Picking the right credit card could make a huge difference to the cost of your next holiday, with bonus offers on financial products linked to the Avios scheme coming to an end shortly.
Avios is a loyalty points scheme, and you can use the points you earn - known as Avios - to reduce the cost of flights, hotels and even car hire.
There are various ways to earn Avios, including by making use of credit cards on offer from both American Express and Barclaycard. These cards can provide a tremendous way to get upgraded flights and hotels at a discount, but it relies on you being able to pay off the balance in full each month.
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Before you apply, it is a good idea to go through an eligibility checker, such as the one on our sister site Go.Compare to see if you’re likely to be accepted for the card.
Here’s what you need to know about collecting bonus Avios points and how the scheme works.
GET 40,000 BONUS AVIOS WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS PLATINUM
- 40,000 bonus points
- Annual fee: £650
- Representative APR: 704.6%
The American Express Platinum card comes with a bonus 40,000 membership rewards points.
These membership rewards points can then be converted into Avios, allowing you to slash the cost of your holiday.
To qualify for the bonus points, you will need to spend £6,000 in your first three months with the card, at which point you will get 40,000 points.
The Platinum card comes with a host of additional benefits for travellers. For example, you get complimentary access to over 1,400 airport lounges across more than 140 countries. You also get comprehensive worldwide travel insurance and £150 in statement credits to spend in restaurants overseas.
Your regular spending with the card also allows you to earn membership reward points, at a rate of one point for every £1 spent, doubling to two points per pound when spending with Amextravel.co.uk.
The offer is only available to those who haven’t held a personal membership rewards-enrolled American Express card within the last 24 months. Those who have can still take the card out and benefit from all other perks, but won’t receive the points.
The American Express Platinum card is very much a premium credit card, as it comes with an annual fee of £650, but if you travel often, this fee may well be worthwhile.
You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.
GET 20,000 BONUS AVIOS WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS PREFERRED REWARDS GOLD
- 20,000 bonus points
- Annual fee: Free for first year, then £195
- Representative APR: 88.8%
Again you benefit from membership reward points, which can be converted into Avios.
With the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card you can get up to 20,000 bonus points. To do so, you will need to spend £3,000 in the first three months of card membership, at which point you will get 20,000 membership reward points.
The offer is only available to those who haven’t held a personal membership rewards-enrolled American Express card within the last 24 months. Those who have can still take the card out and benefit from all other perks, but won’t receive the points.
Your spending on the card also earns reward points, at a rate of one point for every £1 spent. This doubles to two points when spending directly with airlines or three points when spending with American Express Travel.
The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is another premium card in that it comes with an annual fee of £195. However, that fee is waived for the first year.
A further perk to the card is that you get four complimentary priority pass airport lounge visits per year.
You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.
American Express also offers a couple of cards that are directly linked with the Avios scheme itself.
BRITISH AIRWAYS AMERICAN EXPRESS PREMIUM PLUS
- 25,000 bonus points
- Annual fee: £250
- Representative APR: 113.1%
New holders of the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card are eligible for 25,000 bonus Avios when they spend £3,000 in their first three months of card membership. If they spend £10,000 in a card member year, they can also get a companion voucher, which they can use to take a “plus one” on the same flight and cabin (including business and first class).
If you spend £10,000 and are travelling solo, you can get a 50% discount on the Avios price you pay for your flight. Vouchers are redeemable on British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus Reward flights and in any cabin.
The offer is only available to those who haven’t held a personal British Airways American Express Card within the last 24 months. Those who have can still take the card out and benefit from all other perks, but won’t receive the points.
The points will be added to your account once you spend the minimum amount, but they can take up to a month to be awarded.
After that, you will earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent, and twice that when you spend with British Airways or BA Holidays.
This card comes with an annual fee of £250, but if you travel often, this fee may well be worthwhile.
You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.
BRITISH AIRWAYS AMERICAN EXPRESS
- Bonus: 5,000 Avios
- Annual fee: £0
- Representative APR: 31%
If you would rather not pay an annual fee, you can opt for the British Airways American Express credit card. It comes with a welcome bonus of 5,000 Avios points when you spend a minimum of £1,000 during the first three months of opening the account. After that, you will accumulate one Avios point for every £1 spent on the card.
The 5,000 point offer is only available to new members who haven’t held any personal American Express Cards during the past 24 months.
What’s more, if you spend £12,000 with the card in a year you’ll be eligible for a companion voucher. This means that when you book a flight, you can take someone with you in the same cabin, though you can also use the voucher to get 50% off the Avios price you pay for the flight.
The card has a representative APR of 31% so you should always aim to pay off the bill in full each month.
You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.
American Express isn’t the only card provider that allows you to earn Avios on your spending, however ‒ you can also earn points with Barclaycard.
