 per person

Departure dates run from 20th December to 1st January.

Full details can be found here on the BA Holidays premium deals page.  Book by midnight on Monday.

100% bonus when you buy IHG Rewards Club points TODAY

IHG Rewards Club has been running a Cyber Monday promotion this week – which ends TODAY – offering a 100% bonus when you buy points.

The page to buy is here.  You need to log in for the deal to show.

I won’t go into the debate about whether this is a good deal or not – you certainly won’t lose money if you buy at this price – but you can see my thoughts in this article from the last time they had this deal.

You also get a 10% discount today on the cash element of ‘cash and points’ redemption bookings.  These must be booked for stays between 28th November and 31st January, excluding New Years Eve.  The price ends up virtually the same to buying the additional points via the main offer although the exact amount depends on what ‘cash and points’ options an individual hotel is offering.  You can book those via the main ihg.com site.

IHG Rewards Club

25% off Iberia redemptions from Cardiff

Iberia Express flies from Cardiff to Madrid and this route is bookable with Avios, albeit via Iberia Plus.

In order to move Avios to Iberia Plus via Combine My Avios, your Iberia account must be 90 days old and have earned 1 Avios point.

Until 31st December, redemptions on the Cardiff to Madrid route are discounted by 25%.  As this is Iberia Express, not Vueling, business class is also available.

Before booking, check out cash prices on the Iberia Express site as these are not generally expensive flights anyway.  Note the flights only operate on Thursdays and Sundays.  You must fly from 6th to 17th April or 8th to 28th June.

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, Iberia and Iberia Plus, IHG One Rewards

Comments (52)

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

  • Danny says:
    2 Dec2 December 05:24

    Are you sure the IHG Buy Points promotion ends today? My account says the 100% bonus is available until December 6

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:40

      Was meant to be the 2nd, and last night it still said that, but it would not be the first time they extended it.

      • Andy S says:
        3 Dec3 December 21:30

        IHG just emailed me saying I can still get 100% bonus on points. Until 6th December.

        Still not sure it’s worth it, but only because the exchange rate is so poor! I can get 10000 points for about 68 dollars! When I last looked at redemptions it was about 25000 points for an hotel that was about 80 quid for cash. Yes, I know the cash is the advance non-refundable and points are refundable; but really, I never book until I’m sure so that doesn’t really come into it!

        Rob you value points at 0.4p, well buying at this rate they work out at 0.53p at today’s rate. Down to 0.49p if i get 22000 (11k x2).

        I’m sure if we were back at 1.60 $ to £ it would be worth doing, but not now !!

  • Marco says:
    2 Dec2 December 05:41

    Any chance of that referral today Rob. Emailed you yesterday – wouldn’t be pestering but it’s time sensitive as would be nice for OH to have card before Xmas travel! Thanks!

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:39

      Yes, sorry, we were out with Uber yesterday and then I had to go to a school panto and then there was a frequent flyer pub meet up afterwards. And at 9am I am getting my hair cut as I thought I should smarten up before the HFP party :-). All email will be cleared by noon!

      • Genghis says:
        2 Dec2 December 15:48

        So if a photo of the HfP gathering makes its way into the Daily Mail, at least you can’t be abused for your hair… 🙂

      • Marco says:
        2 Dec2 December 17:34

        Thanks for the reply and referral. And again apologies for pestering!

        M

  • Alan says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:09

    Are IHG redemptions readily available or is there limited supply? DO they set aside X number of rooms for redemptions or do they let you use points if any room is available?
    Cheers

    • Andy says:
      3 Dec3 December 16:04

      I have never had a problem doing redemption’s for any IHG hotel I wanted to book. Just got back from MIA staying in the Ocean Z at South beach for 3 nights. Got upgraded to a top floor suite with a rooftop hot tub.
      Very nice sipping wine with my wife at midnight

      • Andy says:
        3 Dec3 December 16:07

        Also used points for Crowne Plaza Times Square, CP Cherry Hill N.J., CP Manahwkin N.J.
        All for any date I put in

  • the real harry says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:12

    O/T that’s my 6th payment to Virgin Money gone out this morning – 12K ISA – so DDs cancelled ready for next bite @ the cherry 🙂

    • James67 says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:52

      Remember to leave it a couple of days for that payment to process on your ISA before requesting payount otherwisd you’ll have to do it twice.

  • The_real_a says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:20

    Nice long weekend away in madrid if you are local.

  • Chris Cannon says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:41

    Its a repeat of the same BA deal they ran in the summer Rob (which I took them up on )

  • Simmo says:
    2 Dec2 December 10:36

    OT//

    Just had an email from Iberia saying my Avios are about to expire….
    Is this just something lost in translations? as the email is talking about a promotion of doubling your avios?

    I only just transferred some avios in there from BA last month?

  • Simon says:
    2 Dec2 December 11:41

    Can IHG points only be bought in US dollars?
    Puts a gremlin in my plan of putting it on my MBNA amex. Would put it on my clarity but would lose the sweet points.

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.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

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

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

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? EARN POINTS WORTH 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

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!