Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 15,000 cheap Avios with The Economist – as low as 0.86p with £60 Amex cashback

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British Airways and The Economist have brought back their special offer for taking out a subscription. This is the first offer we’ve seen since October.

As you can see at this link, you can earn 15,000 or 18,000 Avios with a new one-year subscription.

What is special this time is that you can tie it in with a new £60 American Express cashback deal for an Economist subscription.

avios economist offer

Ignoring the Amex cashback for a moment, here are the two subscription options on offer if you are a UK resident:

  • Digital only:  £189 with 15,000 Avios (1.26p per Avios)
  • Print and digital:  £239 with 18,000 Avios (1.32p per Avios)

‘Print only’ subscriptions are no longer available.

Subscribing to The Economist could make sense just for the Avios bonus even if you have little intention of reading it in detail, although there are occasional opportunities to buy Avios points for nearer 1p each.

Earn Avios with The Economist

Don’t forget your £60 cashback with American Express

You should also check your American Express cards for an Economist offer:

Economist Amex cashback

You’ll get £60 cashback when you spend £189 or more, which is conveniently the same price as a digital subscription. When factoring in the cashback, the value increases further:

  • Digital only:  £129 with 15,000 Avios (0.86p per Avios)
  • Print and digital:  £179 with 18,000 Avios (0.99p per Avios)

There is no problem combining both deals – I did this when the offer ran in October and the Avios and cashback both arrived punctually.

0.86p per Avios is very attractive in its own right. Getting a full year of The Economist on top is an added bonus.

As always, if you are self-employed you may be happy writing off the subscription cost as a business expense.  This would sharply reduce your price per Avios even further.

Both the American Express cashback deal and the 18,000 Avios offer end on 31st March. You can subscribe here.


HFP-Barclaycard-Avios-Card

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.

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

25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £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 £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

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

30,000 points and unbeatable travel 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

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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.

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

American Express Business Platinum

Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 30th March) and a £200 Amex Travel credit every year Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

60,000 points sign-up bonus (to 30th March) 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 (76)

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

  • Alex says:

    Hi Rob, with your past experience in this offer, how long does It take for avios to be credited once the subscription is taken out? I’m assuming some time after the 14 day cooling off period? TIA

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

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