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Look where I’m going today ….

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It isn’t often that we get invited to anything by British Airways.  We didn’t even get invited to the launch event for the BA i360 observation tower in Brighton last year.

However, things are looking up.

Today I get to:

see the new Business and First Class lounges at Gatwick (a bit late!,  Rob already reviewed them here, and our video is here)

fly from Gatwick to Heathrow (which is one way of beating the M25 traffic jams) to try the new Club World bedding and food service which is rolling out later this year

attend the official opening of the First Wing in Terminal 5

I might even get to meet Alex Cruz.

Whilst BA has not told us this, Rob has heard that they are using a new Boeing 787 to fly us between the two airports – I will let you know whether this is true on our Instagram feed where I will also post anything interesting.

I will also be covering the trip on Head for Points later this week.

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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

Comments (98)

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

  • James says:
    5 Apr5 April 09:00

    @TripRep…..have you now exceeded your quota for the day?

    • TripRep says:
      5 Apr5 April 10:23

      There’s a quota..?

      Feel free to ignore anything on here…. ;p

      • jamie says:
        5 Apr5 April 11:19

        yes, rob has confirmed in the past there is a limit of 5 comments per person on each article.

  • Concerto says:
    5 Apr5 April 09:09

    I think it’s unforgivable that the airlines have taken to selling seats out from under redemption pax. It only happened to me once, on Virgin Atlantic (surprise, surprise, another British airline). I don’t fly BA, so don’t have any data points there. But the British aviation scene is so s&$@ these days that nothing really surprises me anymore.

    • Concerto says:
      5 Apr5 April 09:12

      Additionally, I wouldn’t spend one minute of brainfart time even thinking about that stupid 2-4-1 voucher con. Just don’t bother with it. Look for other credit cards which provide a similar value award elsewhere. They’ll soon notice, you’ll see.

  • Paul says:
    5 Apr5 April 10:29

    G-ZBKN 😉

  • Paul says:
    5 Apr5 April 10:52

    Ok have just used the corridor and it’s better lit than Imagined. What struck me though is that today is clearly about making a show, every single check in deck manned, both podiums and the security / conformance manned. Both sides of security and x ray manned. Indeed more staff than you could poke a stick at! On entry to the lounge we were offered champagne by two more staff and the lounge was littered with yet more staff all busily putting in a show that usually is much less impressive. Still seats are worn as before and it’s still the same lounge. Food was plentiful and tasty if you ignore the powdered scramble egg.

    • Anna says:
      5 Apr5 April 12:03

      Hope Anika’s getting plenty of Champagne or preferred beverage 🙂

    • RussellH says:
      5 Apr5 April 14:47

      Is that Holiday Inn Express scrambled egg???

      • Peter K says:
        5 Apr5 April 18:03

        Yuck. Had that last year and it was rank. It was like egg Smash.

  • Rob says:
    5 Apr5 April 12:48

    Worth noting though that if you are flying long haul you will probably be off 5B or 5C and it isn’t quicker at all, assuming you want the B lounge!

    • Anne says:
      5 Apr5 April 13:26

      Thanks Rob. On an ex EU on way to start in DUB so fine for me to use First lounge.

  • aircraftspotter says:
    5 Apr5 April 12:51

    Just taken off from LGW! Drinks trolley out now?

  • jamie says:
    5 Apr5 April 14:19

    t’would appear they have landed in stornoway…heehee

  • AndrewG says:
    5 Apr5 April 14:23

    Just used the new First wing. Was very quick to get straight to the lounge! Only thing is the lounge is packed right now!! More so than usual!

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

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