Lloyds Avios upgrade vouchers are being extended to October – if you ask

We may not have written about the Lloyds Avios Rewards credit cards in a long time, but the cards are still out there – albeit with a new format – with people who had them before they were closed to new applicants.

Whilst Lloyds no longer offers this, many HfP readers will still have an unused upgrade voucher that they got as an annual bonus with the credit card.

I won’t bother going over how the voucher worked for the benefit of new readers, because it is essentially the same as the new Barclays Avios Rewards voucher. We explained how the Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher works here.

The key differences are:

• The Lloyds upgrade vouchers were only valid for one year, whilst the Barclays upgrade vouchers will be valid for two years

• The Lloyds upgrade vouchers could be used in either direction, whilst the rules say that the Barclays vouchers can only be used on flights from the UK – although we won’t know if this is true until people start using the vouchers in 2022

• The Lloyds vouchers were lost if you cancelled your booking, whilst the Barclays Avios Rewards vouchers are given back to you if you cancel your flight

Avios is extending unused Lloyds vouchers until 31st October

The good news if you have an unused Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher is that Avios is extending them until 31st October 2021.

From what I can tell, as I don’t have one of my own, you need to call Avios to request this. It is not being done automatically. Don’t ask, don’t get.

How do you contact Avios?

You might find the online chat function to be the easiest way.

Go to avios.com and change the country from UK to Ireland. A live chat icon will pop up.

Without wishing to state the obvious, if you try to do this at 9am on Thursday at the same time as a few thousand other HfP readers then you may have trouble getting through …..

Remember that 31st October 2021 is only the booking deadline

Don’t panic about having to fit in a flight this Summer in order to use it. The expiry date of a Lloyds voucher is the booking deadline, not the flying deadline. This is the opposite to how the British Airways American Express companion vouchers work.

Since the British Airways booking window is 355 days, you will be able to fly up to mid October 2022.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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:

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

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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.