Earn double Avios with Marriott and Accor hotels – but still not worth it

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We covered the new British Airways ‘double Avios’ promotion last week – you can read full details here and register here if you missed it.

As part of the offer, British Airways has also launched special deals with Marriott and Accor. I don’t want to spend too much time on them – one of these is not good and the other is pointless.

The Marriott offer

As this page of ba.com shows, you usually earn between 1-2 Avios per $1 at Marriott hotels, depending on brand, if you choose to take Avios instead of Marriott Bonvoy points. During this offer, you will get a 50% bonus.

You must book via the Marriott website by 18th October 2019 and complete your stay by 31st October 2020.

Is it worth it? With a 50% bonus, you’re getting 1.5 to 3 Avios per $1 depending on brand, worth 1.5p to 3p. If you’d taken Marriott Bonvoy points, you would earn 5-10 base points per $1 which (at my valuation of 0.5p per point) is worth 2.5p to 5p. Taking Avios is the worse option.

If you collect both Bonvoy points and Avios, you should keep on choosing to earn Bonvoy points on your Marriott stays. If you aren’t bothered about Bonvoy points, you should continue to keep your Bonvoy account set to ‘earn miles’ and take Avios – they are less valuable but at least you will use them. The 50% Avios bonus doesn’t change the maths either way.

The Accor offer

….. is a waste of space. You earn 50% bonus Avios in British Airways Executive Club for stays between 18th September and 31st December if booked on accor.com between 18th September and 18th October.

Here’s why it is rubbish:

British Airways Executive Club members usually earn 2.5 Avios per €2 at most Accor brands

Iberia Plus members usually earn 5 Avios per €2 at most Accor brands

Even with the 50% bonus, you are worse off. If you have no interest in earning Accor points when you stay, set up your Accor account to credit your stays to Iberia Plus, not British Airways Executive Club. You will be better off, and you can use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move the points from Iberia Plus into British Airways Executive Club.

You can learn more about the Marriott and Accor deals, as well as similar deals with Hotels.com and booking.com, on this special page of ba.com.

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: