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LATAM abandons its planned joint venture with IAG

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Regular readers will know that LATAM, the Chilean airline, has announced that it is leaving the oneworld alliance next year as we explain here.  This follows a $1.9bn equity investment from SkyTeam member Delta Air Lines and the signing of a major joint venture agreement.

There was some hope that LATAM may retain a full ‘earn and burn’ frequent flyer agreement with Iberia and British Airways.

The three airlines had been planning a joint venture – co-ordinating fares and schedules – between Europe and South America for a couple of years, although nothing had been signed.

This will no longer happen.  LATAM has reportedly stated that IAG and LATAM have jointly decided to terminate the negotiations.

Existing codeshare agreements will continue.  Even when LATAM leaves oneworld, you should be able to continue earning Avios on their flights if they carry a British Airways or Iberia flight number.

There is no certainty that redemptions will be possible, however – British Airways has numerous codeshare partners with whom you cannot spend Avios.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 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

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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

oneworld alliance partners

Comments (70)

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

  • Clive says:
    15 Dec15 December 11:13

    Morning, does anyone know how long before you receive the bonus Bonvoy points from an Amex transfer?

    • Russ says:
      15 Dec15 December 11:36

      Just 3 clear business days last week from transferring from Amex to showing in my Marriott account.

      • Russ says:
        15 Dec15 December 11:57

        Sorry Clive I thought you were referring to the extra points usually applied.

      • Rob says:
        15 Dec15 December 12:17

        Base points only I assume, not the targeted bonus some people were offered which posts later?

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      15 Dec15 December 11:39

      Early January I’d expect, after the offer ends (runs to 31st December).

  • TGLoyalty says:
    15 Dec15 December 13:11

    25k points is the issue. Not much worth visiting for that price.

    • Freddy says:
      15 Dec15 December 16:01

      Not bad if your two paid stays are cheap ones. My err twin brother freddo may sign up for this if the need arises

  • Henry says:
    15 Dec15 December 14:10

    OT what’s the cheapest way to travel from Paddington area into Heathrow (Term 3)
    Also any lounge recommendations for T3 ?
    We are flying eco delight with Virgin so no free entry.
    We have lounge key with Curve card and also a Hsbc world elite card that we can use for getting inside though
    Thank you

    • 1nfrequent says:
      15 Dec15 December 14:41

      TfL Rail is probably your best bet – goes from platforms 12 and 13 and stops at Heathrow Central for Terminal 3 but only goes every 30 minutes so you’ll need to check out the timetable. You can tap in and out using a credit card rather than buy a ticket. It’s about £10.

      I suspect you’ve left it to late to get one of the advance tickets that bring down the cost of the Heathrow Express.

      Tube is cheaper still (about £6) but getting to the Piccadilly Line from Paddington is a bit of a pain.

      1F

      • Lady London says:
        16 Dec16 December 21:27

        Absolute cheapest would be a bus. Anything to Hyde Park Corner then change for another bus to Edgware Road (short walk to lots of Paddington. Other routes on tfl dot gov dot uk.

        Google maps is quite good now for public transport although sometimes does not offer the route you’d take as a local. Citymapper app seems excellent and works in quite a few cities internationally.

    • Liam says:
      15 Dec15 December 22:40

      If there is more than one in the party you may find an Uber/Kapten/Bolt the best option. It won’t necessarily be the cheapest but might work out at a very reasonable per-person cost. It’s certainly worth checking if you’ve never used Kapten or Bolt before and can find a sign-up/referral offer.

      • Lady London says:
        16 Dec16 December 01:19

        Kapten is churning out quite a few offers after I recently signed up – they seem to have a program of them that they send one after the other for a few weeks.

  • Shoestring says:
    15 Dec15 December 14:22

    Lounge Key gets you into the 2 lounges, No1 is the only one to let you reserve for £5, though so is your best bet – what day & time are you travelling? – as 80-90% of the time you’ll get turned away without a reservation (both)

    Club Aspire being the other lounge – both reviewed on HFP

    • henry says:
      15 Dec15 December 15:57

      We are flying at 2.45 pm with Virgin to Las Vegas we have not been to Heathrow for over a decade as we use Manchester whenever we go away due to our location.

      • Shoestring says:
        15 Dec15 December 16:15

        and don’t go blaming me for the £5 when you turn up & the lounge looks a bit empty! half the space gets pre-booked by airlines for Business passengers who don’t always turn up

        put it this way: I have put £25 on the line for next Saturday afternoon (5 of us) – & as you may have gathered I don’t like wasting money

        • Shoestring says:
          15 Dec15 December 16:17

          don’t hang around booking, either, if it’s for next week you might already be too late

        • Henry says:
          15 Dec15 December 17:13

          Lol thank you for the heads up i will get it sorted asap.
          Have a great trip Saturday

  • Shoestring says:
    15 Dec15 December 14:38

    I felt a touch nervous passing through Great Scotland Yard’s forbidding pine-green doors.

    —> google the above and you can get behind the paywall (Sunday Times/ Times)
    Exclusive review: inside the Great Scotland Yard hotel, London

  • Benilyn says:
    15 Dec15 December 14:40

    OT: Anyone feeling festive and want to gift me Hilton Diamond status?I really would like the status for a January trip for Executive Lounge….

    • TGLoyalty says:
      15 Dec15 December 14:57

      What or which other status allows you to gift Hilton diamond status?

      • Benilyn says:
        15 Dec15 December 15:42

        Hilton diamond who have hit enough nights I think can gift Hilton Diamond if I’ve read correctly.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          15 Dec15 December 17:14

          Looks like yep 60 night diamond can gift Good and after 100 nights they can gift diamond.

    • The Original Nick says:
      15 Dec15 December 17:48

      Would they not gift a good friend or relative first?

  • Nic says:
    15 Dec15 December 16:32

    BITS/OT CURVE

    I’m a Curve legacy Black user. Curve just reset the retailer choices and three month trial of Curve Cash as a “Christmas present”. Check your app.

  • LK35 says:
    15 Dec15 December 16:49

    O/T

    Best way to keep Turkish Airlines miles from expiring? Received an email saying a chunk of my miles (only 7k) expire in 20 days. Not quite sure if MR points can be transferred or something to keep them alive…

    Any input appreciated!

    L

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