Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get a 20% discount on Heathrow Express train tickets

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Yesterday we ran our annual update on the best way to save money on Heathrow Express tickets.

What I didn’t know is that promo code TAJHOTELS is still working.  This gets you a 20% discount on all Heathrow Express standard tickets type, except Advanced Purchase.

Heathrow Express 20% discount

There is no special landing page.  Use the main booking page here and add the promotional code where indicated.

You can’t earn Avios this way as there is no way to add a code via the heathrowexpress.com/avios portal.  You will earn Heathrow Rewards points.


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 (110)

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

  • Sandra says:

    O/T Has anyone noticed a second IHG Ambassador weekend free night on their account now it has changed from paper to electronic? Renewal is due 30/6 and I was having a look today in the members area and there is an Ambassador free night certificate with a ‘book now’ to be used by 1 July 2019 which fits in with the end of the current membership year. The paper certificate issued after renewal last year was used at the start of April for a weekend at the Budapest Intercon. Nothing planned but I can always fit in a weekend away at half price if it actually works a second time!

    • Craig says:

      I renewed in Jan and have the link, not sure if it’s the replacement e-cert though?

      • Sandra says:

        Ok, thanks. It seems to be a new electronic certificate so maybe I’ll give it try and see how far I get without actually confirming the booking!

  • Stella64 says:

    O/T

    I have a couple of nights in Washington in late October with a young child (who likes a fluffy dressing gown at a hotel). Can anyone recommend a hotel to use Bonvoy points? I will have enough points to stay at any of the hotels. None of the hotels on the Bonvoy app really stand out as it will be too cold to use the ones with outside pools. Happy to Uber/Metro around – i.e. we don’t need to be opposite the White House. Any ideas gratefully received.

  • SammyJ says:

    O/T… I’ve got a reservation using an IHG Free Night certificate (The UK Luxury free night from the start of this year), and need to cancel it. The cert needed to be booked and used by October – if I cancel, does it go back to my account to be used again? Any idea how long that would take? thanks!

  • Charlie says:

    OT: I needed a few American AAdvantage miles, and found their US e-shopping portal, works similar to the BA one. Anyway there’s an offer for 2 months of electronic edition Wall Street Journal for $1+tax, awarding 1000 miles. Must remember to cancel otherwise it will renew at full price.

    I managed to get this to work fine, using a pretend zip code.

    • Shoestring says:

      nice one 🙂

    • Lyn says:

      Thank you for this. Be careful when you cancel though. Checking the terms, it is only supposed to work if the subscrtiption is active (not cancelled) for 45 days, only leaving a window of a couple of weeks to cancel.

      • Lyn says:

        This offer also seems to be available for Alaska miles, although only 700 miles. Useful for keeping Alaska miles active, although they probably wouldn’t post for a couple of months.

  • Stella64 says:

    O/T – it has been a while since I held an Amex. Can MR be linked to any airline/hotel account? For example, can my wife transfer points to my VS FC account? Thanks.

    • Rob says:

      No. It is against the rules BUT some schemes are less fussy than others about whether they check first name AND surname, or even the surname. Years ago I did Radisson and Nectar transfers to my wife (diff surname) – not sure if that is possible today.

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

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