Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get a 20%-45% bonus when you buy Avios – worth it?

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British Airways has launched a new short-term ‘buy Avios’ bonus.

You will receive a bonus of up to 45% Avios when you buy or gift points by 18th August.

This is not as high as the 50% bonuses we have seen from time to time.  The bonus is also staggered, and you need to buy a whopping 100,000 to get the full 45%.

You need to visit ba.com via this page in order to buy.

Avios wing 13

This is how the bonus is staggered:

  • 20% bonus when you buy 1,000 to 15,000 Avios
  • 30% bonus when you buy 20,000 to 35,000 Avios
  • 35% bonus when you buy 40,000 to 90,000 Avios
  • 45% bonus when you buy 100,000 to 200,000 Avios

As you can see, British Airways has increased the number of Avios you can buy under this deal – the cap is now 200,000 points per year.  This means that, with the bonus, you will receive 290,000 Avios for a whopping £3,215.

I am not a buyer at 1.1p, which is what you pay if you buy 100,000+.  However, as my core article on ‘What is an Avios worth?’ shows, it is easy to get a lot more than 1.1p. 

My valuation is low because I do a lot of Gold Priority Rewards (using double Avios to force open a seat, mainly due to school holiday restrictions) and don’t always have a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher to use.  I also tend to use Avios irrespective of the value, because I am sitting on a lot of them.  If you are strategic you should do far better than me.

This HfP article from our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series shows you how to buy Avios points and which route is the best value from all of the options available.

The link to buy is here.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (May 2022)

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. 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

25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable card perk – the 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

The Platinum Card has doubled its sign-up bonus to 60,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert to 60,000 Avios, if you apply by 1st June 2022.

American Express Amex Gold

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

60,000 points (SPECIAL OFFER) and an unbeatable set of travel 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 10,000 Avios.

Capital on Tap Visa card

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points bonus – the most generous Avios Visa for a limited company 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 card

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.

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (140)

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

  • Richard says:
    8 Aug8 August 06:42

    First a holiday inn in Acton and now Ryanair… has the HfP readership demographic changed??

    • james says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:08

      What is the point in sounding so aloof? Sometimes Ryanair is the most convenient option (e.g. For someone living in East London or working near Liverpool St). And many European routes Ryanair offer the most flights (or sometimes only flight).

      • Richard says:
        8 Aug8 August 08:02

        They’re not for me as I can’t stand the on board experience (based on when I last flew with them 10 years ago) – no seat back pocket, scratch cards, on time arrival jingle etc. And I live 20 minutes from Heathrow.

        Truth be told I’m just being silly as it’s August and beyond strikes, IT meltdown and club suite there’s not much else going on. And the saving £20 off the holiday Inn Acton seemed stranger.

        • Spaghetti Town says:
          8 Aug8 August 08:46

          That’s nice for you

        • Gringo says:
          8 Aug8 August 09:13

          My god, imagine sitting for 3 hours without a seat-back pocket?!

        • Lumma says:
          8 Aug8 August 09:19

          Ryanair are easily the airline I fly the most on for cash tickets and there’s low cost airlines that I dread flying with more – Vueling and Wizz

          Noise cancelling headphones, a book and a drink and just switch off for two hours and end up at the destination saving a packet.

          You can genuinely get some last minute bargains on Ryanair if you’re flexible for where you want to go. There’s always a lot of love for easyJet but the simple fact is, they’re just not that low cost any more.

        • Lady London says:
          8 Aug8 August 13:16

          Plus the horror of conditions at Stansted Airport which is the home of Ryanair. One lounge only, that is poor, really expensive to take a train to or park at, a huge fee for dropping someone at the terminal by car even taking just 5-15 minutes….

          Even if you wanted to fly Ryanair, who’d chose Stansted to fly out of if they have any choice?

      • yorkieflyer says:
        8 Aug8 August 09:58

        and also for those of us wi flat caps and whippets where Ryanair fly direct

      • Bagoly says:
        8 Aug8 August 12:59

        If near Liverpool St, don’t forget Easyjet from Southend. Only a few destinations, but such a wonderfully small airport.

    • Connie says:
      8 Aug8 August 09:13

      Well, I don’t think anyone would find every single article on HFP useful to them. Just pick what you need and there’s no harm to know more information in the market.

      • Lumma says:
        8 Aug8 August 09:21

        I often find some of the articles that don’t apply to me are the most interesting to read about.

        The Ryanair strike and the Tesco clubcard transfer bonus both apply to me but I already knew about them before reading today’s emails

    • sunguy says:
      8 Aug8 August 09:47

      My colleague behind me is actually flying out of STN with Ryanair because we work in Liverpool st, but flying back BA to LHR because she lives closer to LHR!

      So, for aviation news that has a slant toward BA/OW … I have no issues with covering slightly other things.

