Is a ‘25% off Avios redemptions’ sale launching tomorrow?
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Over on Flyertalk, some posters are reporting getting a snail mail letter from Avios. It announces a 25% discount on Avios long-haul redemptions, in all classes, launching November 14th. You will have six days to book.
This is very, very interesting.
I wrote yesterday about BA’s current Business and First Class sale. This sale is substantially more generous than BA usually offers – you could get return Club Europe flights to Europe for as little as £129. This sale ends at midnight tonight. I therefore suspect that it is not a coincidence that BA is launching an Avios redemption sale one day later.
Clearly, BA is having some issues filling seats this Winter. Iberia, as you may have read in the newspapers, is bleeding almost Euro 2m per day, and it is possible that BA’s premium bookings are also looking weak. And the scale of BA’s fuel surcharges means that even Avios bookings bring in a nice chunk of cash ….
I haven’t had the leaflet so I cannot comment exactly. Looking at this, deals will be offered by avios.com, BA and Iberia. This should mean that BA American Express 2-4-1 vouchers can be used.
Reward flights can booked up to the end of May 2013. Again, this is a significantly generous period which includes Easter.
Flights must depart from London, which implies regional connections are not allowed (or if they are, the connection will not be discounted). This sounds a bit odd, so lets see what actually happens in practice.
100% Avios and ‘Avios and Money’ bookings will both be available, although do NOT expect the ‘money’ part of an ‘Avios and Money’ redemption to be reduced by 25%!
If you have already have award seats booked, it may be worth cancelling and rebooking. Do NOT do this, though, unless you can see that replacement seats are available. Do NOT cancel an existing booking and assume that the seats will instantly come up again for Avios redemption – this rarely happens.
There is a £25 fee per person to cancel an Avios booking, unless you have a BA Gold card. However, given the substantial savings available, it would be worth cancelling and rebooking in most circumstances.
More information tomorrow, when we see what is available. I will probably drop in a post mid-morning, so if you only look at the site early in the day then make an exception tomorrow.
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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year 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.
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