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Avios.com and British Airways Executive Club have just launched a very generous promotion, each offering 1,000 Bonus Avios when you collect any amount of Avios from a transaction with a partner that you have haven’t earned Avios with in the last 12 months.
Oddly, the offer hasn’t made an appearance yet on the British Airways website, but Avios.com shows both offers (and with slightly different Ts & Cs) so it should presumably be up at some point.
The essential details are nice and simple:
- To be eligible for the bonus, you need to have had an Avios/BAEC account and have earned at least some Avios in it before the promotion.
- Collect with a new partner (one you haven’t collected with in the last 12 months) between 3rd October and 21st November.
- Only one bonus regardless of how many new partners you earn with.
- Avios earned from survey partners, Shell Drivers’ Club, and purchasing/gifting/transferring Avios do not trigger the bonus.
- All flight partners count as one category – so if you’ve already earned Avios this year by flying BA there’s no point crediting an Air Berlin flight, for example, as it won’t trigger the bonus.
- Similarly, if you’ve earned Avios through shopping portals Gate 365 or Avios e-store for purchases at John Lewis, you won’t get the bonus for making purchases through the portals at a different shop.
- Pretty much anything else seems to be fine – I would suggest transferring a few hotel Points might be the easiest option if you’ve already used the shopping portals in the last year.
The only key difference I can see between the Avios.com version and the BA Executive Club version is that every member of a BAEC household account is eligible for the bonus, whereas Avios.com only allows one bonus per household account.
Bearing in mind Avios.com / BA’s usual IT skills, whether these restrictions will actually be succesfully enforced is… debatable. There are so many ‘legitimate’ partners to choose from anyway though that I don’t think you should find it too tricky to find something suitable regardless.
Bottom Line
I can’t see anything in the Ts & Cs to suggest that you can only earn the bonus from one of the two offers (and that would seem totally unenforceable anyway), so this is 2,000 Bonus Avios for about two minute’s work transferring hotel Points or making a purchase through the e-stores.
In other words – it’s a great deal!
Ok…I may be blind, but where’s the register button?
So if you’ve used Gate 365 and Avios E-Store in the last 12 months, you can’t use them to get the 1k avios?
Charles – As far as I can tell there isn’t one and it’s just clunky language in the Ts & Cs that I (foolishly!) copied in haste. I’m 99% confident that what they mean is register/link the partner to your avios account (where that is required).
Andrew – correct (or at least, that’s what the rules say)
Thanks. Any suggestions on how I can transfer hotel points as I can’t see an option for that on the promotion page.
I would just got to the hotel website, sign in, make the minimum transfer (and make a note to chase up the bonus points if required). Club Carlson is probably best (if you have any Points) as the minimum is only 2k =200 Avios. SPG Starpoints transfer at 1:1 and there’s no minimum transfer for Platinum members (1,500 min for Gold, 2,500 min for non elite)
Also, if you normally transfer Tesco Clubcard to just one of BAEC/Avios.com you can transfer some to the other to trigger one of the bonuses. Heathrow Rewards Points will work too. Could be a good time to book a Heathrow Express ticket in advance etc.
Think ebay is on estore, 5p decal = 1k avios.
Just checked and ebay no longer a partner, next cheapest i think is notonthehighstreet.com, £1.00 for a bithday card.
It also seems you will get a bonus 900 Avios on your first shop at Instant Print.
So if you haven’t used the Avios e-store before, any shop at Instant Print via the e-store should net you 1900 Avios.
Hotel points are out. I either don’t have enough for the minimum transfer, or the hotels are too valuable to lose (Starpoints). I wouldn’t convert 10k HHonors points to 1k avios either, that’s a bad conversion rate.
Shame I can’t just go through E-Store and buy a £1 pen from The Works. I’ve already done it this year 🙂
Do not the works charge postage on items below a certain limit, if not then i will try this route also?
Just checked, anything under £20 you pay P&P at the works unless you have a store nearby for free C&C.
Just made my purchase through notinthehighstreet for a birthday card. Will now use my wifes acc for a xmas card, 2k BAEC avios for things we had to buy anyway.
Got to love these promos. ?
Yes, I always go for local store pickup, there’s one in Blackburn. I don’t know if the stores are plentiful in the South West!
I have settled on the Tesco Clubcard transfer option. I was waiting for a 20% Avios bonus, but I may as well transfer a couple of small value vouchers to BAEC and Avios.com, which should trigger the bonus in both cases. Doing one will not disqualify me for doing the same with the other I assume?
This is actually the first time I’ve done converted CC vouchers. I’ve been saving them up for a long time.
OK, I have done a£2.50 CC voucher to BA and the same to avios.com. Hopefully this will work.
I hope they are quicker at awarding these points than Virgin is (I still haven’t received my 500 points from the Virgin Train purchase).
TBH I think this promo will be a major challenge for BAEC and avios.com customer service. There are bound to be loads of people who make a purchase of some sort that doesn’t qualify – anything through Gate 365 and E-Store without taking the 12 month rule into account, for example.
To my great surprise, the 600 avios from the Tesco conversion posted in my BAEC overnight. Hopefully avios.com will be quick as well!
In the end I went for 2 x Heathrow Rewards 250 point transfers. One to Avios, the other to BAEC.
Technically I could have got slightly “better value” Avios by converting from Topcashback (and that’s subject to the assumption that a Heathrow voucher is as valuable as cash), but while it clearly seems to be permitted, I am still a touch sceptical of whether TCB transfers will actually qualify for the bonus Avios.
Got my Tesco->Avios.com transfer now too. Both done in 24 hours. Well done them!
Now, how long before the bonuses post? 🙂
“All bonus Avios will be awarded by 30 January 2017.”
I’ll have forgotten about it by then! 🙂
Which reminds me, our 1000 Accor points for signing up to their meeting planner thingy are due… in December 😉
To my astonishment, avios.com have posted the 1000 avios bonus already! Quick work!
Now can BA match them?
Good shout Andrew, mine too:
Best use of 250 Heathrow Rewards points I have ever made.
Nothing in BA as yet.
BA have also come to the party. 1000 uploaded to my account this morning! Huzzah!
To put this into perspective, I’m still waiting for my 500 Virgin FC miles for booking a train.
Good shout Andrew, mine too:
Incidentally did you earn your bonus Avios via a topcashback pay out? Mine were earned via Heathrow Rewards, and I’m intrigued to know whether the TCB payout option worked as I had my doubts.
No, they were both Tesco voucher transfers.