Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

You can take a 23kg suitcase on Flybe when you book via an Avios redemption

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In Lesson 15 of our Avios Redemption University series we discussed Avios redemptions on Flybe.

What’s interesting is that a standard cash ticket bought on Flybe does not include checked luggage whereas an Avios redemption via avios.com does. 

23kg suitcase on Flybe with Avios redemption via avios.com

Flybe tickets booked via ba.com should also come with a free suitcase although you are told otherwise during the booking process – for safety book on avios.com.

According to the avios.com website this can be a suitcase up to 20kg.  It turns out that this was changed to 23kg in May 2017 and, last week, the avios.com website was finally updated to reflect this.


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 (90)

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

  • Gill says:

    OT – looking at one way flights from Glasgow to Seoul to use up a Lloyds upgrade. Dates we are going will be peak avios. LHR is the only option I’ve come up with but I’d be interested to know if any route experts have any other suggestions that work with the Lloyds upgrade before I jump in.

    • Gill says:

      Thanks Ron. Dates are unfortunately tied as i have a return from HKG and can’t really extend the trip past 2.5 weeks. ICN from LHR isn’t a bad option and will keep transfers to a minimum. I thought i’d throw it out there in case I was missing something.

  • Anna says:

    This is a real pain. They rarely credit before 120 days from completing the stay and can go over this. The only solution is to chase it up via the online form and often several follow up emails to the avios team. I have no idea why hotels take so much longer than other retailers to post avios. I only received avios from a stay last August a couple of weeks ago after querying where they were a few times!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Virgin are even worse. Had some go missing 18 months after the stay!

    • Down the Back says:

      Hi Sussex,

      Did they say why they were declined ?

      Cheers

      DtB

    • Sussex Bantam says:

      Nope – they just said that Hilton had declined and they weren’t able to do anything.

  • Anna says:

    I think I was the reader! I would check they have gone to the right account as it can be quite tricky to retrieve them if this is the case. I’ve never had to wait more than 2-3 days for mine.

  • Grimz says:

    OT, Do amex have to give a statement credit for a cancelled card?

    • Rob says:

      Yes.

      • Liz says:

        I got online chat to give me the reference number of our conversation confirming we would get a credit on a cancelled card when they refused to manually credit 2 transactions on an SPG Card we wanted to cancel. Ended up phoning and got a really helpful person who credited 7 of our missing SS transactions. Cancelled the card a couple of days later and transferred the credit and prorate refund to a different card.

        Had to raise a complaint to Lloyds to get 2 further SS transactions credited. They were refusing point blank to deal with saying it was an AMEX problem. Ended up with the £10 credit plus an extra £15 to resolve the complaint. Also had to battle with MBNA Virgin Card to get a final £5. So much hassle to get these credits.

  • Sussex bantam says:

    I did he same as you and haven’t seen mine yet either if that’s any consolation !!

    • Sussex bantam says:

      Tuesday to both avios and BA. BA came through in 2 days. No sign of avios ones yet.

    • Sussex Bantam says:

      Hi Ron – just to let you know my points posted today in my Avios account.

  • Tom1 says:

    o/t 2018 credit card planning

    I have some building work to pay for, which I can pay using debit card but not credit card. so I will use Curve linked to Lloyds Avios M/c towards the £7k 241 target.

    My wife and I have just about finished Amex gold and plat.
    so plan for my wife (plat) refer me to BAPP, she will then close Plat and start the 6 months (if still exists in 6 months!)

    1) am I right in saying the BAPP in my name still counts as an Amex, so my 6 months ‘no-amex ticker’ wont start until I close the BAPP too ?

    2) I can hold Amex SPG and Amex BAPP, as well as Amex Plat at the same time?

    thanks in advance!

    • Tom1 says:

      Brilliant thanks. So actually my 6 months stay-away for gold/plat starts as soon as I cancel my plat, irrespective of the BAPP.

      SPG I guess has Star points as currency, so holds its own 6 month.

      • Lumma says:

        Indeed, and the nectar card is its own “currency”. It’s just the platinum, gold and green charge cards and the rewards credit cards that overlap

    • Anna says:

      Upgrade, not 2 4 1!

  • Lumma says:

    OT but maybe interesting, flew Vueling to Rome today from Gatwick and didn’t encounter any immigration control. We must have landed at an inter-schengen gate, could imagine it being quite an issue for someone without an EU passport…

  • S says:

    OT: Has anyone had success in getting tax and surcharged refunded on an unflown BA reward flight? I have a long haul flight I forgot to cancel so would be nice to at least see some tax refunded!

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

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