Flying economy from London to Milan return, for example, would net you 1,200 points. How many points you need depends on the route, travel dates and the airline or airlines you'll be travelling with. You can also upgrade an existing cash booking, bumping yourself up a class – like from premium economy to business class. 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. And finally, if you're after somewhere really far away, for a shade over 50,000 points - 51,500 - you can get a one-way flight to Melbourne, which comes with an extra cost of £342.12. How to claim them. 50,000 points: At 50,000, you can get an off-peak business class single flight to New York for this many Avios points and a £446.44 extra charge. It just gives you more opportunities to boost and use your points. Join us as we dive into the 10 longest nonstop flights in the world (+ future contenders) from a points & planes perspective. 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. Due to COVID-19 and the restrictions applied by certain countries, we're extending our flexible fare policy to flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum. ', British Airway's Avios chart is distance-based, meaning that how many points it costs you for a reward flight depends on how far away where you're trying to fly to is. 100,000 points: Well done on making it to six figures. We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content. 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. If you're claiming via the BA app, it's the 'ticket number' (if in doubt, it's a number that follows the format: 125 – 1234789534). You can buy a variety of Laithwaite's wine cases via BA using Avios points. This is a massive saving on the £1,554 you'd spend with cash - and if you subtract the £446.44 charge cost, you end up with Avios points worth 2p per point in this instance.Â, However, at the other end of the scale, if you flew off-peak economy with Avios you would spend £130 plus the £252.44 charge, for a total cost of £382.44 - meaning your Avios points were worth less than 1p per point in this case.Â. We're a journalistic website and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques, but can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. Last week, BA announced that it had inked a new deal with Nectar, allowing members to convert their Nectar points to Avios. Alternatively, you can move up if you fly BA at least 25 times in a year. They’re awesome for short-haul flights within the U.S. and other parts of the world. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. (4) Available with certain. If you're a regular flyer and that happens, just hold the points for next time. Previously this was a flat £35 fee for a return, but Avios introduced a cheaper £1 option in 2019 (though you usually have to use more points than before). Can Scottish Mortgage keep climbing? If you can get a cheap return flight, it may be better to keep the points for another time. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis. We call them Avios. As mentioned, specialist credit cards are the top way to boost Avios and at the basic level simply involve doing everyday spending on the card, then paying it off in full every month. A week's car hire in August for a small car in Malaga, Spain, starts at about 34,000 Avios points. They'll get boosted bonus points after the trigger spend too – 2,000 extra on the Amex Gold (making the total 12,000), and an extra 1,000 on the BA Amex and BA Premium Plus (6,000 and 26,000 in total). M&S Bank's Reward Credit Card comes with double reward points on your spending - that's two M&S points per £1 spent in stores - for a year, plus £20 in M&S points to sign up. Full details and best buys in our Airline Credit Cards guide. When you join the Executive Club, you’ll collect reward points with us and our partners. To compare we checked the price using comparison sites and found a similar car for around £90 in total, making 1,000 points worth just £2.65. See our Cheap Hotels guide for full tips and tricks to cutting costs. These cards are a tool to get you rewards and we rate them based on that. The best way of illustrating this is to take a real-world example. To convert points, you'll need to link your Nectar and British Airways Executive Club accounts, which can be done on either the Nectar or British Airways Executive Club website. They're always short-lived so be ready to pounce when they happen. But on the Amex Preferred Gold, British Airways Amex and BA Premium Plus Amex cards you can max this even further. If you're set on using Avios points to book a flight, you don't always need the full number of points for booking a British Airways flight – you're always offered the chance to part-pay in Avios and part in cash. Rewards for Thoughts allows you to earn Avios for your opinion. Points are automatically added to your BA account. It's a dream come true. Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the latest information. The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card offers 10,000 Amex points if you spend £3,000 within the first six months. We've crunched the numbers on the big Avios credit cards to find the best way to earn points while you spend. The old Avios scheme divided the world into geographical zones – these determined the number of points you'd pay. Plus, earning at least one point the year before you book means you're eligible for its Reward Flight Saver. This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances and remember we focus on rates not service. Reward flights can be booked with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, Vuelings and OneWorld Alliance airlines. Join it to bag an easy 600 Avios just for signing up and doing one survey. Going at a peak time will cost you 100,000 points (it's 65,000 off-peak). Based on TPG U.K.’s most recent valuations, 500 Avios are worth about £6. You can book two off-peak single business class flights to New York for £446.44 extra on each ticket. Plus, you’ll have so many other options for using these points. 