Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

How to use Avios for £500 off a new iPhone 14 at Argos

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Today is the day that the new iPhone 14 is available for sale, although you will need to wait until 7th October for the larger iPhone 14 Plus.

As I’m sure many HfP readers will be considering an upgrade, I thought it was worth a reminder of how you can use your Avios to buy items from Argos.

Argos stocks the full range of iPhone 14 smartphones as you can see here and the prices are no different to what you will find elsewhere.

Use Avios for an iPhone

For HfP readers with large Avios balances, this could be very attractive.

You can now, at the cap, convert 62,500 Avios into 100,000 Nectar points and get £500 to spend at Argos.

One snag is that the maximum monthly transfer of Avios to Nectar points is 50,000 Avios. If you do want to make a £500+ purchase at Argos you will need to move 50,000 Avios during September and the rest on 1st October.

Argos will be better value for some people than Sainsbury’s

Whilst a Nectar point is worth the same 0.5p at Sainsbury’s, Argos or Habitat – or indeed eBay, Eurostar or various other partners – some readers felt that you weren’t getting ‘true’ value at Sainsbury’s.

True or false, some people see Sainsbury’s as overpriced or poor value for money compared to Waitrose at the higher end or Aldi / Lidl at the lower end.

You can’t say that about Argos which is well known for its competitive pricing, and of course convenience.

How do you transfer Avios into Nectar points?

The conversion rate between Avios and Nectar is:

  • 250 Avios = 400 Nectar points
  • 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios

Here is the key thing: there is no value loss in either direction. You can transfer your points as often as you want and you will still have the same amount you started with.

You can convert Nectar points to Avios via the British Airways website here.

The transfer is INSTANT if you are transferring TO Avios from Nectar but there is a 10-day delay if you are going in the opposite direction as you would be here.

Nectar Avios light

Let’s look at the maths.

400 Nectar points, if spent at Argos or indeed Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk etc would get you £2 off your shopping. As you are giving up 250 Avios, you are getting 0.8p per Avios. (250 Avios are given up in return for 200p and 200/250 = 0.8.)

Can I use Nectar points for online shopping at Argos?

Yes.

You need to go to this page of the Argos website and link your Nectar card to your Argos account.

You will then be offered the opportunity to pay with Nectar points during checkout. You can top up your purchase with a credit card as usual, although you cannot pay the balance with an Argos gift card.

As we found out when buying a new monitor for my wife’s home office last year, Argos has a very efficient ‘click and collect’ service. Many items are available for next day collection from your local Sainsbury’s store, including Sainsbury’s Local.

Can I use Nectar points for in-store shopping at Argos?

Yes. You can swipe your Nectar card, or scan your Nectar app, at the till and pay any remaining balance separately.

The limit is £500 of points per transaction

This page of the Argos website explains how the Nectar deal works. It is also where you need to go to link your accounts.

The site confirms that the maximum Nectar spend is 100,000 points (£500) per transaction. You need to redeem in multiples of 500 Nectar points.

PS. If you are looking for a new computer at the moment, you will earn 3,000 bonus Nectar points (1,875 Avios) when you spend £250 or more on laptops or PCs at Argos, online or instore, until 9th October. Full details are 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, Sainsbury's and Nectar

Comments (160)

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

  • TimM says:
    16 Sep16 September 07:25

    The iPhone 14 is only a very minor upgrade. Many suspect that it is Apple’s ‘plan B’ because TMRC are late with their 3nM chip process (iPhone 14 uses the same 5nM process). The iPhone Mini has been dropped altogether. It looks better value to buy last year’s discounted iPhone 13 or and/or wait for the iPhone 15 which should deliver a much larger upgrade. Now that is what I call savings.

    • Harry T says:
      16 Sep16 September 08:00

      👍🏻

    • lumma says:
      16 Sep16 September 08:04

      Best way to save money on a phone is to keep your old phone until you really have to replace it. No phones have really had any game changing upgraded in the last five years or so and if anything have taken out features. Unless maybe you want on of the folding screen phones

      I recently broke the screen on my Samsung note 10 and had to go back to my note 8 and have hardly noticed any difference (I actually like the fingerprint scanner in back and iris unlock, and it has a headphone jack).

      • Harry T says:
        16 Sep16 September 08:06

        Agreed, I’m still very happy with my iPhone 11 Pro.

        • CarpalTravel says:
          16 Sep16 September 09:46

          Likewise. I have bought a DSLR instead with the money I had earmarked.

          They have also held out on moving to USB-C, something I’ll wager a decent proportion of people are waiting for. Obviously milking out the Lightning licensing payments until the last second.

      • BuildBackBetter says:
        16 Sep16 September 08:08

        This. Replaced battery and extended life by another 2 years on my iPhone XS.
        The only reason I would upgrade is the camera, that too only if there’s atleast a 3 year gap.

