Special ‘part pay with Avios’ deal gets you 1p per point (good for cheap tier points)

Back in October 2013, British Airways introduced ‘Part Pay With Avios’. This was a new scheme which allowed you to reduce the cost of a cash ticket by redeeming Avios points.

This had been rumoured for some time. When it finally launched, it was a disappointment. It was restricted to short haul flights only. The maximum discount was capped at £30 (4,500 Avios) which was later increased to £50.

Given that you are receiving a weak exchange rate for your points, it was a bit pathetic. Why can’t I redeem my Avios to cover the entire cost of a ticket? I would understand why not if BA was giving me a fantastic deal but 0.67p per point was never going to excite anyone.

British Airways is still tweaking the scheme.  Last year there was a short-term trial of offering discounts on long-haul flights.

For the next 10 days, there is a new offer.

If you book a cash ticket on any of the following new routes …

Seville

Madeira

Split

Bodrum

Rhodes

Cagliari

Fuerteventura

…. you can part-pay with Avios at the higher rate of 1p per point.  This is a pretty decent result and as good as I would expect if I was redeeming for a standard short-haul redemption.

The options for Euro Traveller / economy will be £10 off for 1000 points, £30 off for 3000 points and £50 off for 5000 points.

In Club Europe, you can also part pay with 10,000 Avios and receive £100 off your booking.  This is a good deal because these are generally low yield routes in the first place.

The BA ‘low fare finder’ tool shows that Seville, for instance, is just £220 from May onwards on the cheapest dates.  Redeeming 10,000 Avios takes the Club Europe fare down to an excellent £120 return! 

If you are Avios-rich but are in need of some tier points to gain or retain British Airways status, this could be a good way of doing it.  You would pick up 80 tier points for that £120 return ticket to Seville, for example.  Madeira / Funchal  is even better as a 160 tier point route.  Why not book yourself a few weekends away at these prices?

The ‘Part Pay With Avios’ website is here. This offer is NOT mentioned there but you will see it if you do a dummy booking on ba.com.

You MUST book by February 15th to take advantage of this offer.  The travel dates are  Seville 29 March – 30 June 2015, Madeira 11 May – 30 June 2015, Split 1 May – 30 June 2015, Bodrum 27 April – 30 June 2015, Rhodes 27 April – 30 June 2015, Cagliari 27 April – 30 June 2015 and Fuerteventura 3 Feb – 30 June 2015.

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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.