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. The card carries a £25 annual fee with interest of 22.2% on purchases. It is surprisingly tricky to find out how many Avios are required for a particular route. However, This is Money has also crunched the numbers to find out just how far you can fly with certain Avios point totals. You can use your Avios to reduce the cost of a British Airways flight, or for reward flights with British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and oneworld® and other partner airlines – just book directly with ba.com. OneWorld and other partner airlines include: Partner airlines you can earn tier points on, 10 Avios per 20L of Shell diesel or unleaded (20 Avios with Shell's V-Power Nitro fuel), Boost points on hotel bookings via specialist hotel comparison sites, For all the latest deals, guides and loopholes - join the 12m who get it. In general, according to Rob Burgess of Head for Points, non-flight redemptions tend to work out at a value of around 0.5p per point - about half the value of what you should aim for, and less than half of what The Points Guy UK estimates Avios points to be worth.Â. 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. Points are usually worth the same, regardless of scheme, and can be freely transferred between them. We'd love to be able to tell you exactly what each point is worth or what type of reward gives you the best value. As well as BA itself, Avios points can be redeemed through Executive Club with 18 other OneWorld airlines, including American Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas and Qatar Airways. Nissan unveils all new Qashqai SUV, made in Sunderland. Full info's in our Top Cashback Sites guide. From our research, we found it's generally cheaper to part-pay in Avios points on the BA or Avios flight-booking pages than buying extra points, especially as points can only be bought in 1,000 increments. For long haul, checked luggage is often included as standard and factored into the cost already for both Avios and cash fares. 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). Once you've got to here you can think about taking someone with you slightly further afield than just Europe. Some links in this article may be affiliate links. Unique tool uses probability to estimate winnings. To show where it may be best to save Avios points for later, we found the following return flight costs (we chose economy class, direct flights where possible and peak travel times): Using your points for long-haul business flights allows you to fly in style (and bag lounge-passes), which for many is unaffordable booking by cash. For example, moving from blue to bronze requires 300 tier points. How much should you be saving for your kids to go to uni? BA partners with big-name car-hire firm Avis, allowing you to book and pay in Avios points, a mixture of points and cash, or just in cash, while earning Avios points on the booking. Unions tell ministers to save Liberty Steel jobs if firm... Is Bitcoin about to hit $60,000? Our TravelMoneyMax tool compares 30+ bureaux to max your holiday cash. Its Preferred Rewards Gold credit card, meanwhile, gives you 10,000 Amex points – which can be converted into the same number of Avios points – if you spend £3,000 in the first three months, and a point for every £1 you spend.Â. This example demonstrates why Burgess suggests flying economy long-haul is a less valuable use of your points, because the charge BA levies on you is already quite substantial and doesn't increase by all that much by flying business or first class. Via Laithwaites, similar cases are around £42, meaning 1,000 points are worth around £4.40. You need to go to ba.com, track down the ‘Avios Spending Calculator’ page and then type in your destination and preferred travel class. Always check cash prices before booking with points. (2) City tax may apply on arrival. To check, use BA's Reward Flight Calculator – the results show you the points you'll need to fly with a partner airline. 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. Transport Minister to enforce new rules to make them more reliable and accessible, Government has 'no plans' to reduce Lifetime Isa withdrawal penalty: Young savers will soon be charged 25% of pot total again to raid deposits, Revealed: The 10 most affordable hotspots to buy a home in Britain are dominated by Scotland and North West, House prices will keep rising but estate agents say a shortage of homes for sale is hitting the market despite the stamp duty holiday extensionÂ. However, Avios occasionally holds offers where it will add bonus points to any you buy, so check if one of these deals is on first. You'll need to nominate a 'head of the household' – basically a lead name on the account who can add and remove members. These rules also apply to points earned on partner airlines. You shouldn’t notice any difference and the link will never negatively impact the product. Here's some examples: Looking at the table above, you can work out roughly what the saving or shortfall is by using Avios rather than cash. Points here are worth about £5 per 1,000, so again, decent value but check to see if there's a discount voucher or two-for-one offer on at the time you want to go – that could be a better option. True, they credit (according to my calculations) only 0.7 to 1.0 cents per Avios, however due to the fact that you receive full Avios and full Tier Points it sounds better that the “free” bonus tickets for which you pay a significant amount for “taxes and charges”, where the availability is much more limited, and where of course you get zero Avios and points. (3) To pay the Reward Flight Saver fee, you need to have collected at least one point in the last year – otherwise you'll pay full taxes. Two return peak time flights to Moscow in business class will cost you 80,000 points and £100. There is a 1:1 transfer ratio for points to British Airways Avios. Do you collect Avios points? You'd need to fly this route 60 times in a year to earn enough to move from blue to bronze. 