Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

LATAM launches a £973 business class flight deal to Rio for August travel

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LATAM has launched a very attractive business class fare to Rio, from just £973 in Business Class.

In theory this fare can be booked out of Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Rome.  By late last night, the two Spanish starting points were virtually out of availability.

Rome and Frankfurt were still available. 

LATAM business class to rio

Similar fares were also still showing from Frankfurt.  The issue is that Rome and Frankfurt use older aircraft without the newest seat.  Anika did a review of LATAM / LAN business class here, albeit on the short-hop from Madrid to Frankfurt, but that was on a Boeing 787 (the A350 is similar) and not the older Boeing 767 or 777 you are likely to find here.

Note that the 1 hour connecting flight from Sao Paulo to Rio is in Economy.

As LATAM is a member of oneworld, alongside British Airways, you will earn BA tier points (140 points each way for the long-haul segment) and Avios on the ticket.

You need to book by 17th July.  More importantly, all travel must be completed by 31st August.

You can book on the LATAM / LAN site here.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.


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 (81)

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

  • Anna says:

    I’ve just got an email offering HH points for 50% off until August 15th. I’m new to HH so not sure if this is a good deal or not! I guess it depends on the cash price of the hotel room you would redeem them for?

    • Genghis says:

      In general, 50% off / 100% bonus is not good for speculative purchases but may work for specific redemptions, discounting for lack of points earned etc

    • Crafty says:

      Still seems way too expensive from a quick play.

  • Wally1976 says:

    OT – just wanted to say thanks to whoever posted the First Direct/Nationwide Co-op offers on here last weekend. £30 saved on each of my water bill and council tax :-).

    • Mark2 says:

      So was that two purchases on the same card or two cards?
      I received an email from First Direct about it, some time after the account was transferred to Nationwide so registered both of our accounts for future offers.

      • Wally1976 says:

        It was two cards – one First Direct debit card (our main current account) and one Nationwide FlexPlus debit card (account we have for travel insurance, breakdown cover etc). Both offers were 10% off up to £30 max (I think some people only got 5% (or nothing!)). I pay both bills at Co-ops using Paypoint, usually with an Amex.

        • Mark2 says:

          Thanks. We have each got a Nationwide account (for the £200 to switch) and this £30 each was another bonus (although forgoing 450 Avios for each).

    • Crafty says:

      Annoyingly my co-op has a £100 max for paypoint so only saved £10×2!

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

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