Is it better earning Avios or hotel points from hotel stays?

Is it better earning Avios or hotel points from hotel stays?

In this article we’ll look at whether you’re better off collecting Avios on hotel stays or sticking with the hotel’s own loyalty program.

Most hotel groups already offer their own loyalty schemes, with a variety of rewards to tempt you to keep booking. Whether it is worth joining these or simply collecting Avios will depend on your personal spending and travel habits.

This is a list of British Airways hotel partners.  When you stay at a branded hotel you usually have two options:

• earn hotel loyalty points and status credit in IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy or Accor Live Limitless

• hand over your British Airways Executive Club number at check-in when staying at those three hotel groups and earn some Avios instead

In general, taking hotel loyalty points is a better deal.  You should get far greater value than you’d get from, say, 500 Avios per hotel stay.

However, you will need to do a number of stays at the same hotel chain before you will have enough points for a free night. If you think this is unlikely – and remember that the chain may have tough expiry rules on its own points if you don’t stay regularly – it makes more sense to take Avios.  You can add those to your existing account and you know they will get you some value in the future.

There is a third option, however.

Hotels.com Rewards is the loyalty scheme for the Hotels.com website.  This site has hundreds of thousands of hotels on it.  If you book via Hotels.com you won’t earn Avios and you won’t earn hotel loyalty points.  You will earn Hotels.com Rewards free nights credits, which get you a free night for every 10 nights you stay. 

If your hotel stays cover many different chains, this could be the best way to maximise value.  This article explains more about Hotels.com Rewards.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.6 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to sign up for our free weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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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.