How to earn Avios with your Caffe Nero coffee and other High Street retailers

Avios wants you to hit the high street and earn Avios from your in-store purchases.

Sounds familiar? We were also confused by Avios’ announcement. Do they not have a partnership with Bink to do exactly the same thing?

Two weeks ago we ran a competition with Bink to promote their new app which lets you earn Avios points when shopping at Pizza Express, with more retailers and companies soon(ish).

Now Avios has launched their own in-store loyalty initiative, an addition to their e-store, with nine shops included so far.   If you have signed up with Bink you still need to register separately for this new Avios initiative – and vice versa.

The idea is simple:

1. register your payment card on the Avios website
2. shop in specific stores, paying with your registered card
3. have Avios deposited directly into your avios.com account, based on what you spent

The retailers where you can earn Avios in store are:

American Golf (5 Avios/£1 in store – and 3 Avios/£1 online via e-store)

Barrhead Travel (2 Avios/£1 in store only)

Blue Inc (5 Avios/£1 in store – and 4 Avios/£1 online via e-store)

Caffe Nero (10 Avios/£1 in store only – obviously!)

Ernest Jones (3 Avios/£1 in store – and 7 Avios/£1 online via e-store)

H. Samuel (3 Avios/£1 in store – and 7 Avios/£1 online via e-store)

Habitat (5 Avios/£1 in store – and 2 Avios/£1 online via e-store)

Heal’s (2 Avios/£1 in store – 6 Avios/£1 online via e-store)

Officers Club (5 Avios/£1 in store only)

Did you notice the amount of Avios awarded?

I would have thought that those retailers that are on the e-store as well as taking part in the in-store programme would award at least the same amount of Avios to promote this new offer. Looking at H. Samuel, Ernest Jones and Heal’s this is not the case.

Given that the in-store rate is weak, compared to purchasing online, at H. Samuel, Ernest Jones and Heal’s, the most valuable partner seems to be Caffe Nero.

After all 10 Avios for every £1 spent can substantially improve the mileage account of a coffee addict ….

If you do want to collect Avios in-store with those retailers, you need to register your payment card and wait 24 hours before making your first purchase.

Once you have bought something, your Avios will show as ‘pending’ in the e-store within 7 days.  Purchases will be approved within 35 days and once approved will show in your avios.com account within 24 hours.

The best thing about these offers is that you can register your cards at the Avios site and then forget about it.  If you end up buying a coffee at Nero in three months time, when you have totally forgotten that this deal exists, you will still get the Avios.

Overall though, I’m not sure what the Avios agenda is here, given that they are providing competition for their existing partner Bink.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

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.

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

50,000 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees 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.