Trip.com is a new Avios hotel booking partner at a generous 3 Avios per €1
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British Airways Executive Club has launched a new hotel booking partnership with Trip.com, and there is a decent launch offer.
You might not be familiar with Trip.com but it is owned by the giant Chinese travel group Ctrip, the company which was happy to casually drop £1.4 billion to buy Skyscanner 18 months ago.
You can check out the Trip.com British Airways page here.
Trip.com has just launched PointsPLUS, a new reward scheme which lets you earn airline miles with every booking. At present, the airlines participating are the Avios ones (Vueling, Aer Lingus, BA, Iberia, Meridiana) as well as Air Asia, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (HK$22 = 3 miles) and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer ($1 = 1 mile). Full details on PointsPlus are here.
What do I earn?
The standard Avios earning rate will be 3 Avios per €2 spent. However, as an opening offer you will receive 6 Avios per €2 spent.
Here are the terms:
Book by 31st July 2018
Stay by 30th September 2018
Avios will be received six weeks after check-out
Avios earned are based on the price before taxes and fees
Surname of lead guest must match surname on Avios account
Given the current exchange rate, and adjusting for UK VAT, a £100 UK hotel booking would earn around 270 Avios.
But remember ….
Like Kaligo.com, PointsHound, Hotels.com, Expedia, Rocketmiles etc, hotel bookings made via Trip.com will be treated as third party bookings. This means that you will not earn hotel loyalty points and – with the exception of Marriott bookings – you will not receive any status benefits you are due.
We do not know at the moment if the Marriott policy of respecting status benefits on third party bookings will survive when the merged SPG / Marriott Rewards scheme launches in August. My personal view is that they would be crazy to let this continue.
This offer works best if you are booking a hotel which is independent, where you do not have status or where you do not care about their loyalty points.
You can find out more about the Trip.com / Avios partnership here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2023)
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.
SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £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 £12,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

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
30,000 points and unbeatable travel 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
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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.
Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 30th March) and a £200 Amex Travel credit every year Read our full review

American Express Business Gold
60,000 points sign-up bonus (to 30th March) 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.
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