There’s a huge misconception in travel, and it’s because someone gave something a dumb name. Points are for everyone, not just for frequent flyers, but you’d be totally excused for being confused since some genius decided to call them “frequent flyer miles” back in the day. The same logic applies to British Airways Avios, wrapped up in the lofty heights of the “Executive Club”. I’m not an executive, but I’m a member, with lots of points!
If travel is your favourite sport, points are the gym membership.
You can earn points from things you do every day, whether you travel all the time, or not at all, and even a small stack of points can unlock upgrades, nearly free travel and other perks. Here’s how to earn Avios every day of your life, some of which don’t even require leaving the house…
Hot Tip: You’ll need an account with British Airways Executive Club, Avios.com or both to make the most of these offers. Here’s more on Avios.com, and a link to join British Airways Executive Club.
Getting Started: British Airways Executive Club And Avios
Basically, just create a (free) account first, otherwise you’ll end up going back and forth with a lot of this stuff. Once you have your free British Airways Executive Club account, your points don’t expire as long as you keep earning them. If you stop earning them, they expire three years after the last time you earned a point.
Keep in mind that earning points doesn’t necessarily mean flying! There are 23 ways to earn more Avios points and keep them alive just in this little resource alone, most of which you can enjoy from home…
First: The Fastest Way To Earn Avios
There are so many great ways to earn Avios, but most will lead to slow and steady collection. There’s one very easy way to jumpstart balances from 0 to 100,000 and that’s with rewards credit cards.
Signing up for a British Airways Credit Card helps you earn points for everything you buy, and the British Airways Visa Signature Card in the USA offers up to 100,000 Avios as a card welcome bonus. In addition to the Avios Points, you can earn a companion voucher, which makes miles effectively worth double. UK cards, like the BA Premium Amex also can bring up to 25,000 from initial spending, and that’s pretty attractive.
Surprise, moving flat can have its benefits! In the UK, SKY offers 5,000 Avios when you open a new television and internet package. That’s enough for a one way flight to great cities in Europe like Paris or Dublin. Just for getting new internet or television! Not bad, not bad at all.
Avios For Ordering Pizza Delivery
Did somebody say Dominos? You can earn British Airways Avios from ordering Papa Johns, Dominos or Pizza Hut online. You’ll earn at least 1 point for every £/$ you spend, which can add up depending on how heavy your addiction for cheese and bread is.
Avios For iTunes Purchases
Did you know you can get 7 Avios per £1 spent on the UK iTunes store, and similar in the USA? It’s true. You can turn angry birds into pleasant flights and your truly tragic taste in music into fabulous weekends away. This is an opportunity not to miss out on. More here.
Avios From Your Daily Commute
Think of it like this: every purchase should be earning you points. British Airways Amex in the UK or Chase Visa in the USA allows you to earn points every day from everything you do, including paying for your daily commute. If you spent £200/$200 per month on commuting, you’d earn thousands of points each year.
Avios For All Your Online Shopping
Credit card or no credit card, if you’re not earning Avios from everything you buy online, you’re not doing it right! The British Airways e-store allows you to earn at last 1 Avios for every buck you spend. It’s not uncommon to see 8-10 Avios per £/$ spent from top electronics vendors, so getting a new laptop or iPad could create a free ticket. Here’s how.
Rewards For Thought may be boring, but it can be lucrative. The online survey platform offers 600 Avios points for your first survey, and at least 50 for each one thereafter. It’s not the most exciting way to earn points, but if it’s that or looking at cat photos on Instagram, this one at least has some reward.
Lots Of Avios For Taking Out Insurance
Insurance is a competitive business, so rather than just quoting a boring rate, some companies provide incentives like points bonuses. AA in the UK offers at least 2,500 Avios when you take out an insurance policy with them, which is definitely better than nothing. Aviva offers up to 5,000.
Avios For Booking Hotels
Points on points on points? You got it. You can earn Avios from most hotel programs in addition to earning hotel points when you actually stay when you book direct, and credit card points when you pay. If you don’t book direct, Hotels.com will give you 12 Avios per £1 spent, which is huge! Simply start at the British Airways e-store and navigate from there. Here’s some cool tricks to earn on Airbnb stays too.
Mega Avios Subscribing To Magazines
Are you a budding economist, or just love reading about intellectual things? Taking out a subscription to the Economist or Financial Times can yield a healthy dose of Avios. The Economist can earn you 8,400 Avios, or more during special offers, which is nearly enough for a return flight within Europe on its own. For now, the Financial Times earns 10,000 Avios!
When people think about earning Avios, they think British Airways. Truth be told, there’s at least 15 other airlines you can fly and still earn Avios. All you need to do is enter your BA frequent flyer number when you fly with any of the Oneworld airlines, or British Airways partners. Yep, even if you’re flying Cathay or Finnair you can totally earn Avios instead.
Avios are different to tier points, so keep that in mind. Tier Points aren’t spendable, and are just a way for BA to track whether or not you deserve extra flying perks, and the more you earn, the higher you climb from Bronze, Silver to Gold. Avios are the British Airways Points you can spend on free flights, seating assignments and other things like upgrades.
