Four special Avios offers for Executive Club members in the British Airways sale – worth it?
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We published an article yesterday featuring our pick of the Club World deals in the new British Airways Winter sale, which is now live.
There are four Avios-based special offers running alongside the sale. As always with such deals, you shouldn’t necessarily assume that they are good value.
Full details of these four offers can be found on the BA sale site here.
Here is my view:
Offer 1: Get better value on certain routes using Avios part payment
What’s the deal? Get improved redemption rates when you buy a cash ticket in the BA sale and use Avios to reduce the cost
What’s the catch? It is only valid on San Diego, Boston, New York City, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Kuala Lumpur, Bahamas, and San Jose (Costa Rica) and only in World Traveller
Is it a good deal? We are not big fans of ‘part pay with Avios’ because you are usually offered a rate well below our target Avios redemption value of 1p per point for large quantities.
A £350 test booking to New York brought up the following options:
£20 off for 1,600 Avios (1.25p per Avios)
£40 off for 4,400 Avios (0.91p per Avios)
£70 off for 9,300 Avios (0.75p per Avios)
The first one would be a no-brainer for me and I might be tempted by the 2nd option. I doubt I’d accept 0.75p for 9,300 valuable Avios however.
This is a good deal if you are booking a qualifying flight (not very likely given the class and location criteria) and are offered the equivalent of 1p per point to ‘part pay with Avios’. This will only be the case when using a very small number of points.
Offer 2: Get an extra 15% off hotels when booked with Avios
What’s the deal? If you use your Avios to book a hotel, paying either wholly or partly with Avios, you save 15% on the standard rate
What’s the catch? It is only valid for 12 destinations and not all are bookable yet:
Las Vegas, Madrid, Orlando and Prague booked between 19 December to 2 January
Dubai, Edinburgh, Rome and Miami booked between 3 January to 16 January (so not live yet)
Cape Town, Nice, Dublin and San Francisco booked between 17 January to 30 January (so not live yet)
Is it a good deal? Not when using ‘100% Avios’, no. You usually get around 0.55p per Avios when using them to pay for a hotel.
Oddly enough, the 15% discount doesn’t change the value per Avios you get. This is because you can choose to use any quantity of Avios (1,000+) and any quantity of cash. The 15% discount applies regardless.
The best way to benefit from this deal is to select just 1,000 Avios at check-out and pay the rest in cash. You will still get a 15% discount on the usual cash price. Remember, however, that these are ‘third party bookings’ which do not earn hotel loyalty points and you will not get any hotel elite status benefits.
Offer 3: Get up to 3,500 Avios back when using Avios to pay for car hire
What’s the deal? Use your Avios to pay for an Avis or Budget car rental and you will be emailed a voucher worth up to 3,500 Avios
What’s the catch? You need to spend 10,000 to 20,000 Avios to receive a voucher for 1,500 Avios, or over 20,000 Avios to receive a voucher for 3,500 Avios back. Your rental needs to be completed by 30th June
Is it a good deal? Probably not. At the very best (ie you spend exactly 20,000 points) you are only getting a rebate of 17.5%.
When you use your Avios to book a car rental, you are usually getting around 0.6p per point. This is a long way from my target valuation of 1p. Even the highest possible rebate of 17.5% won’t move the needle and your value per point would probably not reach 0.7p per Avios.
Offer 4: Get a 30% bonus when you buy Avios
What’s the deal? You will get a 30% bonus when you buy or gift Avios at this page of ba.com by 30th January
What’s the catch? None
Is it a good deal? No. We have seen a bonus of 50% on multiple occasions during 2019, so if you are not planning to use the Avios immediately I would wait to see what 2020 brings. You can also get a lower price via this Groupon Ireland promotion which is still running – it is a little more complex but worth it for the extra saving.
Click here to buy Avios at ba.com. Click here for the Groupon Ireland offer – and read this HFP article which explains how it works.
Conclusion
The best way to use your Avios is to use them for premium long-haul flights or for short-haul flights in any cabin. You should be able to get 1p per Avios on a good day.
None of the other ways of using your Avios get close to this, and the small tweaks offered during this offer don’t change that.
You can check out all of the BA sale deals on this page of ba.com.
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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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