Bits: Gatwick lounges open, avios.com Clubcard competition, use Avios with Amazon Echo

News in brief:

New British Airways Gatwick lounges now open

The two new British Airways lounges at Gatwick had a soft opening over the weekend.  I understand that there is no table service food offering yet in the First / Gold lounge.  

It seems that Club Europe customers are not being allowed to use the Business Lounge but will be redirected to the Speedbird (ex Virgin) lounge.  Reports on Flyertalk suggest that the Business Lounge had to close entirely yesterday afternoon due to ‘toilet issues’.

Feedback is generally positive so far, which is good news.

If I can get down there this week I will do a report.  If not, I need to be in Gatwick next Saturday anyway and will do a review then.

Competition for converting Clubcard points to avios.com

Regular HFP readers won’t be surprised to learn that there is no bonus for converting Tesco Clubcard points into Avios this quarter.

There is a 10% bonus for converting points into Virgin Flying Club miles (see my article from Friday) but as this is only open to first time converters I doubt many readers will qualify.

If you are converting into Avios, it makes sense to convert via avios.com because of the competition they are running this month.  BA has not launched any sort of offer.

Remember that it doesn’t matter which route you take as you can move your points around, instantly and for free, using ‘Combine My Avios’ on either site.

This is how the competition works:

For every £2.50 of Clubcard vouchers you send to an avios.com account before 28th February, you receive one entry into a prize draw.

50 people will win 10,000 Avios points.

You convert via this page of tesco.com.  The competition is not mentioned there but it is on the Tesco page at avios.com.

Avios partners with Amazon Alexa

Avios has launched a new ‘skill’ for Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service.  It is now available in the UK through Amazon’s voice-controlled speakers, Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot.

Alexa is the ‘brain’ behind Amazon Echo.  As you can see from the image above, it is basically a cross between Apple’s Siri service and a hi-fi speaker.  It allows customers to play music, get information, news, sports scores, weather and more, just by asking. Alexa also provides capabilities, or skills, that help customers to interact with services in a more intuitive way, using just their voice.

If you download the Avios ‘skill’, you will be able to ask your Amazon Echo or Echo Dot questions such as:

How many Avios are in my account?

How many Avios are needed for a particular award? 

How can I increase my Avios balance?

“Avios is passionate about embracing new technologies that enable our customers to interact with Avios in new and innovative ways” said Paul Miller, Director of Strategic Innovation at Avios, using that strange press release version of English which people never use in real life. “We believe that working with Amazon to offer the Avios skill for Alexa will increase our ability to make recommendations that will inspire customers to travel using their points.”

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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 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.

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.