How do I earn Avios points at Bicester Village?
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How can you earn Avios points at Bicester Village?
Bicester Village is a popular designer outlet centre on the outskirts of Oxford, and the parent company owns similar locations abroad. In this article we’ll look at whether you can earn Avios on your shopping.
The good news is that Bicester Village partners with a variety of airline frequent flyer programs, including Avios based ones (British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus).
In fact, the rate of earning Avios is slightly more generous at 5 Avios for every £4/€4 spent than its partnership with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. With Virgin you only earn 1 point per £1.
The full list of Bicester Village airline partners is here. As well as Avios and Virgin Atlantic, you can also credit to Turkish Miles & Smiles, Asia Miles, ANA, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Flying Blue, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, Lufthansa Miles & More, Saudia Al Fursan, Royal Air Maroc and Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
Hotel partners include Preferred Hotels iPrefer, Accor Live Limitless, MeliaRewards, Radisson Rewards, Rocco Forte Hotels, GHA DISCOVERY, Wyndham Rewards and H Rewards.
How to earn Avios
The earning rate is 5 Avios for every £4 you spend, up to a limit of £30,000 per year. Beyond £30,000 it drops to 5 Avios per £20 spent, although I doubt that will bother many of us ….
You now need to register your credit card in advance to earn Avios.
You can see full details on the Avios shopping site here.
The idea is that you register your credit card with the Avios shopping portal before you visit. Purchases at Bicester Village will be automatically picked up by Avios (you need to give them permission to access your credit or debit card transaction data) and points awarded.
You can only register credit cards issued in the UK, USA and Ireland. It isn’t clear what you are meant to do otherwise, and this restriction seems likely to impact tourists.
Certain merchants are also unavailable:
For American Express cardholders, you can’t earn directly at:
- Vero Latte, The Mayfair Chippy, Pandora, Vilebrequin, Swarovski, Veuve Cliquot, Grind Coffee, Self Portrait, Ganni, Ralph Lauren Classic, Ferragamo, Charlotte Tilbury, Pangaia, Tommy Hilfiger Woman & Kids, Astrid & Miyu, Ami Paris, Neom, Palm Angels, Marc Jacobs, La Tua, Lindt, Beaute Prestige, Christian Louboutin, Under Armour.
For Visa cardholders, you can’t earn directly at:
- Vero Latte, The Mayfair Chippy, Pandora, Vilebrequin, Swarovski, Veuve Cliquot, Grind Coffee, Self Portrait, Ganni, Ralph Lauren Classic, Ferragamo, Charlotte Tilbury, Pangaia, Tommy Hilfiger Woman & Kids, Astrid & Miyu, Jo Malone, Stone Island, Marc Jacobs.
For Mastercard cardholders, you can’t earn directly at:
- Vero Latte, The Mayfair Chippy, Pandora, Vilebrequin, Swarovski, Veuve Cliquot, Grind Coffee, Self Portrait, Ganni, Ralph Lauren Classic, Ferragamo, Charlotte Tilbury, Pangaia, Tommy Hilfiger Woman & Kids, Astrid & Miyu, Jo Malone, Marc Jacobs, La Tua.
In these cases, you need to make your claim manually – either in person or by email.
Obviously you can still use Amex, Visa and Mastercard products in these stores, but no Avios will automatically appear.
How to earn other airline miles or hotel points
To earn other airline miles or hotel points on your spend you must email your receipts to Bicester Village after your visit or take them to the Welcome Centre (next to the railway station) before you leave.
If you are travelling in Europe, it is worth remembering that you can also earn Avios at other outlets sites owned by the same company. This includes shopping villages located near Dublin, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt and Brussels.
(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works. You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )
(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.6 million monthly page views. Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios? Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (November 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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Avios! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.
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
Huge 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th December 2024, there are EXCLUSIVE sign-up offers for our readers on the two Capital on Tap small business Visa cards. You can earn 20,000 points on the Business Rewards card and 30,000 points on the new Pro card. Click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) 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.