How Avios points work: how to collect and spend them

Avios is a loyalty programme which offers travel-focused rewards, and the points can be exchanged for things like money off flights and hotels.

With summer just around the corner, we look at how accruing and spending Avios points could help you save money on your holiday.

What are Avios points?

Avios is a global reward currency. Avios points are loyalty points you can get from British Airways and other businesses the airline partners with when you spend money with them.

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Millions of members worldwide collect Avios points to spend on things like flights, hotels or other travel experiences.

How to collect Avios points

First you sign up to be a member of the British Airways Club, formerly the British Airways Executive Club, via the airline’s website.

You can then collect Avios points when you make purchases from British Airways and more than 2,000 other businesses it has partnership deals with. This can include when you buy flights, do online food and fashion shopping and make hotel bookings.

You will typically be asked for your British Airways Club membership number when making purchases eligible for Avios points, and they are added automatically to your loyalty account.

Some of the businesses that offer Avios points include John Lewis, Uber, M&S, Deliveroo, Selfridges and financial services companies Nutmeg, HSBC and Revolut.

You can also convert Nectar points into Avios (and vice versa), by linking your Nectar and British Airways Club accounts. Nectar points can be converted into Avios in increments of 400 Nectar points. You get 250 Avios for every 400 Nectar points.

Other ways to collect Avios include when you make purchases with an American Express credit card, and by filling out surveys for Avios For Thoughts.

You can keep track of your points with the Avios app, which will also show you the latest ways to collect points and easily search for ways to spend them.

Where can I spend Avios points?

Once you’ve collected enough Avios points, you can use them to pay for flights, hotels or to help fund your travel adventures.

The value of 1,000 Avios points is roughly between £10 to £20, depending on how they are redeemed. For example, they could be worth around £20 for business or first class tickets or £8-12 for an economy flight.

With British Airways, you can buy airline seats from £1 and 25,500 Avios for a return trip. Flights booked using Avios are called Reward Flights.

You can pay as little as £1 and 18,500 Avios for flights to Europe, or from £100 and 50,000 Avios points to destinations further afield, using Reward Flights. Avios points can be used to pay for flight upgrades too.

You can also use Avios points to make a part payment to reduce the cost of a flight or a holiday using British Airways, American Airlines between the UK and North America, and certain other deal partners. Part payments start from 1,000 points, and you will still collect points on the part you do pay for.

You’ll need to login to your British Airways Club account to see the offers available when you search for flights, holidays and car hire from the airline.

The British Airways High Life Shop and High Life Café take Avios points too when you buy before you fly for delivery on board. You can pre-order things like food and fragrances for delivery during your flight. Or spend your Avios on Home Delivery items, even if you're not flying.

Avios has its own website where you can use points to book hotel stays in any of 300,000 hotels, as well as tours and experiences to go on during your travels.

Car rental companies Avis and Budget, available at thousands of worldwide airports and non-airport locations, accept Avios points – as does online drinks shop The Wine Flyer.

Which airlines use Avios?

You can also spend Avios points on flights with a number of other global airlines, as well as British Airways. The following airlines use Avios points:

• IAG Group: British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus
• Qatar Airways: Avios is part of the Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Finnair: Finnair Plus members can use Avios
• Oneworld Alliance Airlines: American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines

Can Avios points be transferred?

Avios points can be transferred between accounts – including by being ‘gifted’ to friends and family – and within different Avios-related loyalty programs like Club Iberia Plus, AerClub, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Loganair Loyalty.

You can gift points starting from £49 for 2,000 points. Avios transfers to British Airways Club accounts are made instantly, or you can delay delivery to a date that you prefer.

Both the sender and the receiver will get an email confirming the Avios transfer, and if you’re the sender you can opt to include a message. There's a £50 fee to transfer, but it's free for British Airways Gold tier members.

If you have multiple Avios accounts, you can also combine them, transferring Avios from one to another, and then closing the empty account.

Can I buy Avios points?

The Avios website allows you to purchase Avios to top up your balance, boost your Avios so you get more per purchase, or subscribe to buy Avios regularly.

Buying Avios – You can buy a minimum of 2,000 Avios (for £49, equating to 40.82 points per £1) and a maximum of 200,000 Avios (for £3,539, equating to 56.51 points per £1) per transaction.

Boosting Avios – You can pay to ‘boost’ your eligible transactions from the last 30 days by a factor of 1, 2, or 3. This allows you to up to triple the number of Avios points on your purchases. You can do this with up to 300,000 Avios points per year at the lowest cost (from between 92p and 96p). After that the cost increases (to £1.77).

Subscribe to Avios – You can pay monthly or yearly to subscribe to Avios points. The monthly subscription starts from £26 on a recurring basis to collect 1,667 points per month. The yearly subscription begins at £259 and allows you to collect 1,667 points per month, saving you £53 a year versus paying month for the same number of points.