Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: £100 off £500 BA spend, 4000 Miles & More miles with a hotel, Troy Warfield leaves BA

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News in brief:

£100 off a £500 British Airways spend deal with Amex

American Express is offering a very limited number of cardholders a £100 statement credit with their next £500 British Airways purchase.

If you are targetted, it will appear on your American Express online account under ‘Offers’.  It is limited to the first 7,000 people to save the offer to their card and the £500 transaction must be made by 12th June.

Neither my wife or I have this.  If you have put British Airways transactions through one of your Amex cards recently then you will probably be out of luck.   Some – but not all – HfP readers who have contacted Amex Customer Services have managed to get this offer added to their accounts even though they were not targetted.

Helpfully, £500 just covers the taxes and charges on a Club World or First Class long haul Avios redemption.

Get 4,000 Miles & More miles with any hotel booking

Lufthansa is again offering a generous bribe to encourage you to try its new hotel booking website.

It is only valid for first-time bookers via the Miles & More Hotels portal which you can find here.   There is no minimum stay and no minimum spend.  You need to book by 23rd May but the stay can be for a future date.  All bookings must be pre-paid.

The 4,000 miles is the minimum you will earn – this consists of a 3,000 miles bonus and 1,000 base miles.  You may receive more than 1,000 base miles based on the cost of your room.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

British Airways loses its second ‘Director of Customer Experience’

British Airways staff were told last week that Troy Warfield, BA’s ‘Director of Customer Experience’ is leaving the company after 18 months.

The announcement:

Troy Warfield, Director Customer Experience, has decided to leave British Airways.  Since joining the airline, Troy has led many customer improvements including the Gatwick and Boston Lounges, First Wing and forthcoming transformation of Club World catering, service and sleep proposition.  The process of finding a successor is now under way and an announcement will be made once an appointment is confirmed.

…. seems to be lacking the usual ‘leaves with our best wishes’, ‘we wish him success in his future career’, ‘I am sad to leave behind such a hard working group of colleagues’ etc platitudes normally found in such wording.

There were raised eyebrows when Warfield was hired, given that his previous employer (Avis Budget) is not exactly known for its outstanding customer service.  His job before Avis was running Andrex, Kleenex, Scottex and Velvet for Kimberley-Clark in Europe ….

That said, Warfield’s departure mirrors that of Frank van der Post.  van der Post was Warfield’s predecessor and the first person to have this role.  He came from a successful stint at Jumeirah Hotels – which does have a good reputation for customer experience – but he did not last too long either, albeit he went on to a senior role at KPM Royal Dutch Telecom.


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 (189)

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

  • mycity says:

    Can anyone confirm the start date of the £100 off £500 in the terms they have? I had the offer loaded direct onto my card by Amex following my email but no terms, Nick above says he has been told the offer does not start till the 22nd May, anyone else?

    • Nick says:

      I called Amex again and was told something completely different from what I was told the first time, that the offer had already exceeded its maximum allocation. So who knows what’s going on.

      My girlfriend has the offer on her card though, so I’ll use hers to book!

    • Nick M says:

      No mention of a start date for me:

      OFFER TERMS
      Offer only available when you spend £500 or more at ba.com by 12th June 2017 with the British Airways American Express® Card to which the offer is saved and on transactions made in Great British Pounds (GBP).
      The offer does not apply to spend on other Cards you might hold and on transactions made via payment wallets or payment aggregators including, but not limited to, PayPal.
      An awarded credit can be reversed if qualifying transactions are refunded or cancelled.
      Credit should appear on your billing statement within five days from qualifying spend but may take up to 90 days from 12th June 2017.
      All travel is subject to British Airways conditions of carriage, subject to availability and standard booking conditions apply. For full terms and conditions please visit ba.com/theclubterms.
      For full Offer Terms and more details about statement credits click here. By saving the offer to your Card, you agree to the Offer Terms.

      • Mycity says:

        Fantastic, thanks Nick M for the terms, as I said I’ve been told the offer has been saved but I’ve no terms.

      • Alan says:

        Thanks for posting these, Nick M – the offer doesn’t show up when directly added by Amex, so handy to have a note of them.

