28 tricks to boost and max Avios

How Avios points work – the basics

Avios is a rewards scheme, similar to Nectar and Tesco Clubcard, but with travel-focused rewards. Seven frequent flyer schemes now use Avios points as their loyalty currency: the British Airways Club, Iberia Plus, the Finnair Plus program, the Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Loganair, Vueling Club and the Aer Lingus AerClub, and your points will sit within these schemes

To keep it simple, this guide concentrates on earning via and using the British Airways scheme, though there's no harm signing up to each one you're likely to use.

Here are some of the basic need-to-knows: 

• How do you collect Avios points? Avios points are most commonly associated with flights, but you can also collect them when you spend on hotels, car hire, Uber, and shopping.

• How do you spend points and how much are they worth? As well as flights and upgrades, you can spend your points on hotels, car hire, experience days and wine. However, the value of your points can vary wildly, depending on what you're spending them on and how much it would cost in cash.

  We calculated Avios can go a really long way when combined with a two-for-one 'companion voucher', but much less so on some economy return flights. See below for a comparison of different ways of spending your points. On average one Avios is typically worth 1p, so that's what we're going to be using when calculating the value of flights.
  

• Other key need-to-knows. Availability is limited so you'll need to book way ahead to use your Avios points. It's worth checking budget airline costs before you book, as it can work out cheaper. And you must earn at least one point every three years or your stash expires.

Flights are NOT free – you pay taxes and charges

Gone are the old days of 'Airmiles' when you could redeem miles for a flight without paying a penny. With Avios points you need to pay taxes and fees on flights, wiping some of the gain.

For example, in peak times you could pay £460 in taxes, plus 40,000 points, for a return reward flight from London to New York (though we worked out you could get much better value with one of the other Avios pricing options).

You can now pay £1 in fees on certain routes

Under the 'Reward Flight Saver' scheme, you can choose to pay a fixed fee on most short-haul economy return flights to Europe, as long as you earn at least one point during the year before you book. For instance, an off-peak return from London to Paris costs £1, plus 18,500 points.

Reward flights in Europe include hold luggage, saving approx £30/return

When you book a flight to Europe using your Avios points, you get more than just the basic hand-luggage-only fare with British Airways – you get to take a checked bag too. If you were paying cash for flights, return fares with checked luggage can cost around £30 more per return flight.

This makes the Reward Saver flights better value – especially for those who can't comprehend packing light. For long haul, checked luggage is often included as standard and factored into the cost already for both Avios and cash fares.

Join all Avios schemes for more offers and availability

There are seven frequent flyer schemes that use Avios points as their currency: the British Airways Club, Iberia Plus, Finnair Plus, Loganair, the Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Vueling Club and the Aer Lingus AerClub.

You can spend and collect Avios points with all these schemes, so join all four to access more offers and availability of flights. Points are usually worth the same regardless of scheme, and can be freely transferred between them. It just gives you more opportunities to boost and use your points.

You can move or pool Avios between schemes at any time, log in to the Avios scheme you want to put the points in, go to your account and click 'combine your Avios'.

You can earn points on other non-BA flights too

The rates we've mentioned apply to British Airways flights, but you can earn points flying on airlines that, like BA, are part of the OneWorld airlines alliance, or other airlines it has chosen to partner with – the full list is below.

Economy Avios earning rates are generally the same with these airlines, but you usually earn fewer points in premium cabins. See British Airways partner airlines points for what you can earn.

You need fewer Avios points going off-peak

On British Airways, off-peak means outside the longer private school holiday periods. Enter a route on the BA reward flight finder, then on the flight selection screen click 'show peak and off-peak periods for British Airways' to see a calendar showing off-peak dates, as below.

If you don't mind when you go, aim for an off-peak period, which usually costs 10-30% less Avios. For example:

• Madrid return: 25,500 peak, 23,500 off-peak. 

• New York return: 60,000 peak, 50,000 off-peak. 

• Sydney return: 130,000 peak, 100,000 off-peak.

ALWAYS check budget airline prices too

With Reward Flight Saver, you can get a flight to Europe from £1, plus the relevant points, as long as you've earned at least one Avios point in the previous year.

If you consider you can sometimes pay £300 for a return flight to Europe, particularly if going to the eastern edges, you can make substantial savings by only using a small number of points.

