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Bits: BA Holidays New York deal launched, get 25% off Iberia flights from Cardiff

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News in brief:

British Airways New York Christmas deal launched

BA Holidays has launched two excellent deals if you want to get away for Christmas or New Year:

Club World flights + 3 nights in a hotel from £1,199 per person

First Class flights + 3 nights in a hotel from £1,949 per person

Departure dates run from 20th December to 1st January.

Full details can be found here on the BA Holidays premium deals page.  Book by midnight on Monday.

Get 25% off Iberia redemptions from Cardiff

Iberia Express flies from Cardiff to Madrid and this route is bookable with Avios, albeit via Iberia Plus.

In order to move Avios to Iberia Plus via Combine My Avios, your Iberia account must be 90 days old and have earned 1 Avios point.

Until 31st December, redemptions on the Cardiff to Madrid route are discounted by 25%.  As this is Iberia Express, not Vueling, business class is also available.

Before booking, check out cash prices on the Iberia Express site as these are not generally expensive flights anyway.  Note the flights only operate on Thursdays and Sundays.  You must fly from 6th to 17th April or 8th to 28th June.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

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

British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Club Iberia Plus

Comments (51)

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

  • Danny says:
    2 Dec2 December 05:24

    Are you sure the IHG Buy Points promotion ends today? My account says the 100% bonus is available until December 6

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:40

      Was meant to be the 2nd, and last night it still said that, but it would not be the first time they extended it.

      • Andy S says:
        3 Dec3 December 21:30

        IHG just emailed me saying I can still get 100% bonus on points. Until 6th December.

        Still not sure it’s worth it, but only because the exchange rate is so poor! I can get 10000 points for about 68 dollars! When I last looked at redemptions it was about 25000 points for an hotel that was about 80 quid for cash. Yes, I know the cash is the advance non-refundable and points are refundable; but really, I never book until I’m sure so that doesn’t really come into it!

        Rob you value points at 0.4p, well buying at this rate they work out at 0.53p at today’s rate. Down to 0.49p if i get 22000 (11k x2).

        I’m sure if we were back at 1.60 $ to £ it would be worth doing, but not now !!

  • Marco says:
    2 Dec2 December 05:41

    Any chance of that referral today Rob. Emailed you yesterday – wouldn’t be pestering but it’s time sensitive as would be nice for OH to have card before Xmas travel! Thanks!

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:39

      Yes, sorry, we were out with Uber yesterday and then I had to go to a school panto and then there was a frequent flyer pub meet up afterwards. And at 9am I am getting my hair cut as I thought I should smarten up before the HFP party :-). All email will be cleared by noon!

      • Genghis says:
        2 Dec2 December 15:48

        So if a photo of the HfP gathering makes its way into the Daily Mail, at least you can’t be abused for your hair… 🙂

      • Marco says:
        2 Dec2 December 17:34

        Thanks for the reply and referral. And again apologies for pestering!

        M

  • Alan says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:09

    Are IHG redemptions readily available or is there limited supply? DO they set aside X number of rooms for redemptions or do they let you use points if any room is available?
    Cheers

    • Andy says:
      3 Dec3 December 16:04

      I have never had a problem doing redemption’s for any IHG hotel I wanted to book. Just got back from MIA staying in the Ocean Z at South beach for 3 nights. Got upgraded to a top floor suite with a rooftop hot tub.
      Very nice sipping wine with my wife at midnight

      • Andy says:
        3 Dec3 December 16:07

        Also used points for Crowne Plaza Times Square, CP Cherry Hill N.J., CP Manahwkin N.J.
        All for any date I put in

  • the real harry says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:12

    O/T that’s my 6th payment to Virgin Money gone out this morning – 12K ISA – so DDs cancelled ready for next bite @ the cherry 🙂

    • James67 says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:52

      Remember to leave it a couple of days for that payment to process on your ISA before requesting payount otherwisd you’ll have to do it twice.

  • The_real_a says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:20

    Nice long weekend away in madrid if you are local.

  • Chris Cannon says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:41

    Its a repeat of the same BA deal they ran in the summer Rob (which I took them up on )

  • Simmo says:
    2 Dec2 December 10:36

    OT//

    Just had an email from Iberia saying my Avios are about to expire….
    Is this just something lost in translations? as the email is talking about a promotion of doubling your avios?

    I only just transferred some avios in there from BA last month?

  • Simon says:
    2 Dec2 December 11:41

    Can IHG points only be bought in US dollars?
    Puts a gremlin in my plan of putting it on my MBNA amex. Would put it on my clarity but would lose the sweet points.

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

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