Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The Economist drops Avios

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

The Economist is no longer an Avios partner. Whilst not publicly announced, the partnership ended on 5th January.

This is a shame, because there were some good deals available here.

You would sometimes find an enhanced Avios bonus coinciding with an American Express cashback deal, meaning that you could pick up Avios very cheaply even if you had no interest in the magazine.

The Economist drops Avios

For anyone whose existing subscription is due to renew soon, a new ‘£65 cashback on £199 spend’ offer for The Economist has just launched, valid to 31st March.

However, you can get a 30% discount on your renewal by pretending to cancel online, at which point a cheaper offer will be displayed.

Comments in our forum suggest that this can be increased to 50% by following through, via live chat, with the cancellations team.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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 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.

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

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (15)

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

  • AndrewF says:
    16 Feb16 February 05:39

    I’m another 50% off at renewal example at The Economist. I’ve recorded 50% off my print and digital subscription each year for four years now. Just go through chat. They’re happy to lock this in 4-5 months in advance (payment taken when the new subscription starts, not at the time of call).

  • Dominic says:
    16 Feb16 February 06:43

    Another tip for the Economist (albeit less… acceptable) is to subscribe via Canada. In a sale it can be far cheaper

    • Qrfan says:
      16 Feb16 February 08:00

      It can be free if you get a press reader account using your local library card. I don’t know what % of councils offer it but I suspect it’s quite a few.

      • John says:
        16 Feb16 February 10:39

        +1 for local library PressReader. Amazing resource.

        • Mike Hunt says:
          16 Feb16 February 16:39

          +1 for Pressreader free app (local local library logon applied on line). I get free The Week, Money Week, Economist, numerous car / sailing magazines and all national and local newspapers – all for free

  • David says:
    16 Feb16 February 09:04

    “Splitting one transaction across multiple cards in your name risks getting you into trouble with American Express ….”

    Is this some new feedback / experience people have had?

    • Ken says:
      16 Feb16 February 10:23

      Splitting a £60 purchase 4 ways to game shop small ? Sure I can imagine Amex cracking down on that.

      A £1k hotel bill paid on 2 cards?
      Pretty unlikely

    • TGLoyalty says:
      16 Feb16 February 16:37

      Nope. No issues here.

  • Ruralite says:
    16 Feb16 February 12:06

    Also spend 600 get 100 off at Net A Porter on my Platinum in addition to the Mr Porter offer

  • S says:
    16 Feb16 February 13:40

    MO offer is listed as ‘in store’ only. Does it work on prepaid rates? I won’t be in HK until July

    • TGLoyalty says:
      16 Feb16 February 16:38

      Do MO process online prepay centrally or is it via the hotel itself is the real question.

  • Paul says:
    16 Feb16 February 17:18

    Where are the details of the Amex/MO offer?

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

LIMITED TIME OFFFER: Get 80,000 WELCOME BONUS POINTS (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME SPECIAL OFFER: GET POINTS WORTH UP TO 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

SPECIAL OFFER TO 14TH JANUARY: Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!