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Earn bonus Avios …. at Sainsbury’s

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Yes, that’s right.  Sainsbury’s!

For those with very long memories, Sainsbury’s used to award BA Miles and Air Miles before the contract switched to Tesco in 2002.  You may have had one of these in your pocket a long time ago:

Anyway ….

American Express has launched a new promotion offering double Membership Rewards points until December 31st when you shop at Sainsbury’s!  Assuming you convert your MR points to Avios points, you will be receiving 2 per £1 spent instead of the usual 1 per £1.

You need to hold an American Express Platinum, Preferred Rewards Gold or Green charge card.  You can also take part if you have a Platinum Cashback Amex, with which you will earn double cashback.  There is nothing for BA, Nectar, SPG, Costco or Harrods Amex cardholders, unfortunately.

You MUST register for this promotion.

The rules say that the bonus Membership Rewards points will post within 8 weeks of the transaction, so you may not receive the last of them until the end of February.

The rules also state that you must have had your card for 100 days when you register.  This is a very odd rule and one that has been cropping up recently in Amex promotions.  I have no idea what the point of it is, to be honest.

Spending at Sainsbury’s petrol stations does not count.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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 card

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.

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

Comments (13)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • pazza2000 says:
    22 Nov22 November 07:49

    I agree that this new ‘held the card for 100 days’ rule is a silly one. I have held my MR for sub -100 days however have registered anyway to see if it is upheld.

  • gnarly says:
    22 Nov22 November 07:52

    Slightly more useful than the shop small promotion for those of us in the regions.

    Do you know if registering the main card also activates supplementary (e.g. spouse) cards?

    • Raffles says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:05

      Not sure, but on ‘small shops’ you had to register each card separately

    • ups says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:01

      It doesn’t – on the thank you page, it has this:

      “Please note that this registered Cardnumber is the only Card that can receive the offer. Any other eligible Cards (including those linked to the same account) must be registered separately.”

      • gnarly says:
        22 Nov22 November 11:37

        Thanks. I skimmed the T&Cs, but I was heading for the door of the hotel at the time.

  • Zoe B says:
    22 Nov22 November 07:59

    I suppose you could buy a Sainsbury’s gift card instore then use the gift card to buy fuel…

  • Cliff says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:00

    Well for those in the first year of Amex Gold membership , this promo means the earning rate is three MR’s per pound spend

    • Trevor says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:55

      I have the platinum card, also sub 100 days (a rule imposed probably to stop us card churners benefiting any more than we do), but since I already earn 1.5 MR and 1CC = 3.9 avios per £1 spent at tesco on a normal day, I am hardly upset since I wouldn’t take advantage of this anyway.

  • flyoff says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:24

    Raffles if you look at the following link which has the Sainsbury and additional offer the wording is you get an additional Avios and the Amex cards aren’t restricted. The terms contradict the Sainsbury sign up page.
    I have asked Amex to clarify what the terms are.

    The Christmas Campaign also includes Carphone Warehouse, TheTrainline.com, House of Fraser and Nike and Argos. The Argos one may combine with the £5 off £20 Amex Foursquare deal. Remember Argos sell other stores gift cards so it is a good way of getting 25% discount in other store and potentially additional Avios.

    • Raffles says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:13

      Thanks. The 20 per cent discount on HMV gift vouchers is great for anyone who wants an ipad or similar for Christmas. It is almost impossible to get these discounted otherwise.

      Frankly, if you want to churn a few £k on your card, you could do worse than buying discounted HMV gift cards, buying ipads and ebaying them. You should make a profit.

      Or just sell the gift voucher …

      Nice Virgin deal as well, will do a quick post on that tomorrow.

  • Raffles says:
    22 Nov22 November 11:42

    There is also £10 back when you spend £10 at Gap

  • Roger says:
    23 Nov23 November 08:47

    Combine the Foursquare offer with the up to 20% off Selfridges offer, spend £60+ on a qualifying Selfridges purchase on 24 November, pay £50+ and get a £25 credit. Make sure the Selfridges purchase is first if you’re on a shopping binge.

    It’s almost worth travelling to the West End to see whether that works.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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