Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Look where I’m going today ….

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It isn’t often that we get invited to anything by British Airways.  We didn’t even get invited to the launch event for the BA i360 observation tower in Brighton last year.

However, things are looking up:

rsz_bainvesting4u_invite-page-001

Yes, today I get to:

see the new Business and First Class lounges at Gatwick (a bit late!,  Rob already reviewed them here, and our video is here)

fly from Gatwick to Heathrow (which is one way of beating the M25 traffic jams) to try the new Club World bedding and food service which is rolling out later this year

attend the official opening of the First Wing in Terminal 5

I might even get to meet Alex Cruz.

Whilst BA has not told us this, Rob has heard that they are using a new Boeing 787 to fly us between the two airports – I will let you know whether this is true on our Instagram feed where I will also post anything interesting.

I will also be covering the trip on Head for Points later this week.


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:

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

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 card

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.)

Comments (104)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • James says:

    @TripRep…..have you now exceeded your quota for the day?

    • TripRep says:

      There’s a quota..?

      Feel free to ignore anything on here…. ;p

      • jamie says:

        yes, rob has confirmed in the past there is a limit of 5 comments per person on each article.

  • Concerto says:

    I think it’s unforgivable that the airlines have taken to selling seats out from under redemption pax. It only happened to me once, on Virgin Atlantic (surprise, surprise, another British airline). I don’t fly BA, so don’t have any data points there. But the British aviation scene is so s&$@ these days that nothing really surprises me anymore.

    • Concerto says:

      Additionally, I wouldn’t spend one minute of brainfart time even thinking about that stupid 2-4-1 voucher con. Just don’t bother with it. Look for other credit cards which provide a similar value award elsewhere. They’ll soon notice, you’ll see.

  • Paul says:

    G-ZBKN 😉

  • Paul says:

    Ok have just used the corridor and it’s better lit than Imagined. What struck me though is that today is clearly about making a show, every single check in deck manned, both podiums and the security / conformance manned. Both sides of security and x ray manned. Indeed more staff than you could poke a stick at! On entry to the lounge we were offered champagne by two more staff and the lounge was littered with yet more staff all busily putting in a show that usually is much less impressive. Still seats are worn as before and it’s still the same lounge. Food was plentiful and tasty if you ignore the powdered scramble egg.

    • Anna says:

      Hope Anika’s getting plenty of Champagne or preferred beverage 🙂

    • RussellH says:

      Is that Holiday Inn Express scrambled egg???

      • Peter K says:

        Yuck. Had that last year and it was rank. It was like egg Smash.

  • Anne says:

    I am really interested to hear what the new Club World product is like which BA are announcing today. They are so far behind the competition anyhting should be improvement (unless it in fact turns out to be more cutbacks!!) On the subject of getting 2-4-1s, I agree it can be hard to get availiblity. I subscribe to one of the route websites that let’s you know whenever BA file a change to a route as this often opens up availbility such as change of aircraft or additional flights per week.
    On the subject of the First wing there’s some photos around already http://www.turningleftforless.com/ba-first-wing-opens-t5-heathrow-pictures/ . Most people I have spoken to are pretty happy with it as it seems to be much quicker. Looking forward to trying it shortly.

    • Rob says:

      Worth noting though that if you are flying long haul you will probably be off 5B or 5C and it isn’t quicker at all, assuming you want the B lounge!

      • Anne says:

        Thanks Rob. On an ex EU on way to start in DUB so fine for me to use First lounge.

  • aircraftspotter says:

    Just taken off from LGW! Drinks trolley out now?

  • NFH says:

    https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-zbkn#cf61be9

    Strange that I couldn’t see you as you flew north almost over the O2, but there are a few clouds and you were at over 20,000ft.

    • jamie says:

      t’would appear they have landed in stornoway…heehee

    • NFH says:

      I just saw them flying over Canary Wharf on final approach to LHR.

  • AndrewG says:

    Just used the new First wing. Was very quick to get straight to the lounge! Only thing is the lounge is packed right now!! More so than usual!

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