Making travel more affordable: 6 Top Tips for earning Avios points

Avios points have, for me become a bit of salvation and a slight preoccupation. On long rainy days when I’m stressed out with work and desperately need something to look forward to; there is nothing more satisfying than realising a sneaky warm weekend break will only cost me a fraction of the price due to my Avios squirrelling.

Here a few top tips for earning these fabulous little travel nuggets which might help you maximise your collecting potential and help you get that next trip booked.

Flights

Interestingly flights are not the most lucrative source of Avios collection for me, however, they are of course a great way to collect points. Flights additionally offer you Tier points which are important for members of the BA Executive Club to help you move through the loyalty tiers. Each loyalty tier offers its own perks whether that’s access to the lounge or priority boarding. Regular flights are the key to keeping your loyalty tier. I have even been tempted to book a flight simply to bag the all important tier points.

Avois points can also be collected from flights taken with airlines in the One World Alliance. Carriers like Cathay Pacific, Iberia, American Airlines and Quantas to name a few allow you to find the most suitable flight whilst keeping your Avios points rolling in.

For more information on how many Avios points, tier points or tier bonuses are available with the One World Alliance airlines check out BA’s page https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/flights

Hotels

British Airways has an extensive range of hotel partners who you can collect Avios with without having to be a member of their specific reward schemes. Their partners include Airbnb, Shangri La Hotels & Resorts, Booking.com and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group amongst others. Earning Avios through hotels has lots of potential and is definitely one option I need to exploit further.

For more information how you can convert your hotel points to Avios the BA website offers a comprehensive guide https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/hotels/convert-your-points

Holidays

This source of Avios income is definitely one of my favourites. I can often be found, mostly on a Sunday afternoon; because no one wants to think about work on Monday morning busily scrolling through the BA Holiday Finder. With 1 Avios point available for every £1 spent the BA package deals can be a good option for collecting points.

BA holidays are an easy go-to when I’ve been looking for weekend city breaks. With hotel and flight included in the price, I am free to focus my efforts on planning the activities rather than trying to sort flight and hotel logistics. Check out the BA Holiday Finder here https://www.britishairways.com/travel/holiday-finder/public/en_gb

Credit Card

By far and away the BA American Express Card is for me, one of the best ways to earn Avios points. I am not really a credit card person however we invested in the BA American Express card at a time when we were renovating our house and paying for a wedding. Naturally, neither of those things come cheaply and we had some large outgoings. With this in mind, we thought to earn Avios through our payments was a win-win.

We opted for the BA American Express Premium Plus card. This offers 25,000 Avios as a welcome providing you spend £3,000 in the first three months. The card has an annual charge of £195. However, for every £1 spend you get 1.5 Avios and with every £1 spent on BA flight and holidays you get an additional 3 Avios. We have absolutely identified this as a brilliantly easy way to earn Avios to fund our itch to travel.

One of the biggest perks has been the BA Companion Voucher. A 2 for 1 travel voucher award when you spend £10,000 with your BA American Express card. The voucher entitles you to a second seat on the same flight and class as another person. Taxes, fees and charges still apply, but you do make a great saving. We have just booked up a return business class trip to Croatia with our Companion Voucher for a mere £80. With another voucher in the stocks, I’m already eyeing up something a little more long haul!

If you are in a position to pay the annual fee and pay the balance of your credit card monthly then this is an excellent option. To find out more about the BA American Express please see their website https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/credit-cards/uk

Shopping

This option is fantastic. If you’re an online shopper, you can connect with your favourite brands via the Avios EStore where you can shop over 800 brands as you normally would. You can collect up to 30 Avios for every £1 however there are always deals and offers. As of August 2019, you can snap up 10 Avios for every pound with Selfridges & Co or 4 Avios per pound with John Lewis. You’ll be surprised how quickly the points can accumulate…maybe try this one out with some of your online Christmas gift shopping?

Fuel

From June 2019 there were some changes to how you can collect Avios when purchasing fuel. However, you can still cash in the Avios with fuel purchases at Tesco, if you have a Tesco Clubcard. Scan your Clubcard to receive 600 Avios for every £2.50 in Clubcard vouchers which you then exchange to Avios. A genuinely good option if you are a Tesco shopper and are already a Clubcard holder.

Happy travels,

Jess