How to Collect Avios Points
Key takeaways
You collect Avios points by making purchases with certain American Express credit cards
You can convert points from other reward schemes like BPme, HSBC Credit Card Rewards Programme and RevPoints into Avios points
You can triple Avios points by paying to ‘boost’ them - this is cheaper than making additional purchases for points
How to I collect Avios points?
Discover how to earn Avios points through flights, shopping, and spending on your credit card.
Avios works just like any loyalty scheme – if you spend money at certain places, you earn points which you can later redeem. They’re best known for being collected – and spent – on flights, but there are many other ways to collect them.
In fact, you could start collecting them without even trying, as long as you shop at the right retailers.
What are the most common earning methods?
There are lots of different ways to earn Avios points.
Probably the best known is by booking a flight with British Airways or one of the other airlines in the Oneworld Alliance (these include Aer Lingus, Iberia, Vueling and others). You can earn more points by pre-booking your seat, paying for extra baggage and upgrading your seat, though of course these will all cost you more money.
Other aspects of your trip can earn you points, too. Booking a hotel or hiring a car from partner firms will earn you Avios points, as will shopping at certain retailers through the Avios shopping portal. These aren’t exotic brands you’ll only see abroad, but high street staples like M&S, John Lewis and Sainsbury’s.
So you could earn Avios points just by doing your weekly shop.
But you’re not restricted to certain retailers, as long as you have an Avios credit card. The British Airways American Express credit card earns you Avios with every pound you spend, and you’ll get 5,000 bonus Avios points if you spend £2,000 within the first three months of having the card.
If you link your Uber and British Airways accounts, you can earn one Avios point for every £1 you spend with the taxi-hailing app. And you can convert points from other reward schemes like BPme, HSBC Credit Card Rewards Programme and RevPoints into Avios points.
What are the cheapest ways for me to collect Avios points?
You might be sitting on a treasure trove of Avios points without even knowing it. If you’re a member of any of those other reward schemes mentioned above, you might be able to convert those points into Avios – effectively giving you free points (or at least ones you’ve already earned).
You can triple your points by ‘boosting’ them. You log in to your account, select a purchase from the last 30 days and choose to boost it by a factor of one, two or three. You will have to pay, but it can cost as little as 92p per Avios point, which is cheaper than making a new purchase in order to get more points.
Some Avios credit cards give you points in return for referring a friend. So if they sign up, it could earn you thousands of points, completely free.
You can also earn Avios points in return for completing surveys via Avios For Thoughts. You’ll get 600 points for signing up and completing one survey, and 50 points for each subsequent survey you fill in.
What credit cards offer Avios?
There are three credit cards that offer Avios. All are American Express, which not all retailers accept.
British Airways American Express Credit Card | British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card | British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
Representative APR | APR: 30.0% | APR: 137.8% | APR: 106.7% |
Annual fee | None | £300 | £250 |
Welcome bonus | 5,000 Avios points when you spend £2,000 in the first 3 months (new members only) | 30,000 Avios points when you spend £6,000 in the first 3 months (new members only) | 30,000 Avios points when you spend £5,000 in your first 3 months |
Earn rate | 1 Avios for every £1 spent | 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent | 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent |
Rewards | Companion Voucher when you spend £15,000 each membership year | Companion Voucher when you spend £15,000 each membership year | Extra 10,000 Avios for every £20,000 spent, up to 3 times a year |
Extras | None | Collect 3 Avios for every £1 spent on British Airways flights and holidays | Earn 2 On Business Points for every eligible £1 spent on qualified British Airways flights purchased with your Card |
When are Avios points added to my balance?
They should arrive shortly after you have travelled or spent money with an eligible retailer – usually within three days, but it can take longer, especially with partner airlines.
