Get FREE Platinum status in Club Avolta and (hopefully) free TOP TIER Radisson VIP status

If you have elite status (any level) with ANY airline, or mid-tier hotel status, you can claim a FREE top-tier match to Platinum status in the Club Avolta (ex-Red by Dufry) duty free loyalty scheme.

The link to apply is here.

If you didn’t take part in this offer when it ran earlier in the year, there is a very tempting extra carrot.

According to the Club Avolta website, it will soon launch a status match which will let Platinum members claim FREE top tier VIP status with Radisson Rewards

Radisson Rewards VIP status gets you free breakfast and an upgrade to the best available non-suite room in the hotel when you check in. It covers Radisson, Park Plaza, art’otel and Park Inn.

So …. you can benefit TODAY from duty free savings by getting Platinum status in Club Avolta, and then hopefully use your Club Avolta status to get a free year of Radisson Rewards VIP status.

Your FREE top tier Platinum status in the Club Avolta (World Duty Free) loyalty programme gets you a 10% discount on purchases – and at Heathrow you still earn Avios on top.

Even better, you will receive 250 bonus Avios with your first transaction if you are a new member and link your Club Avolta account to your Avios account.

What is Club Avolta?

You might not know Club Avolta, but it is the dominant global duty free retailer. It was previously known as Dufry and ran the Red By Dufry loyalty scheme.

As well as owning World Duty Free in the UK, it also owns – in various corners of the world – Dufry, Nuance, Hellenic Duty Free, Colombian Emerald, Duty Free Uruguay, Hudson and Duty Free Shop Argentina.

Dufry has its own app-based loyalty programme called Club Avolta.  The key benefit of downloading this app is that you get a 5% discount on purchases (doubled to 10% with this status match) at selected Dufry stores.

There is also a link with DragonPass (the airport lounge access card) which is very interesting.

Club Avolta is also promising a Radisson Rewards status match as a ‘coming soon’ benefit.

How do I get my Club Avolta status match?

You can claim a match whether you are a new or existing member of Club Avolta. Simply click here and fill in the form.

Got airline status?

If you have elite status with virtually any airline then you will qualify for an immediate uplift to Platinum status in Club Avolta.

With most airlines, even the lowest level of elite status is accepted. Bronze with British Airways or Silver with Virgin Atlantic is good enough.

Got hotel status?

If you don’t have airline status, you can still qualify with intermediate or top tier status in most major hotel loyalty programmes.

The minimum status required to apply is Gold with Accor, Gold with Hilton, Explorist with Hyatt, Gold with IHG, Gold with Marriott and (slighly oddly as its top-tier) VIP with Radisson.

How long will my Platinum status last?

12 months

What are the benefits of top-tier Platinum status?

It’s very simple – your discount at World Duty Free and other Avolta-run outlets is doubled from 5% to 10%.

Which airports let me use the Club Avolta app to save 10%?

Before we move on to the Avios angle – which only operates at Heathrow – let’s look at the broader UK-wide benefits of joining Club Avolta.

Here are the UK airports where you can save at the World Duty Free or Dufry / Avolta store:

• Aberdeen
• Belfast City
• Birmingham
• Bournemouth
• Bristol
• Cardiff
• East Midlands
• Edinburgh
• Exeter
• Glasgow
• Glasgow Prestwick
• Humberside
• Leeds Bradford
• Liverpool John Lennon
• London Gatwick
• London Heathrow
• London Luton
• London Southend
• London Stansted
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Norwich
• Southampton
• Teesside

…. plus Eurostar at London St Pancras, Cairnryan Port, Dover Port, Hull Port, Liverpool Port and Eurotunnel at Folkestone.

If you buy at World Duty Free or Dufry on a regular basis, you could make decent savings by signing up for Club Avolta.

What do I save?

The discount for Silver level members – which is what you get when you sign up without doing the status match – is 5%.  Tobacco purchases are excluded, as are airport arrivals stores.

The discount is doubled to 10% if you complete the Platinum status match.

You receive the discount by scanning the QR code in the app at the till.

This makes it a no-brainer to sign up if you ever make purchases at World Duty Free stores in UK airports or from other Dufry / Avolta businesses abroad.

At Heathrow, you will continue to receive Heathrow Rewards points on top of your Red discount.

How do I earn Avios at Heathrow?

Club Avolta has recently launched a partnership with Avios at Heathrow.

You will earn 1 Avios per £1 spent at participating retailers. You will receive a bonus of 250 Avios with your first transaction.

You add your British Airways Executive Club number to your Club Avolta account via the ‘Account’ tab in the app. Go to ‘Manage Partners’. Avios will be sent over automatically after each transaction.

Here are the participating outlets at Heathrow:

Terminal 2

• World Duty Free (various stores)

Terminal 3

• World Duty Free (various stores)
• World of Whiskies
• MAC
• Glorious Britain
• Jo Malone
• Sunglasses Boutique

Terminal 4

• World Duty Free (various stores)
• Glorious Britain
• Jo Malone
• World of Whiskies

Terminal 5

• World Duty Free (various stores)
• Macallan
• Glorious Britain
• Sunglasses Hut
• Haute Perfumerie

You can also earn Avios at various airports in Spain – there is a list in the Club Avolta app.

The Leon restaurant in Heathrow Terminal 2 earns Club Avolta points but does NOT earn Avios.

How do I get airport lounge access?

Here’s an added benefit of joining up to Club Avolta to earn Avios.

Dufry has a partnership with airport lounge card DragonPass which is a competitor to Priority Pass.

As a member of Club Avolta you can pay for access to any DragonPass lounge for $28.  The vast majority of airport lounges in Priority Pass are in DragonPass. $28 is a substantial discount to the usual walk-up rate at most airport lounges.

When will the Radisson Rewards VIP status match take place?

We don’t know. All we know at this time is what is written on this page of the Club Avolta website:

“Club Avolta Gold and Platinum members will be able to match tiers with Radisson Rewards’ Premium and VIP status, so you can enjoy a range of benefits and rewards with every stay including member only rates, free room upgrades, food and beverage discounts, early check-in and late check-out, and more!”

Conclusion

If you ever shop at World Duty Free at Heathrow, you should sign up to Club Avolta and start earning Avios on your purchases.

Even if you don’t fly from Heathrow, it is worth joining Club Avolta if you travel through any of the other airports where it operates to benefit from the cash saving. Take part in this status match and your discount will be 10%.

Even if you have zero interest in duty free whatsoever, it is worth doing the match purely to get the Radisson Rewards VIP status match although we don’t know when this will launch.

The special status match website, whether or not you are an existing Club Avolta member, can be found here.

(PS. You need to select ‘Great Britain’ as country of residence – ‘UK’ / ‘United Kingdom’ is not an option.)

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How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (June 2025)

Radisson Rewards does not have a dedicated UK credit card. However, you can earn Radisson Rewards points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 60,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 150,000 Radisson Rewards points

• The American Express Rewards Credit Card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:3 into Radisson Rewards points which is a very attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 3 Radisson Rewards points.

Even better, holders of The Platinum Card receive free Radisson Rewards Premium status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed The Platinum Card from American Express in detail here and you can apply here.

Got a small business?

You can get free top-tier Radisson Rewards VIP status with the new Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card for small business. Clck here to apply.