(DEAD) Avios to Nectar transfers are now instant again – albeit at the new lower rate

Today, 16th November, is the day that the ‘Avios to Nectar’ exchange rate is meant to adjust. (I say ‘meant to’ because it hasn’t, so far – see the PS. at the bottom.)

Instead of a two-way transfer rate of 250 Avios = 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios, the rate is diverging.

On the upside, transfers into Nectar now go through instantly.

EDIT: This article is now out of date. Avios conversions are now active at the new rate and a new transfer system is in place which works differently to the one below. Transfers are no longer instant – it isn’t clear how long they will take.

As a reminder, from today the exchange rate is meant to be:

• 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points (a 20% devaluation) and

• 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios

The key implications of the devaluation are:

• you can no longer move Avios back and forth to Nectar without penalty – from now on, if you reverse a conversion into Nectar, you will end up worse off than when you started

• the ‘floor value’ of an Avios drops from 0.8p (250 Avios = 400 Nectar points = £2) to 0.66p (300 Avios = 400 Nectar points = £2) which makes some non-Nectar redemptions more attractive in comparison

Avios to Nectar transfers are now instant

One bit of good news from the devaluation is that transfers from Avios to Nectar are now instant.

(Transfers in the other direction, from Nectar into Avios, have always been instant.)

Avios to Nectar transfers were instant when the partnership originally launched. However, a huge wave of fraud – there are lots of BA account details and passwords for sale on the dark web – meant that blocks had to be put in place.

For the last year or so, you have had to wait 10 days for an Avios to Nectar transfer to complete. This was a purely artificial block to give members a chance to spot the transaction if it was being done from a hacked account.

This has now gone. As of today, your points move across immediately.

The process has changed slightly. You start on the British Airways Nectar page as usual – click here.

When you initiate a transaction, you are first asked to confirm your date of birth:

Once you have done this, a clickable link is sent to your email address.

Click this and the transfer completes instantly.

(It is still buggy. I tested this four times, and on two occasions the email did not arrive before the 10 minute expiry period was up, although it did arrive in the end.)

PS. At the time of writing (4pm), the old rate of 250 Avios = 400 Nectar points is still running. If you want to move some points across before they devalue, you may still have time. For safety, do a test of 250 Avios first. If this works, you can instantly repeat with a larger number.

PPS. If you don’t have the Nectar American Express credit card, take a look at our review here.

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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.