Avios Advice: How to collect points, and use them to travel the world

Avios points are the frequent flyer currency for a group of airlines like British Airways, Qatar, Finnair, Iberia and Aer Lingus.

There are many ways that you can collect them, but the most interesting part is spending them. You can use them to book flights on any of the airlines that use them (plus any airlines that partner with these airlines).

That means – if you can build a strategy around collecting Avios – you could swap your points for first-class flights. It’s entirely possible to collect enough to fly around the world in luxury for the same price as an economy seat, but it does need some thought.

If you’re a freelancer or a small business owner, then it can be even easier for you to collect Avios as you’re likely to be spending money on behalf of your business or your clients. That means more opportunities to collect points and use them for great experiences.

I’ve been collecting points and using them for many years. It’s been a journey of discovery and making mistakes, so this is my list of the three pieces of advice that I’d give you if you’re interested in starting out on your collection journey. 

Avios Advice #1: Use the “Avios Shopping Portal

British Airways, the founder of the Avios scheme, has a website that lists hundreds of online shops and services.

If you visit that site, click on a shop that you want to buy from, then purchase from that retailer or provider as normal, then you’ll earn extra Avios. And sometimes that can be a lot of points. It’s painless, costs nothing and take 30 seconds or less, but the outcome is rapid growth in your points.

The retailers listed straddle consumer and business brands, and it’s possible to earn tens of thousands of points each year through this approach. It’s especially lucrative when it comes to renewing your insurance, be it car, home or travel. You can also earn Avios when you book hotels too, meaning that the trips you take using Avios can end up earning you more points to spend on your next trip.

My advice is to utilise this approach but to never buy anything just for the points. By all means swap retailers and buy from the ones that have highest points earning potential, but keep your spend to what you would have spent otherwise.

It also requires that you rewire your brain when it comes to online shopping. Every time you’re looking for something online, think “I should check the Avios Shopping” website first.

This approach to collecting Avios isn’t perfect – sometimes your Avios will be declined by the retailer, often for weird technical reasons. This could be because you used a voucher code during the checkout process, or because of your browser. I tend to use a browser that I don’t use day-to-day to mitigate that last issue. I would say that at least 90% of my transactions have led to me getting Avios, but it’s another reason why you should only buy things that you really need.

Avios Advice #2: Get a credit card that earns you Avios on your day-to-day spending

    There are card options for individuals and for businesses. They all operate in pretty much the same way – you’ll get an amount of Avios every time you buy something on the card. There are usually healthy sign-up bonuses, so once you get a card, and hit a certain spend limit, you’ll get a chunk of Avios. This can be into the tens of thousands. In some cases this is enough to get you your first flight.

    If you’re paying for things through your business or on behalf of your business, then this is a very easy way to earn points.

    If you’re freelancing then your only option will be a personal card. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as there are some very useful perks on personal cards that you don’t get on business cards. Personal cards are available via American Express and Barclays. One of the biggest perks for personal cards, versus business cards, is that you can earn “vouchers”.

    For the Amex cards you can earn “Companion Vouchers” and with the Barclays cards, you can earn “Cabin Upgrade Vouchers”. Both will be given to you when hit certain spending levels. The two different vouchers operate in a similar way (with nuances) and they reward from both of them is that you have to use less Avios to get the flights that you want. The Companion Voucher effectively halves the number of Avios you need, whereas the Cabin Upgrade Voucher allows you to book into one cabin higher, for the same Avios (for example, you can book into a Business Class seat but you’ll only use the Avios for a Premium Economy seat).

    An additional perk that stems from the Companion Voucher is that if you get a company card, then Amex or Capital On Tap provide points earning cards. You can get sign-up bonuses; some cards will also give you bonuses throughout the year if you hit certain spending levels. Those ongoing bonuses can be pretty sizeable. Capital On Tap has just made some fairly significant changes to their pricing, which works in your favour. They now have a free card that earns Avios each month, and that used to cost £99 per year.

    You should always pay off your cards each month, and don’t buy anything just to earn Avios. View the cards as a way to earn Avios on things that you would have bought on a debit card. 

    Avios Advice #3: Create a destination list

      The most exciting part of the Avios scheme is using the points and travelling somewhere on your bucket list. The challenge with using points is that there has to be availability for you to book those flights. For example, British Airways limits the number of seats that are guaranteed to be available for Avios bookings on each flight.

      My approach is to have a list of destinations that we really want to travel to, and each year we work out whether there’s availability for the dates we want.

      Being flexible is key. Having a range of dates when you could travel is helpful. We’ve also done many trips where we’ve flown out to one city and then back from another. That approach has led to some great road trips between them.

      Avios points can be redeemed on multiple airlines, so we’ve also had trips where we’ve flown out with BA but back with Qatar.

      Some destinations are popular and just very hard to get seats. Flying to Australia is notoriously challenging. Singapore can also be challenging. This is party down to the BA flight to Australia stopping off there first. There are also lots of destinations that are much easier. Short-haul European flights are easier, as are flights to the US, particularly the East Coast.

      This often comes down to frequency: BA flies multiple times a day to New York, Boston and Washington. The closeness of these destinations also makes it really easy to fly out to one city and back from another as there are lots of connecting flights, you have options via train and it’s relatively easy to drive between them.

      Collecting points can become an addiction, which is why I setup my site Pointszilla. You can read all my Avios advice and tips, plus a lot more. I even document my Avios trips, the hotels we visit and some of the amazing airport lounges that we spend time in.  It’s also a changing world, so staying on top of what’s new, and what’s changed is important.

      Using Avios to travel the World does require some thought, but in my experience it’s worth the effort. I’ve travelled across the globe in First Class and Business Class using points and we’ve had some incredible experiences. These experiences are ones we would never have paid for. Who really has the money to pay for first class? Not me, so I am deeply thankful that airline miles exist.