Avios scraps its restaurant booking partnership with ResDiary from 20th February

In April 2017, Avios launched Restaurant Circle, a restaurant booking site that lets you earn 250 Avios with every reservation you book.

The system did not work well from the start.  The initial launch was delayed, and when it did launch the selection of restaurants was not as comprehensive as, say, OpenTable or even ResDiary, the company that runs Restaurant Circle.

The problem was partly self-inflicted, because Avios was charging restaurants a monthly fee to be included on the Restaurant Circle website despite the fact that they were already paying be on the parent ResDiary site.  This did not prove popular.

ResDiary has now decided to pull the plug on Restaurant Circle.  In a statement it said:

While it’s been beneficial for some, we know other venues had trouble justifying the Avios listing fee and we’ve been attempting to permanently remove it. Unfortunately, Avios have decided it’s a non-negotiable condition of the program, so we’ve taken the decision to stop the partnership. This will happen on the 20th February 2018.

But you can still earn until 20th February ….

To earn Avios from your meals out, you need to create a Restaurant Circle account and add your Avios or BA Executive Club membership number to your profile.  If you live in Ireland, you can add an AerClub number.  There are a large number of Irish restaurants included.

For every booking you make via the Restaurant Circle site, you will receive 250 Avios.  As long as you turn up for your reservation (!), the Avios will be added to your account within two weeks.  You can search for restaurants on the Restaurant Circle website by postcode, city or restaurant name.

You can read more about the partnership, whilst it lasts, on the British Airways website 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.