Get 15,000 cheap Avios with The Economist – as low as 0.89p with £65 Amex cashback

British Airways and The Economist have brought back their special offer for taking out a subscription.

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

You can tie it in with a new £65 American Express cashback deal for an Economist subscription if you are targeted on one of your cards.

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

• Digital only:  £199 with 15,000 Avios (1.32p per Avios)

• Print and digital:  £265 with 18,000 Avios (1.47p 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 ever-increasing opportunities to buy Avios points for nearer 1p each.

Don’t forget your £65 cashback with American Express

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

You’ll get £65 cashback when you spend £199 or more which is conveniently the same price as a digital subscription. When factoring in the cashback, the value increases further:

• Digital only:  £134 with 15,000 Avios (0.89p per Avios)

• Print and digital:  £200 with 18,000 Avios (1.11p 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.

0.89p 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.

The American Express cashback offer ends on 31st July. It isn’t clear when the Avios offer ends. You can subscribe here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

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.

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.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.