Is it worth using Avios points for hotel room bookings?

This article looks at whether it is worth using your Avios to book a hotel room.

I generally try to stay away from the eternal question of ‘What is an Avios worth?’. At the end of the day, it is a 100% personal decision.

It is a decision based on numerous factors – where you fly, what cabin, whether you normally use an American Express 2-4-1 or Barclaycard upgrade voucher and (the one rarely considered) what class you would pay for if Avios flights were not available.

Click here for my best effort at answering the ‘What is an Avios worth?’ question.

Is it worth using Avios for hotel bookings?

What you can do, though, is put a floor of the valuation of an Avios. One way of doing this is to look at what they are worth if you redeem for hotel bookings since this is an easy way to cash out your Avios if necessary.

(Redeeming Avios for Nectar points is the ultimate ‘cashing out’ route since this effectively turns them into cash you can spend at Sainsbury’s or Argos. The transfer rate is 1:1 so 1 Avios gets you 1 Nectar point which is worth exactly 0.5p.)

You can book a hotel with Avios via this page at avios.com.

As an experiment, I randomly picked four hotels in four cities for Saturday 15th March 2025.

This is what I found, pricing up a four star hotel for two adults. I took the tenth listed hotel to avoid any bias from hotels which had paid to be at the top. Cash prices include all taxes.

• Hamburg – Crowne Plaza City Alster – 32,825 Avios or £164
• London – Marriott Marble Arch – 51,775 Avios or £262
• New York – YOTEL New York Times Square – 47,350 Avios or £237
• Singapore – Holiday Inn Singapore Little India – 27,600 Avios or £151

10 seconds with a calculator shows that these give you a value per Avios of 0.50p except for Singapore which is 0.54p.

(With New York, a £36 resort fee is payable in cash at the hotel irrespective of how you book.)

It is not quite that simple, of course.

Is the underlying price charged by Avios Hotels competitive?

Is the avios.com ‘cash price’ fair as a comparison? I turned to the official hotel websites to check, choosing the ‘member rate’ where available (given that the loyalty schemes are all free to join):

• Hamburg – Avios price £164, ihg.com price £141
• London – Avios price £262, marriott.com price £249
• New York – Avios price £237, yotel.com price £237
• Singapore – Avios price £151, ihg.com price £143

As you can see, in three of the four examples above you would make substantial savings by booking direct.

With the exception of YOTEL New York, the actual ‘pence per point’ value you receive will be lower than the (usually) 0.50p implied by avios.com.

You don’t get status benefits or hotel points either

You won’t receive elite status benefits or hotel points if you book a hotel via avios.com.

This can often have substantial value. As my article on Hyatt’s ‘Bonus Journeys’ promotion this week showed, Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties are offering points worth 22% of your pre-tax spending at the moment. You only get those by booking direct. If you have Hyatt status you will earn even more points and get status benefits on top.

To be fair, I should note that the cash prices quoted on avios.com let you earn Avios back. The standard rate is 10 Avios per £1 spent and the current promotion gives you 20 Avios. This will outweigh the loss of hotel loyalty points.

Is 0.5p per Avios a good deal if booking a hotel?

No.

My ‘What is an Avios worth?’ article (click here) shows how 1p is easily achievable.

Even if you were happy spending your Avios for 0.5p each (and we don’t recommend that) there are better ways of doing it.

Convert your Avios into Nectar points at 0.5p each and use them at Sainsbury’s or Argos.

Pay cash for your hotel, either by booking direct (usually for less, as the examples above show) or use the Avios portal and pick up a chunk of Avios points back.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.