Is it worth buying Avios points?

Is it ever worth buying Avios points?

Sometimes, you need more Avios than you currently own. You might be looking at booking a redemption flight but are short of a couple 1000 Avios. In a case such as this, you may be considering purchasing Avios in order to top up your balance.

You can buy Avios via this page of ba.com.

Is it worth buying Avios points?

Before we can decide whether purchasing Avios is worth it, we need to understand how Avios are valued. Though there is no fixed value for Avios, their value bottoms out at 0.5p per Avios.  This is what you get if you redeem for wine, hotels or car hire or transfer them to Nectar points.

However, it is also possible to get as much as 1.5p per Avios or more when redeeming for flights if you are savvy with how you spend them.

This article shows you how different sorts of Avios redemptions (upgrades, using a 2-4-1 British Airways American Express voucher, redeeming for short haul etc) impact the value you get.

Should you buy Avios?

Conveniently, British Airways allows you to purchase Avios from within Executive Club.  The cost depends on the amount you purchase. At standard rates, the price is 2.5p when buying 2,000, 2p when buying 5,000 and 1.75p when buying 200,000 Avios.

It’s important to know that British Airways runs special offers every couple of months where you can get a bonus of up to 50% when buying Avios. You should avoid paying full price unless it is absolutely necessary. By ‘necessary’ I mean that you have found a reward seat which you want to book immediately before it is taken by someone else.

It is also worth taking a look at two new products launched in the last couple of years: Avios Balance Boost (click here for our article) and Avios Subscription (click here for our article). Both are substantially cheaper than buying Avios directly.

What are the alternatives?

As you see, purchasing Avios can be pretty expensive – and it would be stupid to purchase Avios at 1.6p or more only to spend them at a value of less than that.  In 2018 I helped the BBC with an episode of Rip-Off Britain for BBC1 where readers felt they had not had the downsides of buying Avios explained to them – take a look at the clip on YouTube here.

However, there are some other options that enable you to buy Avios in an indirect and potentially cheaper way.  This page of HfP lists some of the current offers.

It is far easier, and far cheaper, to earn some Avios via credit card sign-up bonuses.  This article looks at the best Avios earning credit cards.

As a rule of thumb, it’s better to avoid purchasing Avios as much as possible, and certainly in bulk. You may be able to justify small quantities – if you only need a few more to top up your balance before redeeming, and if you intend to redeem immediately – but unless you are sure that you can spend them for more than you bought them for it’s generally best to stick with alternative methods to accruing Avios.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.5 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.