Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

How to earn Avios with Cruise118

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Cruise118 became an Avios partner in 2019.  Long term readers will remember that they sponsored a competition on Head for Points in 2020 to win 100,000 Avios, but as we haven’t mentioned it since I thought it was worth running through their partnership today.

We haven’t done a huge amount about cruising on Head for Points, but we know that it’s a popular holiday choice for many readers.  If you or a family member are considering a cruise, it could be a lucrative way of earning additional Avios.

Avios Cruise118

How earn Avios with Cruise118

Cruise118 offers you 3 Avios for every £1 spent which is an attractive earn rate.

Is there any small print?

Some.  Initial enquiries must be made via the Avios landing page here with the final booking being made with the call centre.

Avios will be credited within six weeks of your departure date.  The name on the Avios account must match the name of the lead booker.

How is Cruise118’s pricing?

The company claims that “Our relationship with the cruise lines gives us access to all the best deals and discounts, including exclusive offers that you won’t find elsewhere.”

Earn Avios with Cruise118

However, the T&Cs say:

  1. The rates for Cruise bookings via cruise118.com/britishairways may differ from regular bookings with the same conditions on cruise118.com

I would therefore recommend comparing the price you see at the Avios Cruise118 site here with their main site here.

Who does Cruise118 work with?

You can book virtually all major cruise brands via Cruise118.

This includes Royal Caribbean, Princess, MSC, Oceania, Silversea, Celebrity Cruises and Fred Olsen.

In reality, it is difficult to know how well Cruise118 pricing compares to other agents.  However, if you are thinking about a cruise, it takes very little time to see what they have to offer and how the prices matches up.

You can visit their website here to find out more.


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 (12)

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

  • Mikeact says:

    Our cruising has always been booked via a US consolidator…amazing discounted prices, particularly last minute if you can do it….in fact, last time decided to do a weeks cruise while in the middle of a four week jaunt over there. Consolidator said he’d call us back, which he did.. could we get to Miami for a cruise 48hrs later ? No problem, far,far less than a hotel for the week, and for a balcony worked out 90 % off the so called list price…incredible. The look on the faces of our dining companions said it all.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      Mike that’s great and all but if I infer correctly you bragged to the said dining companions about how much less than them they’d paid then essentially what you did there was take a little out of the enjoyment of people on holiday which is kinda a, well, a Richard move…

      • Peter K says:

        I also got the feeling tha Mike made others feel less happy by bragging to make himself feel/look better. What a shame.

        • WaynedP says:

          It’s possible Mikeact only revealed figures after being asked to do so.

          In which case one forfeits the “ignorance is bliss” option, but conversely arms oneself to seek a better deal for future cruises.

  • Dubious says:

    Wow, only one comment (now two)!
    Is that a record?

  • Ash Raj says:

    Mike what websites/ companies do you use for booking the cruises? Thanks

  • Dawn says:

    I tried them after HFP recommendation as I usually use vacationstogo.com. I found them quite unhelpful and also expensive so decided not to book with them at the time.

    • Roger W says:

      I used their SixstarCruise sister and was not impressed. A couple of percent off. Had to chase the agent. Charged me an admin fee when I changed the cruise.

      Still waiting to hear wh Mike uses. I often look at the US sites but rarely see a great discount (for Celebrity).

      • WaynedP says:

        There’s still a “spend £1,000+ get £150 back” on two of my Amex credit cards (BAPP and Plat) that’s been around for a little while. Transaction must be billed online with Celebrity Cruises directly on or before 25 Aug.

        • Roger W says:

          Thanks for that Wayne. Have paid off a bit of an upcoming cruise with that. I note that I should have booked via the link so may not work. I get a 10% military discount but need to call on the phone to the UK site. I have booked using their US site as occasionally the prices are much cheaper although had to pay with my Halifax Clarity card as the Amex would have incurred fees.

          Still waiting for Mikeact’s cruise company. I never find the UK TAs save more than a couple of percent.

    • simon says:

      I’ve used vacationstogo.com a few times and had some great deals from them. I’ve also used cabin clearance store in the US and usually compare the prices to booking directly with Celebrity and also vivavoyage.com (UK based) and obviously go with the best deal. I’ve found viva voyage to be the cheapest UK based agent but annoyingly they will not accept Amex.

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

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