A new ‘buy Avios’ promotion launches today

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British Airways Executive Club is launching a new ‘buy Avios’ promotion today. It will also apply if you gift Avios to someone else.

BA has lifted the annual purchase limit to 200,000 Avios as part of this offer. Here are the bonus tiers:

Buy or gift 1,000 to 15,000 Avios and receive 20% bonus Avios
Buy or gift 20,000 to 35,000 Avios and receive 30% bonus Avios
Buy or gift 40,000 to 90,000 Avios and receive 35% bonus Avios
Buy or gift 100,000 to 200,000 Avios and receive 45% bonus Avios

AerClub members in Ireland will have a similar deal. The offer runs until 6th August.

At the top end, you are paying a whopping £3,215 for 290,000 Avios. That is 1.11p per point. This is not necessarily a great idea as the best value is generally obtained by buying a small number of Avios to top off your account.

If you saw me on BBC1’s Rip Off Britain recently (you can watch the segment here, it is only 3 minutes long) you will know that one of the members of the public I tried to help had bought 100,000 Avios for £1600 without fully understand the restrictions behind them.

I am not a buyer at 1.1p. However, as my core article on ‘What is an Avios worth?’ shows, it is easy to get a lot more than 1.1p when redeeming. My valuation is low because I do a lot of Gold Priority Rewards (using double Avios to force open a seat) and don’t always have a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher to use. If you are strategic you should do better than me.

The BA ‘buy Avios’ page is here. If the offer doesn’t show, check back later in the day.

However ….

Before you buy, you should know that Groupon has launched another cheap Avios promotion in Spain, with Iberia Plus. Click here for details.

Here are the prices:

4,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €54 (1.2p)
8,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €99 (1.1p)
15,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €189 (1.1p)
20,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €249 (1.1p)
35,000 Iberia Plus Avios for €439 (1.1p)

You might find this a cheaper option for smaller quantities.

These Spanish Groupon offers – unlike the recent Irish offer – can get messy. All of the information is in Spanish (Chrome can translate) and if you have problems you are dealing with the Iberia and Spanish Groupon contact centres.

You can buy a LOT of points though. The limit is 5 coupons per Iberia account for the 4,000, 20,000 and 35,000 Avios packages and 10 per account for the 8,000 and 15,000 Avios packages. These Avios can be transferred across to British Airways via ‘Combine My Avios’ without any problems. Buyer beware though.

The Groupon Spain page you need is here.

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:

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.)

Category

British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Iberia Plus

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

TripRep says:

23 Jul23 July 11:23

Hoping TRH takes his comments on this gem…
https://loyaltylobby.com/2018/07/23/to-fly-to-serve-british-airways-cabin-crew-manager-has-been-suspended-for-working-as-male-prostitute-during-layovers/
- TripRep says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 11:24
  
  *tames
- Pangolin says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 11:58
  
  “Apart from the fact that 800 GBP for an overnight is a crazy rate by any measure”
  
  There speaks the voice of experience.
  - Lady London says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 13:11
    
    Perhaps a ripped off customer? 🙂
grammer says:

23 Jul23 July 12:20

O/T
Hi Rob,
Have you had any confirmation from Amex re a devaluation of MR points transfer to Marriott (via SPG?) starting in August?
https://www.turningleftforless.com/book-hotel-stays-discount-marriott-spg-merger/

If so anyone planning on a Marriott redemption would do well to transfer points from Amex asap…

Cheers,
- Nick M says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 12:58
  
  Is this just for the Australian Amex?
- Rob says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 13:23
  
  I am not expecting a devaluation – the SPG Amex will remain better than MR so no need to take MR worse.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 21:52
    
    2 per MR would be nice 🙂
- Peter K says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 13:46
  
