Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 30,000 Avios for £300 – if you know someone in Ireland

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Here we go – the first generous Avios promotion out of Ireland since AerClub was launched as the new Aer Lingus Avios-based frequent flyer scheme.

You don’t need to be based in Ireland to join AerClub.  In fact, if you have an avios.com account, you are already half-way to being a member since your avios.com account number will become your AerClub account number.  You can register for AerClub via this page.

Sunday Independent

What is the deal?

You will earn 30,000 Avios points when you take out a subscription to the Irish Independent or Sunday Independent newspapers for €349 (£300).

These are not digital subscriptions.  These are ‘we will push the newspapers through your letterbox’ subscriptions, which is why you need a friend or relative in Ireland – assuming you live outside the country – who would appreciate a free newspaper.

There are two options, both priced at €349:

Irish Independent and Sunday Independent, delivered daily for six months plus access to the digital edition, or

Saturday’s Irish Independent and Sunday Independent delivered weekly for 12 months plus access to the 7-day digital edition

You can sign up via this website here.

You will need to cancel your subscription before it expires, otherwise it will roll over at a monthly cost of €59 (7-day package) or €29 (weekend package).

Is 1p per Avios a good deal?

It isn’t a steal, clearly.  You need to have a clear strategy for how you would use them.

This is my general ‘what is an Avios point worth?’ article which I really should update and re-run.

1p per point is too much for me to pay to add them to a fairly large existing pile.  If, on the other hand, you are not Avios rich and need to earn x,000 Avios per year to use your BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher then this could make sense.

The offer runs until 31st March.


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.

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.

Comments (56)

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

  • rams1981 says:

    OT was it mentioned on here that amex points can be transferred to say your wife if you cancel the card?

    • Rob says:

      On paper they can because they forgot to remove the line in the T&C’s which allows it. In practice it is very difficult to get the call centre to do it and often involves making a written complaint.

  • Simon Fisher says:

    I have given up all hope of AerClub since (during the sign up process) it mixed my account and my wife’s! Still not sure how it did it, but my login shows my Avios Balance and her name and Avios account number. I have called, emailed and tweeted to get help, but to no avail!!!

    Rob, as you state no point in getting overheated over 250 Avios, but they should be told. If a couple of dozen people here have had issues, how many more are sat quietly ignoring AerClub.

  • Phil says:

    Apologies – This is OT, but not sure how to post on an open forum on here.

    With the AMEX Pref Rewards gold card, there is 2x free entry to a lounge p.a.

    Can I bring a guest on both occasions for free? Or will both complimentary be used up by me + guest?

    Thanks

    • Peter K says:

      You plus a guest on one occasion equals two entries.
      You plus a guest on two occasions equals four entries and a fee being charged.

    • Leo says:

      Regarding posting. If there is an article with “Bits” in the title – it’s sort of convention to post an OT comment on that thread. There isn’t one today however so you just do exactly what you have done.

  • graham says:

    OT – my daughter is stuck in Narita waiting on a Quantas flight which was due out 8 hours ago.She booked the flight via BA using avios – is the flight covered under EU compo rules? Also has anyone used a day hotel in Narita?? thanks

    • the real harry1 says:

      not covered

    • Alan says:

      Needs to be an EU carrier (so Qantas no good) or a flight leaving from the EU (Japan so no good).

      Travel insurance would be best bet, with the travel inconvenience/delay element. Airline might help out, worth asking.

    • Ian says:

      Has she tried looking for the Qantas flight instead?

      Sorry, I’ll grab my coat!

  • Roger says:

    OT- SPG to AA conversion Bonus?

    This bonus offer last ran during August 2016 which offered 20% bonus, any ideas if such bonus is coming over next couple of months?

  • Londonbus says:

    I’m half Irish. My retired uncle would appreciate this – but I wouldn’t t at 1p per Avios..

    • TGLoyalty says:

      The real value is if you or your family are actually a reader and would welcome a free gift or subsidised sub. Maybe the papers worth £50 so you bought the avios for £250 etc guess that’s where it works for you or not.

      Economist doesn’t make sense on its own for just the avios but if you read and sub to the Economist anyway you’re laughing.

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

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