Sometimes the oddest Avios redemptions can be the best value

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There are many articles on Head for Points about how to get the best value for your Avios points. This article on ‘what is an Avios point worth?’ is the one I link to most often.

Sometimes, though, you can get great value in very obscure circumstances. I just saved myself £1,000 over the weekend!

We are currently finalising our family holiday for the Summer. My wife has already booked us into a family focussed hotel in the Dolomites near Innsbruck for a week. Because she wants a two week break from the office, she wanted to add a week in Mallorca beforehand. You can the German out of Germany but …..

This meant that we needed to get from Mallorca to Innsbruck on a fixed day in August. You can imagine, when I typed that request into Expedia, I wasn’t very hopeful.

Amazingly, such a flight exists. NIKI, the Austrian low cost airline now owned airberlin, flies it. I couldn’t believe it.

I then saw the price. €331 per person, one way. Impressive pricing for a ‘budget’ airline but it is a Saturday in August. And I didn’t have many alternatives.

airberlin, of course, is a oneworld alliance member. This means that I can books its flights with Avios points on ba.com.

NIKI

More out of hope than anything else, I went onto ba.com to see what was available. Amazingly, there were SIX economy seats available for Avios on the flight.

I promptly booked four of them.

I was going to pay (€331 x 4) €1,324 which is £1,040.

I paid 30,000 Avios plus £35.

You can’t argue with that.

I now need to get to the bottom of whether, despite having BA status, I need to pay for a NIKI seat reservation. The evidence is confusing although the airberlin website thinks I should. That is a problem for another day though.

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: