Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 160 tier points from £180 in the British Airways sale

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We covered the new British Airways and BA Holidays sale last week. You can check out the best offers here.

In this article I want to look at Club Europe routes which are offering 160 tier points at good prices.

Remember that BA has cut status requirements by 25%

British Airways has reduced the number of tier points you need to earn status by 25% for membership years with an end date of 8th June 2022 or before as part of its coronavirus response. 

This means:

With a single £200ish Club Europe flight earning you 160 tier points return, Bronze or Silver status could be yours for a relatively modest outlay.  A few weekend breaks would get you Bronze or Silver status without any long-haul trips required.

Club Europe British Airways sale

What routes offer 160 tier points for the lowest price?

The prices below are the lowest fares showing on 160 tier point routes in the ba.com Low Fare Finder for Club Europe over the next 12 months.  I have only listed routes around £300 return or less.

Remember that you cannot currently travel on many of the routes listed below, so you are taking a gamble on the route opening up.

Your booking is refundable to the extent that British Airways will give you a ‘Future Travel Voucher’ if you choose to cancel for any reason.  You can read the terms of the ‘Book with Confidence’ guarantee here.

Here are cheapest 160 tier point Club Europe deals I could see.  You may need to stay a specific number of days or over a Saturday night to see these fares:

  • Algiers (£286)
  • Athens (£208)
  • Bucharest (£198)
  • Catania (£236)
  • Funchal (£282)
  • Gran Canaria (£272)
  • Istanbul (£266)
  • Lanzarote (£258)
  • Malta (£218)
  • Marrakech (£209)
  • Reykjavik (£243)
  • Sofia (£180)
  • Thessaloniki (£290)
  • Tirana (£194)

This Head for Points article lists all Club Europe routes which earn 160 tier points for a return flight.  Some routes on that last are currently suspended, however.

The cheapest Club Europe business class deals in the sale are under £160 but these only earn 80 tier points return.  On a ‘pound per point’ basis, the deals above are better.

How to book

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays.  You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card.

Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

You can book these fares and holiday packages on the BA website 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 (72)

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

  • Nick G says:
    14 Apr14 April 09:29

    Did or do BA fly to Izmir?

    • E14 says:
      14 Apr14 April 09:40

      They did from Heathrow, not anymore it seems (can’t see Bodrum either)

  • SVtravels says:
    14 Apr14 April 09:35

    Newbie question – If I have status and I book a flight for me and my family do we all get the benefits? Also does it apply if booking BA holidays. Probably really stupid question so apologies. If it doesn’t all fine with me I’ll book my seat in advance and the wife and kids will have to sit elsewhere!

  • Brighton Belle says:
    14 Apr14 April 09:42

    Since we’re having an irritable start to the day let’s talk about yesterday’s story that the rich frequent fliers should start behaving responsibly to cut their gigantic carbon emissions before the Greenland ice sheet disappears and Rob has a riverside house.

    Where do I buy shares in paperplaneairways.com?

    • Rob says:
      14 Apr14 April 10:52

      I want a riverside house, actually, but my wife is sensible enough to know that I should not be let anywhere near any sort of motorised boat.

  • James says:
    14 Apr14 April 10:48

    But once you add in the seven hour wait at Heathrow upon return, it really isn’t worth your time.
    Haven’t you got to add £100 for a PCR test too, so £280 and a 7 hour queue for 160TPs.

    • ChrisW says:
      14 Apr14 April 11:34

      Let us know where you can score a PCR test in the UK for £100. I saw one advertised online this week for £400 pp.

      • Tim says:
        14 Apr14 April 13:45

        £60 Randox tests via BA. Never seen once close to £400!

        • Tim says:
          14 Apr14 April 13:46

          Ones* 🙄

        • Rob says:
          14 Apr14 April 15:01

          There is one I saw for £350 where a nurse will come to my house, take the swabs direct to a lab and then send over the results.

          • Mike says:
            15 Apr15 April 09:31

            I don’t know what’s happening with it right now, but late last year (the last time I actually flew) the Sofitel T5 had a PCR testing service set up in one of the bars (run by HALO) at £89/pop.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        14 Apr14 April 19:07

        Expresstest and collinson.

        If you couldn’t find one for £100 or less you weren’t looking very hard 🙂

        • Damian says:
          15 Apr15 April 10:09

          That’s a great price compared to elsewhere.

          • Rob says:
            15 Apr15 April 10:26

            …. assuming they really are processing them and not just sending out faked bits of paper.

            Although, frankly, does it matter?

  • Gary says:
    14 Apr14 April 11:31

    On 17th May when the world opens up (ha!) some BAEC members will have less than 75% of a TP year to earn the reduced 75% of normal TPs to requalify for their status. BA must extend status again.

    • ChrisW says:
      14 Apr14 April 11:38

      I mean, let’s be honest. For the foreseeable future airline status isn’t as valuable as it used to be. If lounges remain closed or F&B severely pared back, priority boarding not used in order to spend minimal time onboard and plenty of empty seats to seat select from at check-in people aren’t going to be going out of their way to earn status.

      • Babyg says:
        14 Apr14 April 16:45

        could be more valuable, e.g. me as a lowly silver has been using the first class check-ins and lounges due to the reduced numbers.. all very civilized. In more practical terms the BA systems try to block free seats for silvers and above.

        • Rob says:
          14 Apr14 April 16:54

          Yes, I’m not keen on seeing the length of the standard check-in queues given all the paperwork that now needs to be presented.

  • Jay says:
    14 Apr14 April 14:20

    My tier point year ends on 8th Aug. Am I right in thinking for my Aug 2021-22 TP year I will NOT have the reduced thresholds?

  • Jonathan Warren says:
    14 Apr14 April 15:57

    Our flight on 19th May 2021 has been changed. Originally flying First on 2-4-1 but informed today that we have been downgraded to Club for the rest of May! It turns out that BA have substituted their regular 747 to a 351 which does not have First. Not happy as always enjoyed the First lounge. Not bothered about the flight back from Atlanta as the lounge there is awful.

    • C says:
      14 Apr14 April 16:20

      Weren’t the 747 all retired?

    • Babyg says:
      14 Apr14 April 16:50

      be happy you can fly, and most likely you will be able to use the first lounge due to club lounges being closed at LHR…. and if you’re that bothered there are threads on flyertalk that talk about compensation for downgrades etc.

    • Anna says:
      14 Apr14 April 18:16

      Indeed – was that just very lucky or did you only book recently? Also presumably you have one of the permitted reasons to be allowed into the US?

  • gillydee says:
    14 Apr14 April 19:05

    Tirana, here I come…..

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