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. Points on all Avios schemes expire if you don't collect or redeem at least one point in three years. 30,000 points: A few more options begin to open up to you once you get to this milestone, including the novel idea of being able to take someone with you. You'll be refunded the Avios points and taxes and charges, minus the £35 per person, per ticket fee. Flying BA long-haul gives you four classes to choose from; economy, premium economy, business class and first-class. MoneySavingExpert.com Limited is an appointed representative of MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited. When we looked in March 2019, we saw return economy flights from London to Sydney for around £800-£1,000 in the peak July period. There's far less availability using miles than paying in cash so your destination may be booked up when you need it. It also allows children to earn points for travel – something they can't otherwise do until they're 18 and have their own account. Gone are the old days of 'Airmiles' when you could redeem miles for a flight without paying a penny. These usually allow you to take someone with you, in the same cabin as you, for no extra points, though they'll have to pay taxes and charges. Collect, spend, buy or transfer at least one Avios every 36 months and your Avios won’t expire. In 2019, peak time is between 7 July and 6 September, and then between 12 October  and 4 November except for Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays. How To Upgrade British Airways Bookings Using Avios. To create an account, sign up via BA Executive Club. To get 100% you'd have to buy an expensive, flexible ticket which will rarely be worth it. As you'd expect, flying at peak time costs more. Enter a route on the BA reward flight calculator, and then click 'view off-peak dates' to see the full off-peak fare calendar. He also says that paying part with Avios, as mentioned above, gets you roughly between 0.55p and 0.8p per point.Â, Danish dream: Even people with small Avios balances could potentially put them towards short-haul flights to destinations such as Copenhagen - pictured, Nyhavn area, If you have a points balance already, you can use British Airways' reward flight calculator to find out exactly how many points it would cost you to fly somewhere.Â, BA uses a distance-based chart when redeeming your Avios for flights, meaning you pay different amounts of Avios depending on the distance you travel.Â, According to Nicky Kelvin, content director at The Points Guy UK, these amounts 'range from 4,000 Avios for a one-way off-peak economy flight from London to somewhere like Nice or Zurich, up to 200,000 Avios for a one-way peak first class flight all the way to Sydney. To keep it simple, this guide concentrates on earning via and using the British Airways scheme, though it's worth signing up to all of them. What the * means above If a link has an * by it, that means it is an affiliated link and therefore it helps MoneySavingExpert stay free to use, as it is tracked to us. See our MSE News story for more info. Plus, if you get really creative, there are a host of ways to boost your points stash so you can watch your savings really take off. It is also worth pointing out that not all retailers accept American Express. Once you've converted your Nectar points to Avios, they won't expire as long as you collect, use or buy Avios every three years. We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of the site. For a return you'll pay for four journeys. 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: The partnership between Avois and Tesco Clubcard ended recently, but now Nectar cardholders are able to exchange loyalty points for Avios. Play your cards right: The best credit cards for spending, holidays, rewards or clearing your debts, The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card, The American Express Platinum Cashback card, Renault 5 EV prototype will look like the 1980s rally car, £3.1m British supercar Gordon Murray T.50S Niki Lauda, 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV sold for 11% above market value, Porsche's eFuel could dramatically cut CO2 emissions of cars, Land Rover unveils the fastest and most powerful Defender V8 yet, Nick Train interview: There's plenty to be optimistic about, Land Rover Defender pulls transporter carrying seven SUVs. However there is one function that I used to regularly recommend to readers – the BA Avios calculator map. This chart, from The Points Guy UK, breaks down the costs in Avios of each class flight. Avios is the reward currency of the Club. Three Minute Money: Should every saver have Premium Bonds? The Avios points will be credited to your BA Avios account within 10 days. Earning British Airways Avios is for everyone, not just frequent flyers and big spenders — and I’m here to prove it. You'll need to check the 'fare class' of your ticket, which is printed on the booking confirmation, with each class assigned a letter. If you regularly buy fuel at a Shell garage, this is an easy way to boost points, otherwise it's not worth going out of your way to do it. We recommend this strategy vs signing up for the British Airways Visa card that is far more restrictive and risky. There are four frequent flyer schemes that use Avios points as their currency: the British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Vueling Club and the Aer Lingus AerClub. Points vary, so whether it's a good deal depends on the hotel and other offers at the time. In the past we've seen sales offering 40% off the number of Avios needed for long-haul flights. Top up your Avios Keep your Avios active. Of course, if you have Nectar points already built up, you can convert these too. If you need to borrow too, you're far better off focusing on getting the lowest interest rates – that'll save you much more money. Also see our Cheap