  Quoted from the article:
  “These are just some of the hotels on offer. American Express Membership Reward Points transfer rates to Marriott Points will be devalued after 26th July, from 1:1.5 points, to 1:2/3 points.”
  That basically takes them to the level we already get in the UK…i.e. 2 MR points go to 3 Marriott points.
  - Rob says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 14:04
    
    You need to understand, though, that there are many other Marriott card products in the US and that Marriott has a dominant relationship with Visa. Amex, despite weasle words to the contrary, is being squeezed out in the UK in a way that is unlikely to happen here. The SPG Amex card in the US is also being devalued whilst in the UK it is not.
    - Graham Walsh says:
      
      23 Jul23 July 21:50
      
      Just a thought, should I clear out my SPG account of points before they head over to Marriott as I want to them for BA/Avios?
      - Rob says:
        
        23 Jul23 July 21:59
        
        No. New scheme will retain the SPG conversion rate.
  - Genghis says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 14:05
    
    Though 1:2/3 is 2:4/3 ≠ 2:1?
Gill says:

23 Jul23 July 12:36

OT

I’ve got a week in Seoul and a week in HK in October and will have a Marriot 1-5 TP. I can attach the voucher to Courtyard Namdaemun but interested to know if it’s currently possible to switch a voucher to another hotel once it’s been applied? Courtyard HK would be cat 5 post Aug and wondering if there is a (hopeful) chance it would be bookable with a pre Aug TP.

Final question – How long after statement does it normally take for SPG Amex points to transfer across?

Thanks
- Genghis says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 13:03
  
  SPG points transfer about 5 days BEFORE statement date
  - Gill says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 15:03
    
    Thanks – I’ll get onto amex.
Elijah says:

23 Jul23 July 12:42

Hi there

I can’t seem to be able to book a flight using Avios for family member. Already added as travel companion. No drop down menu appears. Help! Thanks
- Peter K says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 12:51
  
  Can you not go into their BAEC account and book it from there?
  - Elijah says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 13:01
    
    I’m the only member and this is what It says.
    
    Due to restriction on ba.com, you must be a passenger to make this booking with Avios.
    To make this booking for someone else, please contact your local Executive Club service center.
    
    ????
    - Genghis says:
      
      23 Jul23 July 13:05
      
      Add to “My Family and Friends”
Lady London says:

23 Jul23 July 12:44

OT can anyone provide link to request seats using rj or finnair? finnair is not allowing on ib booking. Can;t find the right page on rj. Can this only be done 24hrs before the flight? I’d like to do it much earlier… Travelling Y not sure if this makes a difference.
Genghis says:

23 Jul23 July 13:05

Add to “My Family and Friends”
Mark says:

23 Jul23 July 13:21

OT – Help please
Re: Amex Plat insurance when travel company does not accept Amex.
Amex help folks tell me travel protection insurance must be paid for on Amex Platinum card.
OK, BUT: Amex T&C’s definitions state: “Purchased” means items paid for or pre-booked using your Card **or items paid for where Your selected provider would not accept your Card**
It seems clear, but Amex help guys can’t / won’t confirm this point.
Does anyone have personal experience of this?
- Rob says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 13:25
  
  The rules are the rules, ignore the call centre.
Steve says:

23 Jul23 July 13:53

4th (or possibly 5th?) Avios bonus points offer from BA this calendar year, which coupled with the recent Iberia & Groupon Avios offers has made collecting/buying Avios ‘easier’ than usual.

Does this mean a points devaluation is definitively on the cards…? I have read infrequent comments from posters’ and Rob to this end but unsure whether this is based on any info’ from BA, or just a gut-feel?

Apologies the ask is a tad open-ended but sitting on a slew of points that I was hoping to use for specific flights next year but am now thinking it would be better and more economical to use them sooner rather than later….
- Alex W says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 18:13
  
  Rob has already predicted that a devaluation looks likely. When that will happen, I’m sure is a closely guarded secret. Whether we will get any advanced notice – who knows. Some airlines give no notice of devaluations at all.