Drinking Wine Brings Avios
Wine always tastes better with a side of points. Laithwaites and British Airways offer 1,000 Avios when you make your first wine order, and 250 per order after that when you buy 12 bottles. If you like a nice drop delivered right to your front door, it’s hard to argue with! Plus, if you buy with an Avios earning credit card it’s a double dip. There’s even a 7 Avios per £1 at Rude Wines.
Avios For Buying Rolling Luggage
No one is saying you need to, but if you need new luggage after reading life changing packing tips, you can earn some bonus points for buying via Rolling Luggage. The store sells top brands like TUMI, Rimowa and everyone else, and you’ll get 5 Avios per £ spent. Solid deal.
Get Avios For Getting A New Phone Contract
Carphone Warehouse is one of the biggest phone service brokers in the UK, and when you get a new iPhone, Samsung or other cool new phone with a 24 month contract, you can get at least 8,000 Avios for doing so. Again, that’s more than enough for a short one way flight, or about half way to an long haul upgrade. O2 has a similar offer.
Renting Cars With Avis Or Budget Brings Avios
There’s nothing quite like cruising the California coast in a convertible. Or is it South Africa? Wherever your rental car needs take you, you can earn a bunch of Avios by booking with Avis or Budget. Head here to get all the juicy details and be sure to link your programs so that you’re always earning. Some of the bonus offers can be insanely lucrative, like 9,000 Avios per 3 day rental!
Up To 100,000 Avios From Rewards Credit Cards
People fail to recognise the basic point of rewards credit cards: it’s to earn points for everything. Many of the opportunities listed in this article are simply mere opportunities to earn bonus points on top of the credit card points you’d earn.
The British Airways Amex in the UK or British Airways Visa Signature in the USA both allow you to turn every cup of coffee and everything else into points. The British Airways Visa Signature often has huge bonuses, which can bring up to 100,000 points just for signing up and completing some spending.
It’s great to realize that you can also convert other credit card points into British Airways Avios. You can almost instantly create British Airways Avios from: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy Points and more.
Avios Loading Up At Duty Free
Heathrow Rewards is a lucrative program every traveller venturing through the UK should register with. You get points for basically everything you spend on, including Heathrow Express, Duty Free and restaurants. You can then convert your Heathrow Rewards Points into British Airways Avios. Handy, indeed.
British Airways Holidays can be one of the best ways to save, by combining flight and hotel into one. We’ve crunched the numbers, and the results can save £1000’s. Not only that, but you can pay for your holiday over time, which can be handy. When you book online with BA Holidays, bonus Avios points are up for grabs, which can sweeten the deal even further.
Expect some big bonus point opportunities this year as British Airways tries to get travelers back into the skies. In the past, we’ve seen great BA promotions like Double Avios on new bookings, and more. Who wouldn’t want more miles?!
Avios Setting Up An ISA
Don’t worry, it’s completely normal to hit the snooze button when it comes to finance. Why do you think bankers like to drink so much? With that said, Nutmeg is a finance outfit which offers bonus Avios when you setup an ISA or portfolio. Occasionally, Nutmeg will run offers where more than 100,000 Avios are up for grabs, but you can always grab at least 2,500. Maybe wait for a big offer?
Buying Flowers Buys Avios
At least a couple times a year, you’ll probably need to buy some shockingly priced flowers for someone. When you do, it’s a great opportunity to soften the blow with Avios Points. Many flower vendors offer at least 20 Avios per £/$ spent, which means being nice, sympathetic or sweet can help unlock travel, in addition to nice friendships.
Say Avios To Home Improvement
If you’re building something, fixing something or replacing lightbulbs, you’re probably shopping at B&Q in the UK, or Home Depot in the USA. Both are e-store partners, which means you can turn your B&Q purchases into bonus points, on top of any points you earn when you use your rewards credit card. Next time you hammer a nail, think about how many points its earning you.
Opening A Checking Account Means Avios
Santander in the UK offers 2,000 Avios when you open a new 123 Checking Account. That’s points for something you need anyway, which is always nice. Without a doubt there are other checking accounts but if you want 2,000 points rather than zero points, it’s a great option.
Hello Avios, From Hello Fresh Deliveries
Hello Fresh is probably the easiest way to eat great meals without putting them in a microwave. Boxes with all the ingredients and easy instructions show up at your door, and voila, within minutes you’re cooking like you have your own show. If you’ve been thinking about giving it a whirl, they have 1,000 Avios up for grabs when you do.
And here’s the 10 best ways to spend British Airways Avios, once you earn them!
All great ideas but given BA’s appalling service, questionable business practices and extreme restrictions on redemption availability AND more than anything, their ridiculous taxes and surcharges on reward flights (meaning a cash ticket on a competitor is cheaper) why would you want to?
Totally agree Journeying John, I just dumped my BA Premium Card after 12 years could never get flights to use my companion vouchers, fed up with the annual fee of £195 and final straw refusal to reimburse seat booking fees when aircraft changed on the day. For ‘questionable business practices’ my language would be much stronger, dishonourable and dishonest. I shall avoid ever flying with them again.
very interesting except your arrangement with Tesco has now finished please update more often