Where budget airlines beat Avios

Always compare against the cost of paying in cash - see our Cheap flights, Easyjet tricks and Ryanair tips guides to help. If you can get a cheap return flight, it may be better to keep the points for another time.

Do note that Avios bookings come with checked baggage included, so if you need to take a big suitcase, factor that into the cost of buying a flight outright.

Going beyond Europe? Avios can save you £100s, but always compare with cash prices first

If you're saving for a particular trip, you can use Avios points towards the cost and cut the price of the ticket.

But if you're weighing up whether to use Avios now or save them for a later trip, the cash price for the same flight will determine whether it's worth using the points.

For flights that don't qualify for the Reward Flight Saver fee, you pay the same taxes and charges you'd pay when booking with cash.

If you find a flight that doesn't cost much more than the taxes and charges for using Avios points, it may be best to save the points.

Avios allows you to fly like a king in business without paying a royal ransom

Using your points for long-haul business flights allows you to fly in style (and bag lounge-passes), which may otherwise have been unaffordable had you been paying with cash.

In business, it's generally twice the number of economy class points needed for a European flight, or three times for the rest of the world. Taxes and charges are also higher, but nothing like the enormous jump if you'd been paying fully in cash.

Note that business class within Europe (called Club Europe) is nothing like it is in Club World – you won't get a flat bed, so weigh up if you want to use so many points for a short, less luxurious, flight.

Flying from outside London to Europe? You must stopover and pay twice

British Airways only flies to Europe from London (with very few exceptions, such as an upcoming route from Glasgow to Spain in summer 2026). So if you're coming from elsewhere in the UK, you'll most likely need to connect via London, and you'll be charged in Avios points and taxes for both journeys. For a return you'll pay for four journeys.

So check prices to fly with another airline based on value and convenience (if you prefer direct flights), as others fly direct to Europe – see our Cheap flights, Easyjet tricks and Ryanair tips guides.

Is Avios still good value?

We've compared the current scheme to when we updated this guide in 2021. The value of Avios has depreciated slightly over the last few years (and will be depreciating again on Monday 15 December)

In the past, the Avios scheme divided the world into geographical zones – these determined the number of points you'd pay. These zones still broadly exist, but the pricing has increased slightly since 2021. For example:

• Zone 1 covered Paris, but stretched as far as Prague – in 2021, both cost 9,000 Avios points peak time plus £35 (roughly £125 value).
  
  Now, the closest option to that - and the best-value of the six payment options - is 10,500 Avios plus £35 (roughly £140 value)

• Zone 2 included popular summer holiday destinations such as Barcelona and Rome – these cost 15,000 Avios in peak times plus £35 (roughly £185 value).
  
  The closest option to that now is 16,500 Avios plus £35 (roughly £200 value), but the best value payment option is 6,500 Avios plus £115, which amounts to about £180 in value.

One-way flights on Avios can be good value

Booking a one-way flight on the likes of British Airways can cost almost the same as a return. But using Avios points is a good way not to get fleeced.

How Avios points work on one-ways – great for Europe

Unlike when you pay cash, the cost of using Avios points to go one-way is simply half the number of points required for a return trip.

Taxes can vary however. For trips to Europe, it's simply half the cost of a return trip. But with longer-haul flights, the amount you pay in taxes and charges is more complicated to work out - it depends on the distance and airport you're departing from, as some charge more than others.

As you can usually get a decent value one-way ticket to Europe on a budget airline, it may be cheapest to book one leg with Avios, one with a budget airline.

The top way to boost points – everyday spending on specialist credit cards

We've crunched the numbers on the big Avios credit cards to find the best way to earn points while you spend. This can significantly boost your Avios stash, simply for doing everyday spending on one.

Before you begin though, a few things to note:

The top Avios-earning credit cards

Our top pick is the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card. It's fee-free in the first year (£195 thereafter), and there are plenty of ways to earn Amex points, which convert 1:1 to Avios. See our Amex comparison table for the key info.

There are other cards which give decent intro bonuses too – worth checking out if the above card doesn't suit, though to be wary of the high fees these cards typically have.

