GOOD DEAL: Get 18,000 Avios for £146 – minimal effort required

I’ve written before about the generous deal between AerClub, the new Aer Lingus Avios-based frequent flyer scheme, and Ireland’s Irish Independent / Sunday Independent newspapers.

The deal has now got even better and you do not need to live in Ireland to take part.

You don’t even need to have an AerClub account.  The Avios can be dropped into a British Airways or avios.com account instead.

What is the deal?

You will earn 18,000 Avios points when you take out a DIGITAL subscription to the Irish Independent or Sunday Independent newspapers for €160 (£146).

This works out at 0.81p per Avios if you use a credit card with 0% FX fees.  If you use a card with a 3% FX fee the cost rises to 0.83p per Avios.

You can sign up via this website here.  At no point during the sign-up process are you asked for your home address, so you don’t need to be concerned about living outside Ireland.

This is a new deal.  You could previously only subscribe for home delivery.

If you live in Ireland, you may find the physical bundles to be more valuable.  These allow you to order a physical home-delivered copy of the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent every day for six months for €349 and earn 30,000 Avios on top.  If you don’t live in Ireland, or don’t have a relative who wants some free newspapers, the new digital offer is more suitable.

Note that you will need to cancel your subscription before it expires otherwise it will roll over.

Is 0.81p per Avios a good deal?

Yes.  It is difficult to lose money redeeming Avios for flights on this basis.

This is my general ‘what is an Avios point worth?’ article.  You’ll see that you should be getting well over 1p per point in most redemption scenarios.

Of course, if you are would actually read the digital newspapers then it is a very good deal indeed.

How do you get your Avios?

The process is explained on this page of avios.com, which has not yet been updated to reflect the new digital package.

You will be sent a voucher code by email – a reader in the comments section was told it would arrive within 21 days.  You head to the Avios voucher redemption website, select which programme you want to drop the Avios into and then input your code.  Easy!

The offer runs until 30th November.  The sign-up page is here.

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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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.