BARCLAYCARD AVIOS PLUS
- Bonus points: 25,000
- Annual fee: £240 (£20 per month)
- Representative APR: 80.1%
With the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card you can get a bonus 25,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 in your first three months with the card.
After that, you get 1.5 points for every £1 you spend, and can benefit from a British Airways cabin upgrade if you spend £10,000 within the first 12 months.
Be warned, it does come with a monthly fee (£20) that you’ll need to include in your decision-making process.
Barclaycard Avios
- Bonus points: 5,000
- Fee: £0
- Representative APR: 29.9%
Alternatively, there’s the straightforward Barclaycard Avios credit card.
This card gives you one Avios for every £1 spent with no monthly fee.
If you spend £20,000 on the card within 12 months, you can receive a British Airways cabin upgrade flight.
Barclaycard Avios Rewards
Finally, it’s worth mentioning the Barclays Avios Rewards current account. This is another way to top up your Avios account, and you can even combine it with one of the cards above to really ratchet up your points balance.
The Barclays Avios rewards account gives you 1,500 Avios every month, on top of a welcome bonus of 25,000 Avios if you switch using the Current Account Switcher Service. If you’ve been with Barclays for four months or more, you get 2,500 Avios as a joining bonus. You’ll also get an upgrade voucher each year as an anniversary present.
The Barclays Avios Rewards account comes with a monthly fee of £12.
What are Avios points worth?
Of course, the big question is how much these points are really worth, and how much they can save you on your travel plans.
Let’s take an example, and say that you spend an average of £2,000 a month on each card. Over a year you would earn 29,000 points with the British Airways American Express card, including that initial bonus, which would be more than enough for a flight to Europe.
However, that same spend with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card would see you rack up a whopping 71,000 points. That would be enough to cover a far longer flight, for example to the Caribbean or south Asia.
Existing American Express customer? Here’s how to boost your Avios points
The bonus Avios are generally only on offer to new customers. However, there may be ways to further boost your Avios balance if you’re an existing customer.
For example, American Express runs a ‘Refer a Friend’ scheme. If you have the fee-free British Airways American Express card and get a friend to take one out too, then you’ll pocket an additional 4,000 Avios. This isn’t limited to a single friend either ‒ you could make up to 90,000 extra Avios from selling the benefits of the card to your friends, should they then be approved.
The rewards are even more significant on the Premium Plus card, with a 9,000 Avios bonus for each friend. The same 90,000 bonus Avios annual cap applies, however.
How to make the most of your Avios points
With any rewards credit card, whether it is tied to the Avios scheme or offers a different form of reward like cashback, making the most of it will mean putting all of your regular spending on the card.
It’s money that you planned to spend anyway, but by using these cards, you ensure that you get something back for every £1 spent. This allows you to maximise rewards, build a bigger Avios balance and therefore save more cash on your future travels. This approach also improves your chances of qualifying for the companion flight deals.
This may be easier said than done of course, since not all retailers accept American Express cards. Nonetheless, it is worth trying.
It’s really important that the rewards on offer from your card are not seen as a reason to increase your spending. Reward cards are designed for people who can clear the balance in full each month. If you are unable to do that, then the interest charged on your outstanding balance will wipe out the value of any rewards you have built up.
Outside of the credit cards, there are ways to boost your Avios balance. For example, British Airways has its own e-store, which works rather like a cashback site. You shop online via the links on the BA website with retailers including John Lewis, M&S and Selfridges, and any money you spend is tracked. You then earn further Avios based on how much you spent.
The offers will vary depending on the retailer in question. For example, if you spend with Booking.com you can earn up to eight Avios for every £1 spent, but with John Lewis this drops to up to two Avios for each £1 spent.
You can also link your supermarket reward scheme to Avios - for example, you can convert your Nectar points into Avios to spend with British Airways. Check out our article on The top supermarket reward schemes to earn air miles.
How does the Avios points scheme work?
Avios is the name of a points scheme, with travellers able to convert their Avios points into discounts on flights, hotels and car hire.
If you are using Avios to cover the cost of a flight, you will nonetheless have to pay taxes and fees, even if the cost of the flight itself is entirely covered by the Avios points.
You will need different amounts of Avios to cover those flight costs based on your destination. For example, a trip to North America will start at 50,000, but this drops to 18,500 for flights to Europe.
Other factors will influence the Avios required too, such as the time of your trip. Travelling during off-peak times will generally cost fewer Avios than if you head off at the busiest times.
You don’t need to cover the entire cost using points either; you can use the points you have and then top it up with cash in order to pay for those flights, hotels, or car hire.
While British Airways is the main airline associated with Avios, you can also use your points to book flights with partner airlines such as Aer Lingus and Iberia.
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