Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get a 15% discount on hotel and car hire bookings made with Avios – worth it?

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British Airways Executive Club has emailed some, not all, members with a special deal.  Until 30th September, you can book a hotel or car with your Avios and save 15% on the usual price.

Stays must be completed by 31st December.

Because it is a targeted offer, you won’t see anything online to prove that it is actually working.  Trust me, it is if you got the email.  If the results of your search look poor, it is because this deal IS poor.

Discount on hotels booked with Avios

Under this promotion, you will be getting 0.66p per Avios redeemed.  This is poor in my book, although better than the standard rate which works out at around 0.57p per Avios.  Above is an example.

As the cost is 29,850 Avios or 1,000 Avios + £190, you are saving £190 by using a net 28,850 Avios.  This is (19000/28850) 0.66p per Avios.

Even worse,  the stays will be non-qualifying so you won’t receive any hotel loyalty points or status benefits either.


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 (66)

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

  • Andrew says:

    You can sometimes get an absolute gem with an Avios Hotel booking when Avios availability is out of sync with the cash prices.

    A couple of years back, I was looking for a hotel in Monterey, CA. Availability was poor due to a Bernie Sanders rally, so on an off-chance I checked to see if there was anything on Avios. The Intercontinental Clement Monterey was available for 16,750 + £97.50 per night. Lowest Cash Price I could find was $450+Tax per night. That worked out at around 1.5p per Avios.

    More importantly, I wasn’t spending £350 a night when I was Avios rich but cash poor.

  • Mark2 says:

    Re Economist
    If a couple takes it in turns to subscribe they can get 10,200 Avios every year.
    There was usually an equivalent Avios.com offer, but perhaps not this year.

  • AndrewH says:

    re combining avios between AerClub and BA – can this be done ? without an intervening avios account (which I dont have) – the BA website seems to only let me transfer between it and Iberia & Avios and calling exec club they said avios cant be transferred between AerClub and BA. Am I misunderstanding something or is there a workaround

  • Benylin says:

    OT: Has AMEX ever had cashabck offer on Apple products? I see one going on for Microsoft at the moment (£100 back on £400 spend according to Hukd)

  • r* says:

    I have a spend 600 get 200 back offer on Amex for american express travel, but the conditions say bookings to be made from Available online at http://www.americanexpress.co.uk/travel. Except that isnt the url for amex travel is it? Presumably it works on the proper url too lol?

    • guesswho2000 says:

      It is, and if you click it, it goes to travel.americanexpress.co.uk. You’ll get the statement credit.

    • S says:

      Perfect timing! Just when we’re about to book some hotels for a 7 night say in Miami.

      It’s there on Mrs S supplementary platinum too.

  • guesswho2000 says:

    OT, offers for £200 back on £600 spend on my Amex Platinum charge card at Amex Travel, £50 back on £200 spend on my Amex Rewards credit card. Perfect timing.

    • Barry says:

      Do you know if this spend is required on a single transaction? Or can it be split across a number of bookings?

    • Kinkell says:

      OK for some! I have f …all on any of my and hubby’s cards. Really poor selection. Enjoy your rebates

  • Louise says:

    OT: Lloyd’s Voucher, any recent success in booking LCY-JFK?
    Only have one voucher so would probably look to book one way upgrade for two people as we have a Virgin upgrade voucher we could use for the return

    • Anna says:

      If there’s availability showing, you should be able to book it over the phone for 2 x one way.

  • Polly says:

    Great ba ex eu sale to capetowm and bit more to joburg out there today ex ams around 1100 euros . Up to next April

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