How one can use Avios for (nearly) free flights

In case you’ve ever dreamed of flying for (nearly) free, upgrading your Financial system seats to the a lot fancier, Business Class, or treating your self to an expensive getaway with out blowing your price range, studying accumulate Avios factors is your ticket there — actually. 

Avios is the rewards foreign money of the British Airways Membership (and different airline companions together with Qatar Airways and Iberia), and with the proper technique, you should use the factors you accumulate to ebook flights, upgrades, and extra. 

Right here, I’ll stroll you thru go about incomes Avios factors and use them to ebook elusive reward seats on British Airways flights.

What are Avios factors?

Avios are the loyalty foreign money utilized by a number of airways, together with British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Qatar Airways. In case you’re a member of the British Airways Membership, you’ll earn and spend Avios by their system. You should use your Avios factors pot to ebook flights on British Airways and companion airways, improve your cabin to get pleasure from a extra unique journey expertise, and pay for lodges, automotive rent, and different journey extras. If you wish to go all in, you’ll be able to even pay in your whole vacation utilizing your factors with BA Holidays

Personally, I discover the fantastic thing about Avios to be of their flexibility and attain—particularly once you perceive accumulate and redeem them neatly.

How one can earn Avios factors

Flying with British Airways and Oneworld companions

When you’ve joined the British Airways Membership, everytime you fly with British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, American Airways, or any Oneworld companion, you’ll earn Avios, which will probably be deposited in your BA Membership account. The variety of factors you earn is determined by your fare class, what you pay in your flight, and BA Membership tier standing. Sadly, you don’t earn Avios on any reward seat flight you ebook.

Tip: Everytime you’re reserving a flight, all the time embrace your British Airways Membership quantity to make sure you earn your factors.

Bank card sign-ups and spending

One of many quickest methods I’ve managed to rack up Avios is by utilizing a co-branded bank card. Within the UK, that’s usually the British Airways American Categorical, or Avios Barclaycard bank cards:

British Airways American Categorical Bank card

This card has no annual price, and affords an excellent Avios welcome bonus to new cardholders. You’ll accumulate 1 Avios per £1 spent, get additional Avios bonuses for card referrals and supplementary cardholders, and have the power to earn a Companion Voucher (2 flights for the price of 1 in Financial system) if you happen to spend £15,000 in a yr in your card. This can be a strong card to begin out with if you happen to’re new to Avios assortment. I started with this card and my welcome bonus lined half the Avios value of my first reward seat reserving!

British Airways American Categorical Premium Plus card 

That is the subsequent degree up from the essential BA Amex card. It has the next Avios incomes fee of 1.5 Avios per £1 spent, and an unique earn-rate of three Avios for each £1 spent with British Airways and BA Holidays. The welcome bonuses are a lot larger, plus you’ll be able to earn a Companion Voucher once you spend £15,000 on the cardboard in a single yr. The distinction with this Companion Voucher is that you should use it in any cabin class – together with Business or First, whereas with the essential BA Amex Companion Voucher, you’ll be able to solely use it in Financial system.

Use your card for on a regular basis spending—groceries, payments, journey—and watch the Avios add up. I make all my common purchases every month utilizing my card to earn as many factors as I can. So far as I’m involved, that is cash I’d be spending anyway – so why not get rewarded for it?! Simply bear in mind to pay your invoice in full each month, because the Avios incomes worth isn’t any good once you think about curiosity. 

Procuring on-line

The British Airways eStore is a goldmine for Avios collectors. You’ll discover over 2000 retailers that reward you with Avios for each pound spent. These embrace Apple (5 Avios per £), John Lewis (1), Samsung (5), Reiss (12), B&Q (4) and Dyson (8). Merely click on by the BA eStore earlier than making your buy. 

You get these factors on prime of the factors you earn on the BA Amex card – a double dip!

Bonus tip: I prefer to stack this with cashback websites for much more worth.

Lodge and journey companions

Now, you won’t be capable of earn Avios in your reward seat flight reserving, however you CAN earn them by your lodge keep. You possibly can earn Avios when reserving BA Holidays or the BA Avios retailer, in addition to by Reserving.com, Inns.com, Accor, IHG, Marriott, and extra. 

In case you already accumulate lodge loyalty factors, together with Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors, you’ll be comfortable to know that you may convert them into Avios.

If you should rent a automotive throughout your journey, automotive rental corporations like Avis and Funds additionally allow you to earn Avios in your bookings.

Eating, wine golf equipment and life-style affords

British Airways companions with a number of eating places and life-style manufacturers, together with The Wine Flyer and subscription platforms like The Spectator or The Economist. In case you’re already spending with these, it’s undoubtedly value it to verify if you happen to can earn Avios too.

In case you store at Sainsburys, or have a Nectar card, you’ll be able to earn Nectar factors and switch them to Avios at a 400:250 fee. This one is nice for topping up your pot. I modified my grocery store to Sainsburys after I began to gather Avios as a result of we spend at the very least £150 every week on the household meals store – that’s an additional £600 of Nectar factors (375 Avios) each month!

