Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Last call for flight bargains in the British Airways Winter sale

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31st January is your last chance to book in the British Airways Winter sale. You can take a look at what is available via this special page of ba.com.

(It may or may not be a coincidence that the BA promotion above starts one day later on 1st February.)

Nashville, pictured below, is the star deal, with Club World return seats available for £1,376 in March.  New Orleans is also looking attractive with Club World fares as low as £1,541.

The Caribbean looks interesting – Kingston £1,214, Punta Cana £1,493, San Jose £1,494 and so on.

As usual, don’t book a Club World flight before pricing it up via BA Holidays – see here.  Adding a hotel or car can often cost little more, and sometimes less, than the flight itself.  BA Holidays also lets you lock in your trip now by only paying a small deposit, with the balance only due five weeks before travel.

Don’t forget ‘part pay with Avios’

Sale flights are still valid for ‘part pay with Avios’.  How much you save now varies by route and by class, and the value per point tends to get worse the more you try to discount, but it is always worth taking a look at what is on offer for your particular ticket.

A Nashville Club World booking offered me:

  • £50 off for 6,250 Avios (0.80p per Avios)
  • £110 off for 16,000 Avios (0.69p)
  • £150 off for 24,750 Avios (0.61p)
  • £190 off for 34,000 Avios (0.56p)
  • £280 off for 55,000 Avios (0.51p)

There are also deals in Economy and short-haul Club Europe, including short break deals via BA Holidays.

As usual, travel dates are all over the place depending on whether you are travelling short haul or long haul, whether you are flying from Gatwick, City or Heathrow, and what travel class you are flying in.  In general you’ll find you can book up to either May / June 2019 or mid December 2019.

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays.  You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card.  Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.


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 (177)

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

  • Andrew says:

    I suspect it’s a new BA ad campaign. Passed through the First wing T5 on 20th November and saw Paloma Faith (one of the ticketed names in the Instagram post) with a film crew just outside in some stunning leopard print style outfit.
    Staff at check in told me she was filming for BA

  • Mark says:

    On the first of Feb I was due to fly from SJC to LHR in first class… and for no reason explained they cancelled my flight today for that. Why on earth did they do that?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      787 engine problems? There’s a thread on FlyerTalk about this route being prone to cancellation

      So close to your flight there could be EU261 compensation so worth searching for it for some advice/tips

      • Shoestring says:

        Yep despite BA having to be dragged to CEDR/ MCOL, they are now losing the 787 issue and paying compo where mandated by EC261.

        ie they’ve had plenty of time to plan for inspections/ 787 engines getting taken out of service so this is no longer seen as an extraordinary circumstance.

    • Nick says:

      What re-booking did they offer you ? Me and my partner also booked to fly first on this route in couple months and the flyer talk post is getting me worried.

  • Graeme says:

    Hilarious new safety video?

  • Cat says:

    “The Caribbean looks interesting – Kingston £1,214, Punta Cana £1,493, San Jose £1,494 and so on.”
    San Jose in Costa Rica or in California? Neither can really be described as in the Caribbean…

    • Roberto says:

      Costa Rica has a Caribbean coast. It a drive from San Jose I grant you but quite stunning none the less.

      • Cat says:

        It is closer to the Pacific coast…

        • Barry cutters says:

          It’s about two hours to drive from San Jose to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. And I would suggest in parts not nicer.

          In terms of the argument – it’s definitely Caribbean

  • Polly says:

    Worth pointing out tho, as can be confusing as to what might be meant in brackets.

    • Genghis says:

      Still, pence per avios, ie £ x 100 / no of avios, whether “earning” or burning.

  • Si says:

    I stayed in a Best Weston last night booked through Expedia. I assume that won’t be eligable for the 500 avios if i join the loyalty programme?

    • Rob says:

      No.

      But you did a few worthless Expedia Rewards points 🙂

      If you’re going to book hotels via third parties, use hotels.com because hotels.com Rewards IS a very good scheme (1 free night for every 10 nights you stay). Same owner as Expedia so same prices.

      • Shoestring says:

        you can currently get double whammy – Hotels.com Rewards *AND* 3%

      • Si says:

        Thanks for reply. I best remember to declare the Expedia points in next year’s tax return… don’t want HMRC hounding me!!

  • John says:

    only one article today?

    • Shoestring says:

      Thought you would have worked out that 5 yesterday + 1 today = quota 🙂

      • Rob says:

        Email system can only handle 3 per day. The Curve articles were effectively pulled forward. This is happening more often these days, mainly when time sensitive deals are involved.

      • John says:

        I should have worked it out 🙁

  • Optimus Prime says:

    Over 540 comments between the 2 Curve articles. Is it a record? 🙂

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

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