      My hotel brand of choice is Hilton, but HI/HIEx is a well known brand and sometimes it can be helpful, for example, the Hilton in Madrid city centre doesnt do twin rooms – all their beds are doubles – not helpful when you are sharing a room with someone who isnt your partner….so, I had to look at other options, such as the Holiday Inn!

    • Polly says:
      8 Aug8 August 10:52

      Hang on. Great for Dub and Bergerac dahling!

  • Craig says:
    8 Aug8 August 06:50

    OT: Asking again and hoping for sensible answers! Does anyone know if there are any limitations with Amex Plat Insurance and pregnancy? There is nothing in the small print.

    • Courtster says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:07

      As a man who was going to drag his 7 month pregnant wife to NY for a ‘babymoon’ last year I did a lot of research into this and I discovered that basically pregnancy is not an illness and is not covered by the majority of travel insurance policies that’s why it’s not mentioned. Complications in pregnancy were covered in some, but the actual birth and your now premature born baby would not be. I read a few forums for ladies who had had babies born in the NY state and 6 figure sums were the norm – obvs taken care of by their US insurance.

      I found this broker after much searching https://www.ravenhallgroup.co.uk/pregnant-travel/ that sells a great policy and it’s not too pricey.

      In the end it all seemed too much like hard work, so we stayed in the UK!

      • Anna says:
        8 Aug8 August 07:38

        Courtster, the policy your link goes to is covers pregnancy up to 36 weeks. It states that most companies will only cover the woman up to 28 weeks, so not the case at all that most companies won’t cover pregnancy, only beyond a certain period of gestation. This makes sense as obviously the further along the pregnancy, the more likely the woman is to go into labour. Personally I wouldn’t have travelled in late pregnancy anyway due to the possibility of going into labour, Craig doesn’t say what stage of pregnancy is the case here.

    • Anna says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:18

      Craig, most policies do cover pregnancy-related issues like premature birth, however there will be stipulations about how many weeks pregnant the woman is at time of travel and she may need a doctor’s letter saying she is fit to travel. I think you need to speak to Amex and clarify the situation as yes, the medical costs could run into 6 figures if the baby arrived early and needed neo-natal hospital care.

      • Courtster says:
        8 Aug8 August 07:52

        You’re right of course Anna. Our own situation was a year ago now and forgot that it was past 28 weeks insurance I was looking for and it was much harder to find.

    • Craig says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:36

      Thanks all, just trying to get a rough idea and this helps.

      • Anna says:
        8 Aug8 August 07:43

        I’ve just posted again, above as Courtster’s post was misleading; of course travel insurance generally covers conditions arising from pregnancy (i.e. not routine ante-natal stuff), otherwise no pregnant woman would be able to travel! The crucial factors are stage of gestation and confirmed fitness to travel.

    • Genghis says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:55

      I’d call to check. Arguably it could fall under the definition of a pre-existing medical condition.
      (We had to go to hospital in HKG when wife was pregnant for a pregnancy related matter and made a claim no problem with insurance that specifically included it, so don’t take any chances).

    • NigelthePensioner says:
      8 Aug8 August 10:03

      Not even the patter of tiny exclusion clauses??!! 😁
      Give them a ring and ask them. It will depend on how far through your confinement you are, and if there have been any issues up until now – hypertension, proteinuria etc…..
      I have found the AmEx travel insurance cover to be amazingly good – for Centurion – and I can’t imagine Platinum being that much less inclusive.

  • Doogie says:
    8 Aug8 August 06:56

    Actually on topic! The two of us are currently scheduled to fly back from a week in Palma de Mallorca on 22nd to Prestwick with Ryanair.
    EasyJet flexi is around €550 without baggage and Jet2 don’t seem to offer cancellable fares.

    I have currently preemptively booked two seperate hotels, for 22nd & 23rd for single nights, cancellable the day before, so that the bookings and cancellations are independent of each other.
    I’ve seen the up to £200 per night food/beverage/lodging figure bandied about here before, but unsure if that’s a BA general limit or a CAA one, and if that’s per person or per family.

    I accept that I may have to pay the first hotel if it looks like they’re still striking the night before but do fly 22nd.

    Is prebooking like that likely to cause any problem or are Ryanair likely to insist that they had a hotel up their sleeve for all affected passengers?

    Is there anything else sensible that we should be doing in preperation to smooth this out?

    • Shoestring says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:25

      you wouldn’t need to accept Ryanair’s hotel offer (if any) so you’re fine to make your own reasonable arrangements

      BA readily accept hotel expenses of £200 per person per night, I’ve not seen anything documented for Ryanair but it will be similar, your food & drink expenses (& communications) are in addition to hotel costs

    • Andrew says:
      8 Aug8 August 09:14

      If you’re desperate to ensure you get back on the 22nd

      Tui have £69 flights (10Kg hand luggage) to Paisley International departing 5minutes before yours is due to depart.

      • sunguy says:
        8 Aug8 August 09:51

        Lol @ Paisley International……but I agree ….I just wish it was easier to get to/from…..

