You can now transfer Avios to IHG One Rewards points – but you really shouldn’t
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Avios (the British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus version) has never allowed you to transfer your points directly into a hotel loyalty programme.
This changed when Qatar Airways Privilege Club adopted Avios. Via Privilege Club, you can convert your Avios into Accor Live Limitless hotel points.
As this article shows, you don’t want to do it because it is poor value. 4,500 Avios gets you just 1,000 Accor points worth €20 off your next stay.
Back in March, Finnair Plus adopted Avios too.
After a hiatus, Finnair has brought back its three hotel points transfer deals.
You can see details of all three deals in the Finnair shop here.
To take advantage of these deals, you need to move your Avios from British Airways Executive Club to Finnair Plus by linking your accounts and doing a free, instant and reversible transfer.
This HfP article explains how to transfer Avios to Finnair Plus.
Which hotel schemes partner with Finnair Plus?
The first transfer deal is with Accor Live Limitless. At 4,600 Avios for 1,000 Accor points, worth €20 off your next stay, it is even poorer value than the Qatar Airways / Accor deal.
The second is with Strawberry, the loyalty programme for Nordic Choice hotels. I don’t know enough about this to comment on the value, but 15,000 Avios is worth 7,500 Strawberry points. The future of Strawberry is uncertain as it is merging with Norwegian Reward.
The third Avios transfer deal is far more mainstream – with IHG One Rewards. This is the loyalty programme for Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Regent, Staybridge Suites etc.
You won’t be surprised to hear, unfortunately, that it’s not a good deal.
13,500 Avios (in Finnair Plus) converts into 10,000 IHG One Rewards points.
We value an Avios at 1p and an IHG One Rewards point at 0.4p.
If you trust these numbers, you are giving up £135-worth of Avios to receive £40-worth of IHG One Rewards points. Don’t do it.
It would only be worth considering if the IHG transfer counted towards elite status in IHG One Rewards. It doesn’t, however. There are some IHG partners who do give you ‘elite qualifying’ points in IHG One Rewards (see here) but Finnair is not one of them.
Don’t give up on using Avios for hotels though
There ARE some excellent deals to be had using Finnair Plus Avios for hotels.
This HfP article explains how to use Avios for rooms at Scandic and Sokos hotels at exceptionally cheap rates – and I will doing just this in Copenhagen next week.
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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (June 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 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 Card
30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express Credit Card
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 Credit Card
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
50,000 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 points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 0.8 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 Card
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.
The American Express Business Platinum Card
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
The American Express Business Gold Card
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.
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