Refer friends to earn up to 90,000 bonus points per year

For each friend, family member, or colleague you refer, you can pick up an extra 9,000 Amex points boost on the Preferred Rewards Gold, 9,000 Avios on BA Premium Plus cards, or an extra 4,000 Avios for the BA Amex card (you can repeat this until you get up to 90,000 points every year, assuming you have that many friends!).

Companion tickets let you take a friend without using any extra points

Some Avios credit cards give you a companion ticket when you spend over a certain amount, so you get to take someone else with you under exactly the same conditions for no extra points (though, like you, they still pay taxes and charges).

So even if you're flying business class to Sydney using your Avios, they can go too and all they'll pay is taxes and charges. While this does work on short-haul flights too, savings on long haul run into the £1,000s, rather than the much smaller sums you'll save on a return to Europe.

Use companion tickets wisely – they can quickly expire

If you have a card that offers a companion ticket, it's worth waiting until you have the companion voucher before spending your points, as you get much better value from them. Though do note the expiry limits – for the fee-free BA Amex, it's one year from issue, and for the Premium Plus BA Amex, it's two years.

Two years is a decent amount of time, but with one-year companion tickets, you'll need to be more flexible and ready to pounce when reward seats are released, usually a year in advance.

Book way ahead to use Avios points

Availability is much more limited than when paying for flights, so go quick.

Tactically, the ideal time to start checking is around a year before – this is when seats start to be released. Though keep checking, as sometimes there are no seats available when a flight's launched, but extra seats are released later.

If you want to fly at peak times such as Christmas or school holidays, booking well in advance is usually essential.

Check which Reward Flight payment option offers the best value

You don't need the full number of Avios points to book a British Airways flight – you're always offered the chance to pay part in Avios and part in cash. You get six different options with different weighting of Avios and cash (one being the most Avios, six being least).

From our research, we found it's rarely cheapest to pay mostly in Avios, and the best-value option depends on whether you're taking a long-haul or short-haul flight.

Here we've compared the different Avios/pounds options on seven different return flights (using peak times for reference):

It's a similar story with long-haul flights, where Tokyo and Cape Town flights were cheapest when using the least amount of Avios. The only exception here was London to New York, where it was in fact cheapest to spend most Avios. Interestingly, with all three of the long-haul flights, Option 3 was most expensive.

You may only earn 25% of the miles flown

If you have a British Airways Club account, and you fly on British Airways or its partner airlines, you usually earn points to add to your Avios stash. You'll need to register your account number on the flight booking, which you can do when booking or online via 'manage your booking' afterwards.

You earn points based on the distance flown, the cabin class and type of ticket you've bought – flexible or non-flexible.

In the old days of the Avios scheme, you'd often get 100% of the miles flown on any economy ticket, so if you flew 2,000 miles, you got 2,000 points.

Now, a cheap economy ticket gets you just 25% or 50% of the miles flown – that's 500 or 1,000 points for flying 2,000 miles. To get 100% you'd have to buy an expensive, flexible ticket which will rarely be worth it.

Quick points

Upgrades have lost their shine

You can only upgrade expensive, fully flexible economy tickets on British Airways, Iberia or American Airlines, so if you've bagged a cheap flight you often won't be able to.

You'll need to check the 'fare class' of your ticket, which is printed on the booking confirmation, with each class assigned a letter. BA excludes upgrades from economy to premium economy on fare classes Q, O and G.

You can only upgrade one cabin level up – so premium economy to business, not economy to business, and only if there's availability. You can upgrade all BA fares in premium economy (World Traveller Plus) and business (Club World) using Avios points.

How many points do you need to upgrade?

The number of points you need to upgrade is simply the difference between the points needed for each class.

You can check if a flight's eligible for an upgrade by searching the 'book and upgrade' tab on the Avios flight search tool on BA.

Earn points online shopping via BA

The Collect Avios site works like a cashback site – you sign in, then click through to buy something. The site gets paid for sending traffic and gives some of this cash to you in the form of Avios points.

If you're buying something small and haven't collected an Avios point in the last year, this is an easy way to ensure you earn the points you need to qualify for Reward Flight Saver or bonus points offers.

Sounds great, but check cashback sites as well – rates for some retailers can easily be beaten.

Want to know more about cashback sites? Our guide will tell you how they work.

