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Avios to Nectar transfers are now instant again

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When Avios launched the ability to transfer points to Nectar, I warned that it would lead to serious security issues. After all, there are lots of British Airways Executive Club account details and passwords for sale on the dark web. The only reason we hadn’t seen more accounts hacked is that it was difficult to spend stolen Avios in an untraceable way.

Once you could instantly transfer Avios to Nectar, this all changed. Suddenly a hacked Avios account had real value. You can guess what happened next, and if you can’t guess then read this Sunday Times article which I helped to put together (paywall).

For over two years there has been a 10 day ‘security delay’ on transfers from Avios to Nectar. This has now been removed. Transfers from Avios to Nectar are now instant again.

Avios to Nectar transfers are now instant again

I tried it out and it definitely works. ‘Instant’ means ‘instant’. If you refresh the Nectar app as soon as you’ve clicked the ‘Transfer’ button at ba.com, you will see your points there.

As a reminder, the exchange rate between Avios and Nectar is:

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

Remember that:

  • you cannot move Avios back and forth to Nectar without penalty – if you reverse a conversion into Nectar, you will end up worse off than when you started. 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios.
  • the ‘floor value’ of an Avios if you transfer out is 0.66p (300 Avios = 400 Nectar points = £2 to spend with a Nectar partner)

How do you transfer Avios to Nectar points?

You start on the British Airways Nectar page as usual – click here which has all the key information.

You are then sent across to the BA shopping site, where you can make a transfer in either direction between your Avios and Nectar accounts.

It is also possible to set up auto-convert in either direction.

Avios to Nectar transfers are now instant again

Think once, think twice!

The number of conversions FROM Avios to Nectar has – unfortunately for IAG Loyalty – been far higher than anticipated. The pandemic didn’t help of course. With no ability to fly, cashing out to spend at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.co.uk was attractive.

This is why the conversion rate was cut. It used to be that 250 Avios got you 400 Nectar points worth £2 (so 0.8p per Avios). Now, 300 Avios gets you 400 Nectar points worth £2 (so 0.66p per Avios).

In an attempt to cut the flow ever further, look at the begging message that you now get when doing a transfer – to proceed, you need to click the line in small print.

Avios to Nectar transfers are now instant again

What the message fails to say is that using Avios for ‘seats, baggage, hotels and car rental’ will get you a lower pence per Avios (0.5p to be precise) than the Nectar transfer!


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.

Comments (25)

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

  • HFPCar says:

    I wonder if nectar will do a avios boost for Black Friday?

    • Chris says:

      They launched the ‘Count up to Christmas’ promotion yesterday. I’ve got 3000 bonus points if I collect 3000 points in Sainsbury’s before December. Should be very easy with all their bonus points – half way through the first challenge with a small shop yesterday.

      • Retron says:

        I don’t shop much at Sainsbury’s – my offer was 2000 points if I collect 600 points, which should be doable if I move some of my Tesco shopping over. It’s worth it for an extra 1250 Avios, anyway!

        • Ant M says:

          If you use the Nectar app, the sainsburys bonus points offers in there are usually very lucrative – a single shop at sainsburys could get you the 600 points you need

  • Tracey says:

    I had my meagre balance of nectar points stolen last week. Nectar really need to improves security

    • Retron says:

      Their security is fine, otherwise you’d be hearing much more about it. Make sure your passwords for Nectar and email are unique, hard to guess, aren’t shared with anybody and aren’t stored in a password manager.

      • Rob says:

        That doesn’t help with stolen Avios. You can swap the Nectar card linked to your Avios account up to 4 times per year. As long as someone can access your Avios account you can unlink the existing Nectar account, add a new one you just opened and you’re away.

      • Char Char says:

        Well online perhaps, but anyone in store only needs the nectar number to spend their points (granted sometimes you need to have shopped their previously)

      • John says:

        It’s not a password related issue. Gangs are randomly generating Nectar numbers knowing that a certain percentage will relate to genuine active accounts, with balances sufficient to enable in-store redemptions (usually after 7pm when Nectar customer services are closed).

        Redemptions are only supposed to be possible at stores where points have previously been earned by that account number, but this security feature still clearly doesn’t work despite multiple revamps.

        • Retron says:

          ” Gangs are randomly generating Nectar numbers knowing that a certain percentage will relate to genuine active accounts”

          Ah, apologies in that case if that’s what happened to the OP. I’m a bit jaded with all these “hack” reports which turn out to be nothing of the sort! Randomly generated numbers used to plague credit cards too, but they introduced CVV codes (at least in the UK) and so on – 2FA or a CVV-like number should reduce the risk of online fraud, and in store – require a physical card only, perhaps? The problem with phone apps is that you can easily make a screenshot to say anything you like..

        • Andrew. says:

          They won’t be random.

          Someone will have worked out the Nectar card modulus check.

  • Pj92 says:

    Has anything actually changed in terms of security now compared to the Times article? Logging in doesn’t seem anymore secure.

  • George says:

    Are we back to square one in respect of security issues?

  • Andrew J says:

    It’s a shame the M&S nectar redemption option closed – I’m less interested in converting now.

  • LostInAsia says:

    Be aware that Nectar accounts are very insecure. Do not hold a high balance for long. The strength of your password or how careful you are makes no difference because that’s not how the theft is performed.

  • Malcaster says:

    A few weeks ago someone used my Nectar number to spend points in a Sainsburys some distance from me. Fortunately there was only £7 worth available on the account. I had to get a new card which was a pain setting up but at least I was reimbursed the points.

  • David says:

    ISTR in the past being recommended to transfer over some Avios to Nectar points as you’d be able to transfer them back at the same rate.

    This is no longer the case.

    Am i goig mad? Do i mis-remember that?

    • Andrew J says:

      Yes it changed. It now costs you more Avios to get the nectar points you got before, so when you transfer back (which is still at the old rate) you get fewer Avios than when you stared.

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