Shopping for Avios

In case you’re brief on factors for a dream journey, however you don’t wish to wait round to ebook it, you should purchase Avios straight by the British Airways web site. Whereas this often isn’t the very best worth, gross sales providing 30-50% bonus Avios could make it worthwhile. Simply preserve a glance out. 

Reserving reward seats on British Airways

Why use Avios to ebook reward flights

Avios collectors could make important money financial savings on flights by utilizing factors to pay for them. Some travellers have reported money financial savings of round £7000 when reserving a visit to Japan in Business Class, by paying with factors and utilizing their American Categorical Companion Voucher. I’d advocate valuing 1 Avios as 1p when contemplating financial savings. All you should do is verify the Avios value of your journey and examine it to the equal money fare on the BA web site to indicate you ways a lot you’re saving by utilising Avios to ebook seats. 

One of many lesser recognized ‘Avios hacks’, which is definitely a selected favorite of mine, is that you may cancel a reward seat reserving with BA for simply £35 per particular person as much as 24 hours earlier than your flight. In case you decide to do it, you additionally get your full Avios value refunded, in addition to taxes and charges – minus £35 an individual. That is actually useful in case your plans change for no matter cause, and it’s an additional profit once you’re deciding whether or not to ebook a selected money fare or to make use of Avios factors. Utilizing this explicit hack lets you probably ebook a variety of locations and flight instances, then choose your only option. 

Understanding Reward Flight Saver

British Airways affords Reward Flight Saver fares, which allow you to ebook flights with a hard and fast low price (taxes and fees) plus Avios. In case you’re trying to spend the least money potential in your flight reserving, short-haul flights inside Europe, typically begin from simply 9,250 Avios + £1. Lengthy haul flights have the next money value – beginning at round £40 – as a result of taxes and fees are larger for these routes. 

How one can discover and ebook Avios seats

It’s actually easy to really ebook your reward seats. Simply go browsing to the British Airways web site or cellular app to seek for “Book with Avios.”

As a result of BA releases a really restricted variety of reward seats per flight (14 throughout all cabins) availability might be restricted, so plan and ebook early—BA releases reward seats 355 days upfront. There are at present round 40m Avios collectors the world over searching for reward seats, and once you keep in mind that BA solely releases 14 seats per flight, you most likely wish to do the whole lot you’ll be able to to get forward of the gang. On this case think about using an unbiased UK reward flight finder device the place you’ll be able to observe availability, see flight by flight info and set Alerts to get immediately notified when your ultimate seats develop into obtainable. I all the time use these instruments – I set as much as 10 Alerts for various routes that I need and wait to get Alerted. Then I let the instruments do the work for me.

Professional suggestions

You’ll have higher luck bagging reward seats if you happen to’re versatile with dates and instances in your flights – my solely guidelines are that my flights have to be at school holidays. I set my Alerts at the very least 6-8 months forward. It’s additionally value noting that if you happen to’re brief on Avios once you wish to ebook, you’ll be able to prime up your fare with money – so you employ a combination of Avios and money to ebook your seats. All you should do is use “Avios + Cash” choices once you’re on the BA web site.

Utilizing Avios on companion airways

Avios aren’t only for British Airways flights—you’ll be able to redeem them on all Oneworld companions, together with: Qatar Airways (who typically have decrease money surcharges), Iberia (nice for long-haul to the Americas with decrease charges), American Airways, Finnair, Japan Airways, and extra

Widespread errors to keep away from

There are a number of golden guidelines to all the time bear in mind – NEVER let your Avios expire: They’re legitimate for 36 months, however any incomes or spending resets the clock. Think about how heartbroken you’d be if you happen to’d saved factors for all that point, just for them to fade since you hadn’t used them! 

I’d additionally steer you away from utilizing your Avios for poor-value flights. At all times examine the money value vs. the worth of your factors. I stick with the 1p per 1 Avios rule so I can examine the money value of a fare to what I’d pay if I booked with Avios. I really like doing this as a result of it reveals me how a lot cash I’m saving in comparison with the money seat reserving – it’s an excellent motivator to maintain on gathering.

Final however not least, don’t overlook you’ll must pay money taxes and charges. This isn’t even value enthusiastic about once you’re reserving a brief haul flight in Europe that often has a £1 price, however some redemptions, particularly long-haul in premium cabins, include money prices of as much as round £600 for First Class. Don’t overlook you’ll must pay this once you ebook. 

Closing ideas

Gathering Avios isn’t only for frequent flyers or journey hackers—it’s for anybody who desires to make their cash go additional when touring. I prefer it as a result of I’m capable of journey extra with my household simply by having a sure bank card, doing the weekly store or paying a family invoice. I even earn factors whereas I’m on my vacation to make use of on the subsequent one. With a little bit of planning and some on a regular basis habits, you might be effectively in your method to a reward seat on a British Airways flight. In case you spot me on the airplane, remember to say hiya!

Have questions or your individual Avios suggestions? Drop them within the feedback.