Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

LAST CALL: Get a 20%-45% bonus when you buy Avios points

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

A quick reminder that that British Airways is currently running a new short-term ‘buy Avios’ promotion which has another 48 hours to run.

You will receive a bonus of up to 45% Avios when you buy or gift points by Sunday 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 7

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.  And, of course, if you are just topping up your account before you make a redemption the exact price you pay doesn’t matter as much.

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 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.

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.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (20)

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

  • Roger says:
    16 Aug16 August 04:52

    Can you buy Avios as legitimate business expense to redeem on flights meant for official business purposes?

    • Chas says:
      16 Aug16 August 06:45

      I can’t see why not if you’re going to legitimately use them to redeem for a business flight and can demonstrate a link between the Avios you bought and a business flight redemption. If you were being prudent you might want to check with your accountant though…

      • Rob says:
        16 Aug16 August 09:48

        I have bought and instantly redeemed hotel points for a work trip and expenses it. Can’t see any problem.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      16 Aug16 August 07:13

      Keep the ratio 1:1 and maybe but I’d still be squeamish

  • s879 says:
    16 Aug16 August 09:01

    OT: I have to go to Dubai for a weekend in November. Would prefer BA re Avios earning and flight times vs Emirates but due to recent BA strikes and mayhem wondering if I should risk it. Any advice re if the risk is high or not?

    • Rob says:
      16 Aug16 August 09:45

      Should be fine, even if the pilots do strike in September it should be resolved quickly.

    • Andrew says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:01

      Not sure if the arrangement still exists but a compromise might be EK flight on the QF flight code which can be credited to BAEC?

      • AJA says:
        16 Aug16 August 11:38

        +1 That is still possible although I think the fare may be slightly higher with a QF flight number.

  • LewisB says:
    16 Aug16 August 10:25

    OT: Curve is crowdfunding.

    “For registered Curve users, there will be an exclusive early access period to invest. You’ll be able to invest from as little as £10 to own a part of Curve and gain access to exclusive shareholder rewards.

    As much as we’d like to accommodate all of our eligible customers, there will be a finite amount of investment available and funding will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. If interested, make sure to register your interest here to ensure you have first access and are included in all relevant updates.

    We look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks.”

    https://www.curve.app/en-gb/invest

    • Chas says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:32

      No detail as to what the “exclusive shareholder rewards” will be though. Have registered my interest though in case it leads to higher limits or similar.

    • TimTam says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:51

      This comes weeks after they got bunch of funding: “Curve, the London-based “over-the-top banking platform,” has raised $55 million in new funding.” – July 2019

      So is this a Robert Maxwell style scam; or a unprofitable business model trying to stay afloat?

      • Ross Parker says:
        16 Aug16 August 10:54

        I think these days, crowdfunding for equity has become a marketing activity, not a fundraising one.

  • Chris says:
    16 Aug16 August 10:49

    OT: App in the air 1% day

    Did anyone get / going to the App in the Air 1% travellers day @ the O2 on the 5th of September? Or have experience of a similar even in the US; trying to decide if its worth a trip down from Nottingham (Its a travel planning app more focussed on flights than say tripit?)

    • Rob says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:58

      We have a media invite – Rhys is probably going. Not exactly a long way for us though.

  • Roger says:
    16 Aug16 August 12:31

    OT just to reconfirm, if I book Avios rewards flight as Avios + £0.50 and if I have to cancel (must it be 24 hours+ before departure), do I get full Avios back and loose only 50p for the booking?

    On another note, BA system seems to be broken and it does not offer Avios + £17.50 (or £35 for RT) on short haul reward flights. Nearest Price is £50 or so even for economy booking for RT.

    • Lady London says:
      16 Aug16 August 15:55

      Let’s hope it’s just ‘broken’ then.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      16 Aug16 August 23:09

      As long as it’s more than 24 hours before departure you’ll get all your Avios back.

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.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

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

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

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? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

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!