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A new ‘buy Avios’ promotion launches today

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British Airways Executive Club is launching a new ‘buy Avios’ promotion today.  It will also apply if you gift Avios to someone else.

BA has lifted the annual purchase limit to 200,000 Avios as part of this offer.  Here are the bonus tiers:

  • Buy or gift 1,000 to 15,000 Avios and receive 20% bonus Avios
  • Buy or gift 20,000 to 35,000 Avios and receive 30% bonus Avios
  • Buy or gift 40,000 to 90,000 Avios and receive 35% bonus Avios
  • Buy or gift 100,000 to 200,000 Avios and receive 45% bonus Avios

AerClub members in Ireland will have a similar deal.  The offer runs until 6th August.

At the top end, you are paying a whopping £3,215 for 290,000 Avios.  That is 1.11p per point.  This is not necessarily a great idea as the best value is generally obtained by buying a small number of Avios to top off your account. 

If you saw me on BBC1’s Rip Off Britain recently (you can watch the segment here, it is only 3 minutes long) you will know that one of the members of the public I tried to help had bought 100,000 Avios for £1600 without fully understand the restrictions behind them.

I am not a buyer at 1.1p.  However, as my core article on ‘What is an Avios worth?’ shows, it is easy to get a lot more than 1.1p when redeeming.  My valuation is low because I do a lot of Gold Priority Rewards (using double Avios to force open a seat) and don’t always have a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher to use.  If you are strategic you should do better than me.

The BA ‘buy Avios’ page is here.  If the offer doesn’t show, check back later in the day.

However ….

Before you buy, you should know that Groupon has launched another cheap Avios promotion in Spain, with Iberia Plus.  Click here for details.

Here are the prices:

  • 4,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €54 (1.2p)
  • 8,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €99 (1.1p)
  • 15,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €189 (1.1p)
  • 20,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €249 (1.1p)
  • 35,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €439 (1.1p)

You might find this a cheaper option for smaller quantities.

These Spanish Groupon offers – unlike the recent Irish offer – can get messy.  All of the information is in Spanish (Chrome can translate) and if you have problems you are dealing with the Iberia and Spanish Groupon contact centres.

You can buy a LOT of points though.  The limit is 5 coupons per Iberia account for the 4,000, 20,000 and 35,000 Avios packages and 10 per account for the 8,000 and 15,000 Avios packages.  These Avios can be transferred across to British Airways via ‘Combine My Avios’ without any problems.  Buyer beware though.

The Groupon Spain page you need is here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Club Iberia Plus

Comments (138)

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

  • Rob says:
    23 Jul23 July 13:23

    I am not expecting a devaluation – the SPG Amex will remain better than MR so no need to take MR worse.

  • Peter K says:
    23 Jul23 July 13:46

    Quoted from the article:
    “These are just some of the hotels on offer. American Express Membership Reward Points transfer rates to Marriott Points will be devalued after 26th July, from 1:1.5 points, to 1:2/3 points.”
    That basically takes them to the level we already get in the UK…i.e. 2 MR points go to 3 Marriott points.

    • Rob says:
      23 Jul23 July 14:04

      You need to understand, though, that there are many other Marriott card products in the US and that Marriott has a dominant relationship with Visa. Amex, despite weasle words to the contrary, is being squeezed out in the UK in a way that is unlikely to happen here. The SPG Amex card in the US is also being devalued whilst in the UK it is not.

      • Graham Walsh says:
        23 Jul23 July 21:50

        Just a thought, should I clear out my SPG account of points before they head over to Marriott as I want to them for BA/Avios?

    • Genghis says:
      23 Jul23 July 14:05

      Though 1:2/3 is 2:4/3 ≠ 2:1?

  • Steve says:
    23 Jul23 July 13:53

    4th (or possibly 5th?) Avios bonus points offer from BA this calendar year, which coupled with the recent Iberia & Groupon Avios offers has made collecting/buying Avios ‘easier’ than usual.

    Does this mean a points devaluation is definitively on the cards…? I have read infrequent comments from posters’ and Rob to this end but unsure whether this is based on any info’ from BA, or just a gut-feel?

    Apologies the ask is a tad open-ended but sitting on a slew of points that I was hoping to use for specific flights next year but am now thinking it would be better and more economical to use them sooner rather than later….

    • Alex W says:
      23 Jul23 July 18:13

      Rob has already predicted that a devaluation looks likely. When that will happen, I’m sure is a closely guarded secret. Whether we will get any advanced notice – who knows. Some airlines give no notice of devaluations at all.

  • Rob says:
    23 Jul23 July 14:36

    Very impressive – especially as you could have got off the train at Syon WhateverItIs station and walked down the road!

  • Chris says:
    23 Jul23 July 14:47

    I’m flying through LAX next week and i see in Terminal2 you get a $28 credit at barney’s beanery

  • Cat says:
    23 Jul23 July 14:48

    That moment when you’ve done a long, sweaty hike and they tell you that you’ve been upgraded to a Junior Suite! Bliss!

  • Optimus Prime says:
    23 Jul23 July 15:21

    What’s the hotel like? My OH is eager for a night away in a property with a pool not very far from London.

    Though we’re likely to go on a Saturday and I reckon it won’t be as pleasant as today…

    Thanks.

    • Cat says:
      23 Jul23 July 15:38

      I’m liking it so far, the junior suite is huge, has a freestanding bathtub and has an odd almost (but not quite) modern take on a 4-poster bed. Frankly, it’s a little odd, but I’m not complaining. I have more cupboard space than you can shake a stick at right now. In fact, I think I have more storage space than I have in my 2-bedroom flat.

      Toiletries are Crabtree & Evelyn, rather than the usual Peter Thomas Roth, and the bathroom is a riot of marble.

      I’ll have to report back on the pool, gym and spa in a couple of hours. Bring on the sauna and steam room!

      • Rob says:
        23 Jul23 July 16:36

        Syon Park was opened as a Waldorf Astoria and has Waldorf Astoria quality furnishings.

      • Cat says:
        23 Jul23 July 18:20

        I do quite like the dark green velvet chairs (this may be my inner goth of the 90s talking here), I do love a good freestanding bathtub in a marble bathroom, and I’ve never come close to objecting to a 4-poster bed before, but the actual posts on the 4-poster bed are mirrored…

        The gym is pretty well equipped, the swimming pool is lovely, the jacuzzi was lovelier, and the sauna was exactly the right temperature. Marvellous! Enjoy Optimus Prime & OH!

      • Optimus Prime says:
        23 Jul23 July 19:02

        Thanks for the update!

  • BJ says:
    23 Jul23 July 17:08

    OT: pointsbreaks loaded

    CP Heathrow 15,000
    HIX Croydon 10,000

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

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