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Bits: BA Holidays New York deal launched, get 25% off Iberia flights from Cardiff

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News in brief:

British Airways New York Christmas deal launched

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.

Get 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.

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

British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Club Iberia Plus

Comments (51)

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

  • Andrew says:
    2 Dec2 December 12:32

    0.5p a point is not bad for IHG.

    Any sign of an “Accelerate” for the spring?

  • Rash says:
    2 Dec2 December 12:38

    Thanks Charlie!

  • Alex W says:
    2 Dec2 December 13:44

    That’s a seriously expensive 6 bottles of Bruce!

  • ber says:
    2 Dec2 December 13:44

    O/T Anyone knows if I exchange Partner Plus points for lounge access at Heathrow, can I use the pass if I’m not flying with any of the partners, but am flying with at another Star Alliance member from Terminal 2? From what I can see a boarding pass for Lufthansa, Austrian or Swiss flight needs to be shown, but is it strict? Points are expiring end of February…

  • Cate says:
    2 Dec2 December 13:54

    Just bought the maximum over two accounts so 240,000 banked. Trying to reach final k10 for BA’s 2-4-1 voucher before end of December so worth it for us.

    • Genghis says:
      2 Dec2 December 15:52

      Where are you planning to go Cate? Would a revenue fare not be better value?
      There are other ways to hit spend targets than buy avios…

      • Cate says:
        2 Dec2 December 20:12

        Hi and thanks Genghis. Bought IHG points on the BAP CC not avios to hit BA’s companion ticket target. Am only a few 100 pounds off the £10,000 target now so worth it for me.

        On saying that, the BA product is losing it’s appeal for me – even for free – and probably like everyone else on HfP, waiting to hear what delights Mr Cruz has in store for us January.

        • the real harry says:
          2 Dec2 December 20:22

          he’s going to do the striptease at the Xmas party, grab the youngest Spanish trolley dolly by the tts & shake the maracas and that’s about it 🙂

  • JohnT says:
    2 Dec2 December 14:09

    PS IHG website says offer ends on 6th Dec..

  • Kinkell says:
    2 Dec2 December 14:30

    IHG page telling me that points purchase is not available. And, I received an email inviting me to purchase anytime up to 2 Dec.Makes no difference if I go through HfP link or the one in my email. Not working for me. Anyone else having trouble?

    OT: any ideas what I can do with 1600 Etihad Guest points and 4000 SAA Voyager points? All expire in new year.
    Thanks

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 14:42

      Is 1600 Etihad too few to turn into cash via Points Pay?

    • Liz says:
      2 Dec2 December 18:05

      I received the email too but it won’t allow me to buy – probably because I’ve bought 240k pts already this year.

  • Genghis says:
    2 Dec2 December 15:50

    Bought mine just now. The lady at the Monument counter was every so nice (and patient). I told her about the offer and she said she’d have a look on her Amex…

    • mark2 says:
      2 Dec2 December 17:22

      The lady in Studley is very nice too. She just can’t understand that I don’t care which pattern is on the card. Mine have already been paid into my Amazon account.

      • the real harry says:
        2 Dec2 December 18:07

        my girls secretly think I have done a heist on some Post Office & got lots of stamps

        I stroll in with my £3.95 pre-paid (ie stamped) 2nd class signed for parcels

        where did he get those stamps? I hear them mutter silently, certainly not from us, must have been a heist, nice fellow, though

        Shop Small, dear gels – £700 of half price stamps 🙂

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

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