Bits: 10,000 Miles & More miles with The Economist, Expedia and ‘hand baggage only’ fares

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News in brief:

10,000 Miles & More miles with an Economist subscription

Lufthansa has launched its own new Economist promotion, following on from the Avios / Économist version.

This one is interesting because Miles & More miles are hard to earn. You cannot buy them any more and they are not an Amex transfer partner unless you go via Starwood Preferred Guest.

£155, the UK subscription price, gets you 10,000 Miles & More miles and 52 issues of The Economist – not bad at all. The offer ends on 24th March although the website shows 31st January. Order here.

Expedia and BA ticketing

A reader dropped me a line to complain about the way that Expedia is selling British Airways ‘hand baggage only’ tickets. A little digging found that this does create a high level of complaints to the airline.

If you book a British Airways short haul flight on Expedia, it appears to select the cheapest ‘hand baggage only’ ticket. This is not made clear to the customer.

When I say ‘not made clear’, I mean that it is not made clear up front, as it is on ba.com. If you click ‘estimated fees for baggage’ then you are told that a bag will cost £25. On the BA website, it is made VERY clear what you are buying – it is even called a ‘hand baggage only’ ticket.

I don’t know if Expedia plays similar games with other airlines who sell ‘reduced feature’ tickets, but it is a reminder to keep an eye on what you are buying. Given that Expedia adds an additional fee to short-haul tickets compared to the price of buying them on ba.com (£3 in an example I did), it isn’t clear why you should bother with them anyway.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 BA Amex American Express card

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 BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

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: