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Blow to Irish Avios collectors as SuperValu Real Rewards ends its partnership

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Avios collectors in Ireland are facing a blow as the Aer Lingus AerClub programme losing its supermarket partner, SuperValu.

(As a reminder, our coverage of Avios Ireland (AerClub) is exclusively on the Head for Points website.  You will not receive these articles via our daily emails unless it is a deal which UK residents can take part in.)

SuperValue dropping Avios

The way that this programme has worked is that you earn one Real Rewards point for every €1 you spend in SuperValu.  You could convert Real Rewards points or Money Back vouchers into Avios at the rate of 1:1.

At 1 Avios per €1 spent, it wasn’t hugely generous unless there was a transfer bonus running.

The Avios / SuperValu partnership ends next month

According to an annnouncement on the SuperValue website here:

“The loyalty partnership between AerClub and SuperValu Real Rewards will end on May 19th 2022. From that date, you will no longer be able to convert Real Rewards points into Avios.”

It is going out with a 50% transfer bonus

The one piece of good news is that the partnership is going out with a bang.

Until 5th May, you will get a 50% bonus when converting Real Rewards points into Avios. This is the highest bonus for some years.

This means 1 Real Rewards point is worth 1.5 Avios.

The minimum transfer level is 50 Real Rewards points or a €2.50 Money Back Voucher.

Full details can be found on the SuperValu site 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.

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 (13)

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

  • Will says:

    What a great name for a rewards program!

  • Declan says:

    It’s exceptionally difficult to earn Avios or any other airline rewards points in Ireland already – and this just makes the situation worse. Why are we not offered the types of credit cards available in other Eurozone countries? I really don’t get it.

    • James Harper says:

      Is there anything stopping you applying for credit cards in other Eurozone countries? I have a French bank account because it’s easier to maintain as a Euro account than anything with a UK bank and that gives me access to credit cards across the Euro zone.

      I’m particularly interested if you are limited because I was thinking of moving the account to AIB but if I’m limited in my credit cards as a result, I’ll stick with Credit Agricole.

      • Max says:

        Which French bank lets you open an account without a French address?

      • Declan says:

        I can’t open a bank account or get a credit card in another country without a valid address in that country.

    • Bob says:

      There is almost no competition in other Eurozone countries between banks like in the uk. They all offer the same type of “loans” if you want a card. And with no reward points.

      • Declan says:

        BA have free or low fee Avios reward earning cards available in Italy and France with 1 Avios per €1 spend. Iberia have similar in Spain. All we have in Ireland is an Aer Lingus card with an €8 monthly fee and only earns 1 Avios for every €4 spend.

    • bafan says:

      It’s a tiny country and a very uncompetitive financial market. Not rocket science really.

      • Peter says:

        I don’t know if I mis-remembered, so please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there also a tax of so much a year on credit cards which I think also discourages take up from customers which also leads to it being less competitive? I don’t think the government over there is pro-credit card for people.

        • QFFlyer says:

          There is, an annual stamp duty of around EUR30 per credit card.

          • QFFlyer says:

            Should have added, it also applied to debit cards when I had an Ulster Bank ROI account (but didn’t apply to non-residents, so I never actually paid it).

        • Rob says:

          €30

      • QFFlyer says:

        This, NZ faces the same problems, Amex or bust (appreciate Amex gave up on Ireland years ago though).

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

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