How Brad is flying around the world for 112,000 airline miles and just £173

HfP reader Brad dropped me an email with details of a round-the-world itinerary that he has just booked.  It is, I have to say, very well put together and takes advantage of a number of ‘sweet spot’ redemptions.  I thought it was worth sharing.

This is what Brad is doing:

He is covering 27,717 miles in total!  This is how it was booked:

Berlin – Abu Dhabi

12,500 Avios + £31 taxes (airberlin)

Dubai – Hong Kong – Tokyo

30,000 Avios + £26 taxes (Cathay Pacific)

Tokyo – Sydney – Auckland – Fiji

12,500 United Airlines miles + £29 tax (ANA, Air New Zealand)

Fiji – Samoa – Honolulu

25,000 Qantas points + £79 (Fiji Airways)

Honolulu – Kahului – Lihue

12,000 United Airlines miles + £5 (United Airlines)

Lihue – San Jose – Chicago – Manchester

20,000 American Airlines miles + £3 (Alaska, American)

This comes to a total of 112,000 airline miles plus, more importantly, just £173 of taxes and charges!  It is an ‘all economy’ itinerary of course but still excellent value.  The itinerary is deliberately a little obscure because Brad was keen to see some different cities to places he had been before.

Whilst Head for Points tends to focus on business class redemptions, it is good to show what can be done in economy if you have the time and patience to plan the best routes.

One advantage of spreading the trip across various airlines is that it would be possible to get most of the miles purely from credit card sign-ups – United offers a 12,000 miles bonus on its free UK credit card a couple of times a year, for example.  The only part of the above itinerary that would be tricky would be getting the Qantas points given their lack of UK partners – they are not a Starwood Preferred Guest or Amex partner.

Enjoy your trip Brad.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a 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:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)