  • N says:

    Any way to book an ex-EU through BA Holidays?

  • SHATNER'S BASSOON says:

    Called AMEX this pm. Gave me the usual bit that it was limited offer but agreed to apply to my account immediately. As yet, it is not showing in my available offers which the operator said would be the case. Did anyone else have to wait for it to show up or should it be there immediately? Do I need to call AMEX back to chase.

    Thanks for any advice…..

    • Mycity says:

      There’s a few of us who have been told it’s been saved but still doesn’t show in our saved offers, I rang them back and it’s been confirmed it’s there linked to my card.

      • SHATNER'S BASSOON says:

        Thanks Mycity. Do you think it is safe to go ahead and make the purchase now, before it is showing on the account?

        • Mycity says:

          Mine was applied yesterday morning, still not showing and doubt it will now, however they have told me it’s there and ready to use, but who knows? I can’t use mine till Friday.

        • Alan says:

          That’s why I made the request via Secure Message rather than phonecall – nothing showing in account but I’ve got written confirmation that they have applied it. As such I have no qualms in making the spend as Amex would definitely honour it.

  • Jimmy says:

    O/T

    Tried looking for the BA reward flight finder (thus not searching specific dates) – It seems to have disappeared? Anyone with a link (and has checked it still works) ?

    • Curious says:

      Hi Genghis. thanks but thats not the one I mean – that link is date specific

      I’m referring to the one where one can assess/view availability across the year

      • Alan says:

        I know the one you mean (it had a map of the world) – it doesn’t seem to be about any more. Yes, the new one is pretty flaky too – gets very confused if trying to change search. You can use Avios.com, they show availability across the months, or do an initial search on Reward Flight Finder then click on the calendar option to see month view.

        • Genghis says:

          The map was done away with months ago but the link I posted above still has the ability to see bar graphs showing availability throughout the year.

          • Alan says:

            Interesting, kept on not showing for me in Chrome. I resorted to Avios.com, which seemed faster as crashed less!

      • Genghis says:

        I used it yesterday and it had all date search capability. Strange

        • Genghis says:

          Just rechecked. The above link works on an iPad but not iPhone.

        • Alan says:

          The version with the map of the world where you could set number of Avios, see destinations and then get a chart for the whole year of availability? If was never totally accurate but they seem to have got rid of totally now as far as I could see on BA.com (on desktop).

        • Curious says:

          So….does it work or not?

        • Genghis says:

          Just tested it again. Worked fine for me on Chrome on work PC.

  • Ammar says:

    To book a 241 voucher open jaw, is it ok to book Outbound to PEK but return from HKG/Tokyo? CAn i book a one way redemption online for PEK if my dates are available then the return via phone and if so , which call centre shall i call after midnight? The country of departure eg Hong Kong/Japan office after midnight or alternative?

    • Genghis says:

      That routing is OK. If both legs available I’d just call them up and book it all over the phone (cannot be done online). See my post above re office.

  • Raj P says:

    Guys, Amex new offer for GOLD cards only – straight from the oven
    To save this offer, follow these simple steps:

    1. Click ‘Get your offer’ and log in to your Account to save this offer to your Card. Valid once per Cardmember for the first 24,000 offers to be saved.

    2. Visit americanexpress.co.uk/travel and spend £200 or more in a single transaction on pre-paid hotels, flights, car hire or experiences by 30 June 2017.1

    3. Enjoy your £50 credit which will appear on your statement.

    • bill says:

      someone already beat you to it mate, check comments around the 6am mark

      • Nick says:

        Not everyone bothers to scroll back to 6am, so this is still useful!

    • Rob says:

      Had it on my Plat and my wifes Gold (which I’ve just cancelled ….). Note that hotel bookings seem to go via Orbitz so may well earn no points or status benefits.

    • Alan says:

      Nothing on my Plat/Plat CB/BAPP

  • Kathy says:

    OT: My economist Avios turned up today, for anyone wondering if it’s worth chasing them.

  • bill says:

    Called Amex 17:27 and they have added the offer to the supplementary card so thats £200 off a £1000. luckily i’ve got a balance of £1700 to clear for flight and hotel to Miami with BA so so should be fine

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

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