How Brad is flying around the world for 116,000 airline miles + £285 + $30

In 2015 reader Brad shared with us how he was going to fly around the world in economy for 112,000 airline miles and just £173 of taxes. One and a half years later he has decided to do a similar trip.

Since there was a lot of interest in the article we wrote on this last trip, we thought you’d be interested in this one.  Whilst we don’t spend a lot of time on Head for Points focusing on economy redemptions, they can be good value when you don’t fly BA and don’t incur heavy taxes and charges.

This is what he is doing this time:

Manchester – Madrid
£30 Iberia (cash)

Madrid – Lima
25,000 Avios + £90 tax

Lima – Cusco
4,500 Avios + £8 tax

Cusco – Lima
4,500 Avios + £6 tax

Lima – Buenos Aires – Santiago De Chile
12,500 Delta SkyMiles + $30 tax

Santiago De Chile – Easter Island – Papeete
25,000 Avios + £32 tax

Brad notes that this one is tricky one to get.  When you search for 2 separate one-way tickets for the route they are not available.  However when you search for SCL – PPT you can easily find availability.  The downside is that you only get 10 hours in Easter Island on a stopover.

Papeete – Auckland – Shanghai – Beijing
15,000 United MileagePlus miles + £35 tax

Beijing – Hong Kong
10,000 Avios + £12 tax

Hong Kong – London Heathrow – Manchester
19,500 Avios + £72 tax

He is covering 31,439 miles in total.

This comes to a total of : 88,500 Avios + 12,500 Delta SkyMiles + 15,000 United Airlines MileagePlus = 116,000 airline miles + £285 + $30.

If you wanted to emulate this routing, the Delta miles could be obtained from an American Express Membership Rewards transfer.  It would also be bookable via other Skyteam airlines.  There is no easy way to pick up United miles (there is no bonus on their credit card and the transfer rate from Starwood is 2:1) but, again, you could use another Star Alliance airline – albeit for potentially more miles.

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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.