        • lumma says:
          16 Sep16 September 08:20

          Yeah, battery life is the one killer for older phones. When I get my Note 10 back from Samsung it’s also going to have a new battery and that’s the main thing I’m looking forward to! The cameras are improving too but not the giant leaps forwards they made in the 2010s

      • AJA says:
        16 Sep16 September 08:26

        I agree with you @lumma. My S20 is still working perfectly well since purchased in Nov 2020 (apart from an issue in Feb which was repaired for free under warranty). I had the S7 before it and that lasted over 4.5 years. In fact I still have it as a back up and it was useful while the S20 was repaired.

      • Alan says:
        16 Sep16 September 08:42

        Agree, still happily using my Google Pixel 5 – can’t see any major benefit of upgrading, good size (not too bulky) and does everything I need with ease.

      • Brian78 says:
        16 Sep16 September 09:12

        I’ve had my iPhone XR for not far off 4 years and the battery life is still good and it hasn’t slowed down so there’s no reason for me to replace it

        • Londonsteve says:
          16 Sep16 September 09:20

          I’ll throw my hat into the ring here. I’m very happy with my iPhone 7. Works outstandingly well and hasn’t slowed down. I put a new battery in it at Apple for £50 and over 3 years later it’s still at 80% capacity. It runs all apps and makes excellent photos. Why would I want to spend £1000 on a phone? When Apple terminate iOS upgrades I’ll buy a newer phone from a quality reseller for £2-300.

      • Aston100 says:
        16 Sep16 September 10:51

        Still got a Nokia 3310 here.

      • Lady London says:
        16 Sep16 September 21:04

        Yes the removal of headphone jacks is just so annoying.

        I suppose USB-C would count as new in past 5 years but that’s not just phones.

    • Lewis says:
      16 Sep16 September 11:06

      Yeah I just upgraded from my 13 Pro so my wife could have that. Her’s was really falling apart.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:
    16 Sep16 September 07:26

    If you are in the market for a computer take a look at the Curry’s store on eBay. There can be good discounts to be had, comes with a Curry’s warranty, and also allows for avios/nectar spend. The discount vs other retailers should more than make up for the loss of 1,875 Avios via Argos.

  • EvilGazebo says:
    16 Sep16 September 07:50

    Article has reminded of the British class system described in a single joke:

    Q: What’s the best thing about Sainsburys?

    A: It keeps the scum out of Waitrose.

  • Mikeact says:
    16 Sep16 September 08:05

    I’d rather stay with my Samsung S22 than jump into bed with Apple.

    • BLT says:
      16 Sep16 September 08:20

      Well done. I would rather keep my iPhone than have to use an android.

      • AJA says:
        16 Sep16 September 08:31

        I don’t get this Apple is better than Android rivalry. I don’t really think it matters which system is better. What matters is that you are happy with the system you choose.The good news is that we can all choose what we would like to use.

        • lumma says:
          16 Sep16 September 08:50

          Indeed, I personally don’t like how Apple products “work” and they work better if you have more parts of their “ecosystem” but they are impressive pieces of technology and I don’t see why grown adults behave like this.

          • Blenz101 says:
            16 Sep16 September 09:03

            Yeah. It’s a dead cert that any article that mentions Apple will have an Android user along to state how much cheaper and better the competition is.

            This massive insecurity by Android users that their cheaper phones need to constantly be justified as being technically superior.

            If the article was able saving money on a Dyson I can’t imagine the Hoover crowd piling.

          • TimM says:
            16 Sep16 September 09:45

            Indeed, as a lifelong Mac user, I love the integration with iPhone, iCloud, iTunes, Calendar, Contacts, Messages, Mail, iMovie, etc. etc. etc.. I have spent so many years in Apple’s ecosystem that the upheaval involved in leaving it is not even worth considering, not for a pico second. I am truly where Apple want me to be.

          • CarpalTravel says:
            16 Sep16 September 09:51

            @Blenz101 – as a long term user of both I get to sit on the fence and laugh at how snottily superior some Apple-fans are.

            Worst is how dedicated they seem to be about *crushing* the competition, which frankly is in no one but shareholders interest.

        • Brian78 says:
          16 Sep16 September 09:15

          Who cares either way which phone someone else uses?

          They all let you take pictures and use the internet whilst on the bog at work. Some of them even let you make calls!

          Battery life is the only real differentiator

          • Rhys says:
            16 Sep16 September 09:49

            Software support is a bigger differentiator than battery life at this point.

          • Brian78 says:
            16 Sep16 September 09:55

            What do you mean by software support? ( I’m not very tech aware)

          • CarpalTravel says:
            16 Sep16 September 10:01

            I think Rhys is referring to operating system (OS) updates, Apple provide their devices with updates for longer.

            Whilst it is good (and more possible, due to them being the sole manufacturer of the hardware their OS runs on, unlike Android) it is something that very few outside of tech blogs and forums actually cares about.

          • Novice says:
            16 Sep16 September 10:16

            @carpaltravel, a few yrs ago I had two phones at same time coz I was going through a phase I wanted to try every gadget possible. So had Samsung and iPhone, both were good if compared to each other and I would never diss an Android now but the problem with Samsung was the ecosystem; nothing was smooth delivery unlike my iPhone. With Samsung I was always having to look up if it was compatible to this or that and I think they are too feature heavy.