        • RussellH says:
          8 Aug8 August 12:02

          I take it we are talking Abbotsinch? (Or however it was spelled.)

      • Doogie says:
        8 Aug8 August 22:27

        Thanks guys! To be honest, a couple of extra days on holiday wouldn’t be the end of the world, and don’t really *need* to be back till the Monday morning, and even then it wouldn’t be dire.

  • Frenske says:
    8 Aug8 August 07:08

    T&C of Virgin/Clubcard offer don’t mention exclusion of people who taken up the offer previously. I have cancelled auto-convert a week ago, would the bonus still apply this time?

    • Dave Barron says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:17

      I’ve had the bonus from auto convert a few times over the years. Had my latest 1000 points last month and they posted before the end of the Clubcard collection period so U then switched off auto convert once they posted. I duly got my Clubcard points as vouchers. I’ve now also had this latest email so will be doing so in the belief I will get the points again at some point – even if I forget to change back I’m not too concerned given that these days I don’t earn anywhere near as many Clubcard points as I used to!

      • Dave Barron says:
        8 Aug8 August 07:22

        Sorry should read I not U. The joy of typing on an iPhone!

      • The Original David says:
        8 Aug8 August 07:41

        Have the most recent round of Clubcard vouchers landed in accounts yet? I can’t keep track of them…

        • Dave Barron says:
          8 Aug8 August 09:35

          Mine appeared in my online account last week (nothing in the post yet). New collection period is 19th July to 17th October and anything earned will appear on account during early November.

      • LewisB says:
        8 Aug8 August 08:13

        I got the last 1000 bonus around a month ago too and then cancelled immediately. No email yet so not sure if its worth the hassle.

    • Crafty says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:24

      No one knows, give it a try.

      • Charlieface says:
        8 Aug8 August 09:07

        Everyone knows, everyone does it. At least on HfP. Of course it works.

        • Crafty says:
          9 Aug9 August 11:18

          Why would you assert this? It doesn’t work every time. We all know this.

  • Bill says:
    8 Aug8 August 07:51

    Good luck to the pilotd

  • Colin MacKinnon says:
    8 Aug8 August 07:59

    Booked a Ryanair flight last week for 2nd Sept and within minutes my wife said: it should have been 2nd October! No 23 hr canc on Ryanair and the hassle of changing dates and suffering £35 fee on a £42 ticket was too much.
    But now they will be on strike! Hooray!!
    Will be trying online checking and hoping for 261 cash back!

    • Anna says:
      8 Aug8 August 08:48

      And this is why my OH doesumake our holiday bookings 😂. The one time he booked some flights a few years ago he spelled my name wrong on the booking form 🤦‍♀️.

      • NigelthePensioner says:
        8 Aug8 August 10:17

        Another cardinal sin! Mollie Vs Molly etc. Mind you, there are so many variations of spelling childrens’ names these days that I wonder how many are done to be “different” and how many through illiteracy!! What was wrong with Merlot and Chardonnay?

      • Simon says:
        8 Aug8 August 11:58

        Anna, check your spelling. 😁

    • Lumma says:
      8 Aug8 August 09:39

      Are you sure about the no 24 hour changes policy? I’ve definitely booked the wrong date before and changed it shortly after for no penalty

    • NigelthePensioner says:
      8 Aug8 August 10:14

      The joys of booking with lyinair (sic)!! Don’t anyone hold their breath about any sort of compensation from them for anything. Don’t you know that o’bleary is above any Irish or European law?
      Sorry to have to hear you up for hassel to follow, but how else do you think that an airline that sells seats for £1 makes any operating profit? From ignoring statutory obligations and from online booking typos, that’s how, I’m afraid….

      • Adam says:
        8 Aug8 August 11:26

        It took me 4 years of back and forth to get 400 eur for a 6 hour delayed flight!

        • Polly says:
          8 Aug8 August 12:12

          Well done getting it! Lucky never had to try go get that from FR!

      • Alex Sm says:
        8 Aug8 August 20:57

        My friends from Portugal had to cancel a trip to the UK over Easter at a very short notice because their youngest baby got ill and Ryanair was the only one (not greedy UK faulty towers hotels and shambles coast train companies) who 100% refunded the cost for the family of 4

    • Bill says:
      8 Aug8 August 17:26

      Contact the live chat

      48 hours to sort it out

      https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/faq-overview/Flight-Changes-And-Refunds#0-14

  • Grimz says:
    8 Aug8 August 08:37

    Still no Shell bonus from Clubcard. Anyone else had the bonus?

  • Sarah says:
    8 Aug8 August 08:40

    Couple of questions – I did the auto covert last time and got the bonus 1000 in July and then switched back to manual vouchers. If I do auto-convert again, will I get bonus points again. Appreciate might just have to chance it unless anyone has actually tried it.

    Avios – I’m a bit short for a redemption. Is the best way to buy more and get the bonus mentioned in this article or to use one of the different available points and cash options. Appreciate might be different per route but is there a general rule of thumb as to what’s best?

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