Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

This weekend: BA Holidays Club Europe flash sale, £15 off Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific flash sale

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News in brief:

New BA Holidays Club Europe flash sale launched

BA Holidays is running another of its ‘luxury flash sale’ events this weekend.  Accommodation is either in 4* or 5* hotels and flights are in Club Europe.  You have until Monday 19th February to book.

Here are the headline deals they are using to promote the event. The price is per person based on two sharing:

  • London to Rome – Flights + 3 nights luxury hotel from £298 in Spring
  • London to Nice – Flights + 3 nights in a luxury hotel from £446 in Spring
  • London to Barcelona – Flights + 3 nights luxury hotel from £366 in Spring and £345 in Autumn
  • London to Majorca – Flights + 3 nights luxury hotel from £475 in Spring and £478 in Autumn
  • London to Amsterdam – Flights + 3 nights luxury hotel from £295 in Spring
  • London to Iceland – Flights +3 nights luxury hotel from £482 in Spring and £459 in Autumn

You don’t need to pay now. You can just pay a deposit of as little as £150 per booking. The balance is not due until five weeks before departure.

For clarity, flights booked via BA Holidays earn full Avios and tier points. The only thing you cannot earn are British Airways On Business points.

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays.  You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card.  Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

Full details are on this special Club Europe page of the BA Holidays website.

Get £15 off any Lufthansa flight

Lufthansa has launched a new £15 off promo code.

The code is valid on any round-trip starting in the UK including all taxes, fees and carrier charges.

You must book by 18th February 2018 for travel before 31st May 2018.

The catchy promo code you need to enter on the payment page when booking is Z3RHNQQLE60U

Full T&Cs are on this page.

Cathay Pacific Chinese New Year flash sale ending

Also ending on Sunday is a Cathay Pacific flash sale.

There are some decent fares available from London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.  Deals include:

Hong Kong in Premium Economy from £849

Australia in Business from £2869

China in Business from £1969

The travel dates in Economy and Premium Economy are 10th April 2018 – 19th June 2018, 21st August 2018 – 30th September 2018 and 1st November 2018 – 6th Decmber 2018.

In Business Class you must travel between 1st June 2018 and 31st December 2018.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

The Cathay Pacific website is here.

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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

British Airways and Avios, Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles, Lufthansa and Miles & More

Comments (23)

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

  • James says:
    17 Feb17 February 06:46

    Can the club Europe holidays be booked (at these prices or thereabouts) using the Amex travel agency ?

  • Roger says:
    17 Feb17 February 06:51

    OT-

    Can I book hotels using my points for other distant family members i.e. can I use my hotel points to book for my sister and her family at IHG hotels?

    • Rob says:
      17 Feb17 February 08:55

      Yes. Best bet is to book for 2 adults and use the ‘Add 2nd guest details’ to give the name of the actual stayer. In the ‘Notes’ add “Mr X will be the guest’.

      • John says:
        17 Feb17 February 09:58

        You need to do that on the phone now. Or if you are sure the hotel doesn’t check ID

      • TGLoyalty says:
        18 Feb18 February 08:41

        Doesn’t work in Spain though as they will ask for the bookers ID?

        • Rob says:
          18 Feb18 February 09:24

          I agree I have had trouble in Spain with this, but then oddly Anika had no problems in Madrid last year using rooms I booked, so who knows?

  • Rob says:
    17 Feb17 February 07:41

    Is it possible to book the club Europe holidays using Avios points? Or part payment with Avios?

  • KevMc says:
    17 Feb17 February 07:50

    You will definitely get the cash back.

    I put a combination of flights and hotels through worth £577, which went through as 3 smaller transactions of £140, £140 and £297. A few weeks later I booked an ‘experience’ for a completely different trip, which took me over the £600, and I had an email to say I’d triggered the offer straight away.

    Once that transaction cleared on my account, it also showed in the mobile app as being redeemed, and I got my £200 credit on my account within the next few days.

  • Stu N says:
    17 Feb17 February 08:25

    Claire – was in exactly the same position as you, statement credit posted automatically after maybe 5-7 days. If in the unlikely event it doesn’t, customer services will sort you out.

  • Simon says:
    17 Feb17 February 08:56

    I thought you needed to complete the £600 in one single transaction to obtain the credit?

    • Stu N says:
      17 Feb17 February 09:36

      Not for Amex travel offers. If you book a flight for 2 passengers in a single transaction so it is under the same airline booking reference you will usually see it come through as two separate transactions on your card. The airline/ travel agent transmits some info including passenger names and booking references to include on the credit card statement hence the split transaction. I guess Amex make these offers cumulative to ensure they work as intended despite this split charge.

  • Slamberry says:
    17 Feb17 February 09:00

    Same here. 3 separate charges. The offer credited after few days. We’re on the mini break now

  • Paul says:
    17 Feb17 February 09:59

    Same here! Ended up purchasing two return BA tickets to the Middle East for £200 each

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

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