Sign up for the British Airways ‘16,000 Avios for four short-haul return flights’ promo

As of now (2nd March), you can register for the British Airways potentially very lucrative new bonus Avios promotion.

Until 30th June you can earn up to 16,000 bonus Avios on certain short-haul routes to and from the UK.

In short the offer is:

• Earn 4,000 bonus Avios if you fly four to seven single flights
• Earn 16,000 bonus Avios if you fly eight or more single flights

There is no restriction on booking classes.  You can even book the cheapest hand baggage only economy fares.

If you manage four return flights over the next four months, you are getting 2,000 bonus Avios per flight (4,000 per return flight).  With hand baggage only fares as low as £28 one way to Bordeaux, this offer represents an excellent return.

Remember that you can use the BA Low Fare Finder tool here to quickly see the routes with the cheapest fares.  The full list of countries which are included in this offer is below.

How does it work?

In order to earn bonus Avios you must register here prior to booking your flight and include your Executive Club number when booking.

Flights must be booked and completed between 2nd March and 30th June 2018.  Existing bookings do not count.

One way and return flights are both eligible.  One way flights count as one sector and return flights as two.

For clarity – existing bookings made before Friday 2nd March do NOT count.  You should register here to ensure that you do not miss out.

Remember that, if you made a booking yesterday, you can cancel it within 24 hours for a full refund – with no cancellation fees – under BA’s cancellation policy.  Make sure the price has not gone up before you do this ….

Which routes are included?

Flights from and to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, City), Stansted, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh to the following destinations are included in this promotion:

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine

UK domestic flights do not count.

How do you earn the bonus Avios?

You will only earn bonus Avios when flying on a British Airways flight and not on Iberia, Finnair or American Airlines.  Flights with BA franchises such as SUN-AIR, codeshare partners or oneworld alliance members are also excluded.  Avios redemptions do not count although cash bookings part-paid with Avios should be OK.

The promotion cannot be used with any other offer or discount.  Bonus Avios will be awarded by 15th July in a separate transaction at the end of the promotional period.

The website to register for this offer is here.  Remember that you MUST register before making your bookings and that you need to fly before 30th June.

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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.