Flights, Easyjet tricks and Ryanair tricks guides for much more. Here are some examples: So some destinations are still better value than others in terms of distance flown, and the cost of paying the cash price for your flight. asks SIMON LAMBERT, All under one roof: Multi-generational living is the new normal... here we look at the upsides and the downsides, Make your home the perfect hang-out: Swings and hammocks are popping up in living rooms as the line between outdoors and indoors gets blurred. Its stance of putting consumers first is protected and enshrined in the legally binding MSE Editorial Code. But taxes are the same (about £580), so using your points here would likely be a decent saving. If you have a Nectar card, you can convert 400 Nectar points to 250 Avios. Starting at just 4,500 points in many regions, you can score one way flights up to 650 miles in actual distance. Don't miss out, Asda has introduced a 50p charge for 'Click & Collect' delivery slots but the move has frustrated some shoppers using the service during the pandemic. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the top deal, it is still included in exactly the same way, just with a non-paying link. The registered office address of both MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC and MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited (registered in England No. However, just bear in mind the gold card comes with a 57.6 per cent APR, a £140 annual fee after the first year - it means you have make sure you clear the balance in full every month. The number of points you need to upgrade is simply the difference between the points needed for each class. Do you have any top tips on how to spend Avios points? Tactically, the ideal time to start checking is around a year before – this is when seats start to be released. London to Berlin (off-peak) Avios cost each-way: £17.50 plus 4,000 points. As well as Avios points, you also earn tier points on flights. Best Western is the most recent major hotel chain to become a British Airways partner. By paying for a flight or holiday with British Airways, for example, you can collect Avios points to redeem on future flights. If a reward flight in premium economy costs 40,000 points and a business class reward flight costs 60,000, then the cost of an upgrade is 20,000 points. In Avios points, it would cost 50,000, plus £446.44 extra in charges. The site gets paid for sending traffic and gives some of this cash to you in the form of Avios points. See our Cheap Days Out guide for more. Kaligo and Rocketmiles are hotel-booking websites linked to a number of frequent-flyer and loyalty schemes, including Avios. Eg, in peak times you'll pay £505 in taxes (plus 40,000 points) for a return flight from London to New York. If you don't mind when you go, aim for the cheaper period when you need a typical 10%-35% fewer points in economy, for example: While we've said above you need fewer points off-peak, if you have to travel during peak times Avios can be good value, assuming you book early enough to find the offers. For more details, read How This Site Is Financed. Want to know more about cashback sites? The Points Trader is your most trusted source for cheap frequent flyer miles. If you were paying cash for flights, return fares with checked luggage can cost around £30 more per return flight. Unfortunately, the partnership with Nectar isn't as generous as its previous one with Clubcard. Nectar cardholders can convert points to Avios, Flights (with BA and 15 partner airlines), Hotels (incl Airbnb, Booking.com and Hotels.com), Asda introduces 50p fee for click and collect - here's how it compares to other supermarkets, Martin Lewis debunks student loan myths and explains it's what you earn - not what you owe that counts, Martin Lewis' call for 'urgent action' to help mortgage prisoners debated in House of Lords as peers propose interest rate cap, Free £50 'Fix Your Bike' vouchers available again - but go quick as they're likely to run out fast, Martin Lewis: How much the Govt expects parents to give their children while at university 2021/22, Martin Lewis: Working from home due to coronavirus, even for a day? So if you're flying business class to Sydney using your Avios, they can go too and all they'll pay is taxes and charges (around £900 for a return). Cyclists in England can once more get their hands on free 'Fix Your Bike' vouchers worth £50 as the Government has today released a third tranche under the scheme. For the BA card, your bonus Avios points will appear in your BA Executive Club account (so they won't expire as long as you keep the account open and collect, spend, purchase or share at least one Avios point every 36 months). But weigh up the offers on at the time, and (if you know anything about wine) the wines on offer. Avios aren't just for spending on flights, though that is likely what they are primarily used for. If you're not currently a Nectar cardholder, you can sign up for free. And finally, two return off-peak flights to Tokyo will cost you 78,000 Avios points and £916.48, or 96,000 Avios and £1,116.48 if you wanted to fly at peak time. To help, we're working flat out to answer your questions on these topics and more. Tier points allow you to move up the four British Airways Executive Club levels. – Avios can be a powerful tool in your miles and points arsenal. With Avios points you need to pay taxes and fees on flights, wiping some of the gain. For more details, check out our full review of the Amex Gold card. Grab the latest deals, guides, tips 'n' tricks directly from Martin and the MSE team. In terms of the actual flights you can redeem your points for, you could get a peak time return flight to any of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich or Paris for 9,000 Avios points and £35. I suspect my sister abused her power of attorney to help herself to money in our late mum's bank accounts - what can I do? A word of warning though – you'll be sent a fair few emails about new surveys.