            Some people just want a decent phone with just their preferred Apps and nothing extra. At that time I remember I didn’t want any social media app (still don’t) but if I remember correctly I couldn’t delete fb etc on Android but iPhone allowed me to do whatever I pleased.

            So in conclusion I understand the Apple fans.

          • CarpalTravel says:
            16 Sep16 September 10:31

            @Novice that is a Samsung issue, not an Android issue. I have had two Samsungs (inc. a Touchwiz version, euuuuw) and both were unpleasant and bloaty. If that is your experience of Android then I understand what you are saying, Samsung really ruin the experience.

            I have had virtually every Google phone made with pure android, Nexus and Pixels, the software gap between the two there is tiny. In many respects Android is way ahead, which is why I have a Pixel 6 Pro as well. I want to just have one phone but Apple just haven’t got iOS where I need it to be.

          • John says:
            16 Sep16 September 12:15

            My power pack has more mAh than yours

        • Jonathan says:
          16 Sep16 September 11:41

          Apple vs Android rivalry is a case of personal preference.

          Many people are loyal to one smartphone manufacturer (Apple / Samsung for instance), others will just go for quite literally anything that they feel looks the best !

          One of the guys at my workplace likes Samsungs, and says that their watch range gives around 2 days battery life from a full charge, compared to Apple’s watch range, and although I love my Apple Watch 6, it’s battery life is pathetic

          • Rhys says:
            16 Sep16 September 13:50

            Who cares about battery life of a watch though? Once you’re used to plugging your phone in daily it makes no difference – I take mine off to sleep every night. On the rare occasion I’m travelling over multiple time zones and flights it holds up fine.

  • AJA says:
    16 Sep16 September 08:28

    It’s not mentioned in the article but you also earn NP on the purchase even when you use NP to pay. They take about 30 days to post.

  • AJA says:
    16 Sep16 September 08:38

    Not directly related to the article but it is about Nectar Points. This morning I got an extra 1534 NP with the text “Sainsbury’s email bonus points” Not complaining and I know the first rule of fight club but anyone know what this is for and did anyone else get something similar?

    • lumma says:
      16 Sep16 September 08:44

      It will likely to have been some double points offer that you qualified for. I think there’s been a few ways to qualify for it in the past but you got double points on your regular spending in Sainsbury’s – so spend £20 and you get a bonus 20 points. You don’t get double points on the bonus points just the standard spending.

      • AJA says:
        16 Sep16 September 08:50

        Thanks. I did qualify for double points on Sainsbury’s spend for converting NP to Avios but I got that weeks ago or so I thought. It’s a nice bonus nontheless.

  • G says:
    16 Sep16 September 08:50

    If you buy something for £500 with nectar points and then return for a refund to gift card, it should be possible to by an iPhone fully with Avios.

    • JerrySignfield says:
      16 Sep16 September 11:08

      They refund to Nectar if you cancel, I presume they would do the same on a refund

      • G says:
        16 Sep16 September 12:54

        Not my experience. I paid for something using nectar points then paid the pennies on top with a credit card. Went to return and was asked for the credit cards but I didn’t have it on me so they put the whole amount back onto a gift card

    • andiron says:
      16 Sep16 September 17:54

      Or buy Argos GiftCard in Sains nectar points..

  • Novice says:
    16 Sep16 September 10:04

    I personally have thought for years iPhone 4 was peak innovation after that it’s just been tweaking the phone but not exactly game changer.

    I’m personally an Apple mac/phone user and have been for years since I was tiny.

    But I think they have got one thing wrong about features unless I’m wrong so if I’m wrong pls correct me; but I can’t be the only one who hates the fact you can’t delete pics on mac/phone without it getting deleted automatically from iCloud unless you have the sync capability off and I really think that is not a good thing. I would rather all stuff stays in iCloud and still syncs because otherwise I’m always having to buy up extra space for mac because I just have too much stuff on it.

    • CarpalTravel says:
      16 Sep16 September 10:23

      In your icloud/Mac Photos settings you can select optimise storage, which will leave low-res items on the phone/mac until you open the image and then it’ll download the full-res file. This is managed automatically based on how much free space you have available.

      By having a local file deletion process you would essentially be maintaining 2 photo libraries (local and cloud) which I think would be confusing and messy.

      • Novice says:
        16 Sep16 September 15:58

        I already have and know that still I just have too many pics. I’m an amateur hobbyist photographer and it can be a nightmare.

        And I actually think they could design it in such a way that nothing deletes from iCloud no matter what unless the person uses some special password or something. There should be some auto AI way where during sync all new things get saved a d everything that is duplicate should go in a bin then bin should be automatically checked once over to ensure it truly is just duplicate files and then trashed forever.

        If someone here is in relation to Apple or some software engineer maybe come up with something like this. I’d pay anything for this.

        • Sam says:
          16 Sep16 September 18:46

          I worked on something similar. Would estimate the cost at about $250k. Where do I send the invoice?

    • G says:
      16 Sep16 September 10:49

      I use Amazon photos on iPhone and it works as you would expect. New photos/videos get synced to the cloud but stay there even if they are deleted from the phone.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

NEW: Sign-up bonuses boosted to 3,000 and 18,000 points

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!