Reward flight bookings are flexible: you can change them for £35 per person, per flight

It's worth noting, changes or cancellations to Reward flights can be made for £35, up to 24 hours before a flight, regardless of where you're going. So if you change your mind about a flight, you won't lose your points, even if you want to cancel it. You'll be refunded the Avios points and taxes and charges, minus the £35 per person, per ticket fee.

In comparison, if you'd booked a Ryanair flight, you'd pay £90 to make the change, plus the price difference of a new flight. You can't cancel for a refund – you simply have to forfeit what you've paid.

Booking a non-Avios British Airways flight would cost up to £40 to change or cancel if it's flexible, though some are non-refundable (other than some taxes and charges).

Also note that if you use Avios to part-pay for a non-Reward flight, then the flight cancellation and changing policy will be subject to the terms of that fare, NOT the above conditions.

Keep your eyes open for sales

Avios sometimes holds points sales that temporarily cut the number of points needed to fly to certain destinations, or reduces the flat-rate Reward Flight Saver fee charged on short-haul flights. In the past we've seen sales offering 40% off the number of Avios needed for long-haul flights.

They're always short-lived so be ready to pounce when they happen.

BA tier points – how they work and how to earn them

As well as Avios points, you also earn tier points on flights. Tier points allow you to move up the four British Airways Club levels. You start on blue then move to bronze, silver and gold if you earn enough tier points in a membership year (each year ends on the anniversary of you joining the BA Club). Note that you cannot use tier points on reward flights.

The different levels give you more perks, such as lounge access and larger baggage allowances. See what each level gives you.

Being frank, only frequent travellers are likely to earn enough points flying to move up a tier, usually business travellers. For example, moving from blue to bronze requires you to earn 3,500 tier points OR take at least 25 BA flights in a single collection year (1 April to 31 March) - whichever comes first.

To see how many points you'll get for a flight you're planning, use the Avios Flight Calculator

Here are some examples of the amounts of tier points you earn for different BA flights and fares:

You can't buy, sell or share tier points. The only way to earn them is on flights with BA and its partner airlines including Iberia, American Airlines and Qantas.

Quick points

Earn Avios points for your opinion but beware spam

Avios For Thoughts allows you to earn Avios for your opinion. Join it to bag an easy 600 Avios just for signing up and doing one survey.

Anyone can sign up and you'll get the bonus points after you complete your first survey. Subsequent surveys will get you anywhere between 20 and 350 bonus Avios, which are automatically added to your BA account.

A word of warning though – you'll be sent a fair few emails about new surveys. If you'd rather not have to deal with them, unsubscribe after you've got the bonus, or sign up using an email account you don't regularly use. For more ways to earn with online survey sites and focus groups, see our Top 25 Online Survey Sites guide.

Earn at least one point every three years or lose them

Points on all Avios schemes expire if you don't collect or redeem at least one point in three years. If you're nearing expiry, consider doing an Avios For Thoughts survey, or going via the Avios site to boost them. If you use Uber, then link your Uber account to Avios and you'll get Avios each time you get a ride, train, coach, boat, or e-bike via Uber.

Plus, earning at least one point in the year before you book means you're eligible for Reward Flights. 

You can use points on more than flights – experience days, wine and car hire are all options

We think the best-value use for your Avios points is on flights, but just so you've got all the information, we've put details below about some of the other spending options.

The full list of what you can use points for can be found on the Avios site and includes things like theatre tickets and cases of wine to days out at theme parks – it's a bit like other major loyalty schemes such as Tesco Clubcard and Nectar in that way. The details in brief...

You can combine points to create a household account

You can combine Avios points with up to six other BA Club members living at the same address as you by creating a household account. The only criteria is you must live at the same address – you don't have to be related.

It also allows children to earn points for travel – something they can't otherwise do until they're 18 and have their own account. This means your collective Avios points stash can be boosted further (though children on the account can't spend Avios points until they're at least 18).

Household accounts allow members over 18 to spend the collective points in the account. However, once you've created a household account, you can't transfer points between the various schemes (eg, BA Club to Iberia). You can only do that with individual accounts.

Extra ways to boost points via Nectar card partnership & more

While credit cards are the best way to boost your Avios, there are a few quick other ways to do so, which may work for some, depending on your shopping habits: