Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get up to 12,500 Avios for 1.2p each with a subscription to The Spectator

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In late 2020, Avios launched a partnership with The Spectator magazine. There is a generous incentive available if you sign up for a subscription.

You can check out the Avios deal here.

Spectator Avios offer

What is The Spectator?

If you’ve never read The Spectator, it is a weekly news and reviews magazine with a high-end and right-wing slant (Boris Johnson was once editor).

Even if you don’t agree with the political slant, the reviews and columns in the back half are generally a good read. It is printed on very light paper and is the perfect thing to read whilst travelling – shove it in your laptop bag and it keeps you busy for a short flight.

Of course …. you may find the Avios deal attractive even if you don’t like the magazine.

What is the Avios deal?

As you can see here, there are four options:

  • Digital subscription for 6 months – £59.50 and earn 5,000 Avios
  • Digital subscription for 12 months – £119 and earn 10,000 Avios
  • Print & digital subscription for 6 months – £79.50 earn earn 6,250 Avios
  • Print & digital subscription for 12 months – £159 earn earn 12,500 Avios

The digital subscriptions work out at 1.19p per Avios. The print and digital combos are marginally more expensive at 1.27p per Avios.

When do you receive your Avios?

The rules says that you will receive your Avios within two weeks of taking out your subscription. This is presumably as soon as the 14-day refund period expires.

Spectator Magazine Avios offer

Am I signing up for a recurring payment?

It isn’t clear. You can only pay by credit card or PayPal – there is no direct debit option. It doesn’t say anywhere that you will be setting up a recurring payment.

In any event, it seems easy enough to cancel. The magazine FAQ say:

“For some subscriptions, you can set your subscription to cancel on expiry from within your account section. To do so, go to www.spectator.co.uk to log in and then click on the account tab in the top right corner. Under the ‘my account’ section, click on the ‘subscriptions’ tab. Click on the ‘manage’ link, and then switch the auto-renew toggle off. Once the auto-renew toggle has been turned off, you will be able to see the date by which your current subscription will end. No further payment will be charged. If this option is not available for your subscription you can contact our customer service team to cancel your subscription.”

Conclusion

This is an easy way to pick up between 5,000 and 12,500 Avios for around 1.2p per point.

Even better, you should have the points in your British Airways account after two weeks.

You can find out more, and sign up, on this special page of The Spectator website.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 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

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.

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 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,000 points bonus – plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Get up to 40,000 points as a sign-up offer 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 (19)

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

  • ben says:

    Quite often they do a 12 issues for £12 and a free bottle of Spectator Gin , which is rather pleasant (though not sure it is worth the £30 price they sell it for online.)

  • RogerWilco says:

    “Discontinued digital subscription”

    That’s the message I get and an offer for 1 month free + £3,99/issue

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

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