Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get an extra 5% off Malaysia Airlines sale fares this weekend

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Malaysia Airlines is running a special promotion with Visa this weekend.

You can save an additional 5% on all tickets in both Economy and Business as long as you travel by 6th May.  You can ONLY get the discount if you book via this page of the Malaysia Airlines website.

As well as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines has good connections to Australia and elsewhere in Asia.  Remember that you earn Avios and British Airways tier points when you fly with Malaysia Airlines as both are members of the oneworld alliance.

Malaysia Airlines has recently taken delivery of new A350-900 aircraft and is now operating them on the Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route.  There are two daily departures from Terminal 4 at 10.25 and 21.25.

Full details of the new planes are on their website here.  The Business Class layout looks pretty good.  It is a staggered 1-2-1 or 1-2-2 layout, similar to Aer Lingus.  It even has two Aer Lingus-style ‘throne’ seats on the right-hand side.

On the left, one row has ‘table / seat’, the one behind ‘seat / table’ and so on, so that your feet slot under the table area of the seat in front.  The Qatar Qsuite works in a similar way.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

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.

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

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Category

oneworld alliance partners

Comments (112)

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

  • PeterR says:
    15 Feb15 February 11:21

    OT – looking to book HKG-LHR on Avios for May 26th. The BA booking site displays this date as off-peak, but charges the peak rate of 30k Avios instead of 19.5k in Economy (no Business redemption available for now). Checking the peak/off-peak calendar May 26th shows as being a peak date, so the “off-peak” banner on the booking site must be an error. Naively hopeful here – is there any way of enticing BA to honour the mistake and sell the ticket for 19,5k Avios?

    • Anna says:
      15 Feb15 February 12:02

      I really doubt it given their refusal to honour “error” cash fares.

    • John says:
      15 Feb15 February 12:37

      There are lots of errors on other dates too. Use rewardflightfinder for your initial search then you won’t get a nasty surprise later

    • Lady London says:
      15 Feb15 February 15:19

      Why not phone them and ask them to do it over the phone then politely point out the dichotomy?

  • Benylin says:
    15 Feb15 February 12:00

    OT: was the MR to HH points transfer 50% bonus a one off, or do we see this offer regularly?

  • Ian M says:
    15 Feb15 February 13:31

    OT but Marriott related..

    Are people still receiving personalised promotions? I’m yet to receive anything and wondering if that ship has sailed now or if people are still receiving them?

  • nick says:
    15 Feb15 February 13:42

    OT: anyone been recently to a football match at Brighton courtesy of Amex?

    Did it include free parking, food and drinks? any other insights please?

  • nick says:
    15 Feb15 February 13:43

    If a reward booking is made using Virgin Flying club miles- and then cancelled – do Virgin return all miles redeemed plus refund all taxes/fee’s paid?

  • TripRep says:
    15 Feb15 February 13:45

    Bits OT: Plaza Premium at T5.

    £40 walk up fee for max 2hours (I’m on my Amex Plat)

    No craft ales, just one beer available, a luke warm Carlsberg.

    Complimentary Gordon’s Gin & JD Whiskey. all others extra.

    Maybe it’s just me, but I’m missing the “Premium” part?

    • marcw says:
      15 Feb15 February 13:59

      It’s been like that for a while. I’ve never been impressed by the lounge. The set up is nice,,, but everything else is below average – or £.

      Thanks god I don’t have to be there anymore. Was there every friday evening (commuting) for about 2 months.

    • Lady London says:
      15 Feb15 February 15:20

      Do people actually pay the walk up rate? That amount could be better spent even at T5 unless you need shower, I suppose (if that’s not charged extra).

      • Russ says:
        15 Feb15 February 16:58

        Had an email from Heathrow rewards offering extra 500 points if I spend £30. Possible to take the sting out of the walk up rate?

  • Keith says:
    15 Feb15 February 13:51

    OT:

    Remember the other day there was a bit of chat about using the Hertz Auz site to make bookings in order to get a lower price on car rentals? Is there a specific way to do this or is it just a bit hit-and-miss?

    Have just tried to book a car from Port Elizabeth (27th April) – Cape Town (7th May). It is showing a lower price on the Auz site but only by 172 Rand (about £9).

    Is there something I’m missing or is it just luck of the draw? Have got a Gold, BA normal & See Through Amex on the go at the moment in case that makes any difference?

    Any help much appreciated.

    Keith

    • xcalx says:
      15 Feb15 February 14:01

      I must be missing something too. 3 day Hertx AU Tampa to Miami US$ 180. UK using Plat 633306 £90 for ICAR

    • Rob says:
      15 Feb15 February 14:21

      Are you using 211762? It is hit and miss though.

      For clarity, you MUST have an Amex Plat to use this as it strips out some insurance you otherwise need.

      • Ben says:
        15 Feb15 February 15:03

        Rob, I think you have said this before but the Amex plat means you do not need any of the insurances they try and sell you right? I just booked a car in Palm Springs and it says I need to bring proof of insurance in order to pick up the car.

        • Benylin says:
          15 Feb15 February 15:08

          There’s quite a lot of chat about United Hertz code too on FT, I think upto 40%, worth a try ok that too.

        • Rob says:
          15 Feb15 February 18:32

          They will accept a credit card preauthorisation for the value of the car.

      • paul says:
        15 Feb15 February 22:22

        Is there any issue with using the Auz Hertz site to book and pay (with my Amex plat). do they query this on collection?

    • Alex W says:
      15 Feb15 February 16:58

      Just use autoslash.com

      • Louie says:
        16 Feb16 February 07:46

        Problem with Autoslash is they don’t replicate your booking exactly, AIUI. They keep sending me emails about a forthcoming Hertz booking, but if I went with them I would have to pay for an extra driver which would more than negate the saving. I have yet to find a single occasion when Autoslash was actually cheaper than going direct with Hertz (either AU, US or Brazil/Argentina, I’ve had cheapest rate with all three).

        • AutoSlash says:
          17 Feb17 February 03:09

          You should email support@autoslash.com in cases where the deal offered does not meet your needs. We have a very experienced staff that can often help to ensure you get a lower rate that has the same features/benefits of your original booking. It’s often difficult to take those sorts of things into account with the automated system, but our team is always available to assist in those cases.

  • Keith says:
    15 Feb15 February 14:36

    Ah-ha! I see, okay thanks all for your help. I don’t have a Platinum – will just rummage around for a discount code.

    Cheers

    Keith

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!