/ Points & Miles / By

Updated:  23 September 2026

Over different ways to earn Avios

Avios is a common loyalty currency used by the frequent flyer programmes of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, Qatar Airways, Finnair and Loganair. 

Avios can be spent on a range of things including hotels and car rentals but for many people, the most attractive use is for booking reward flights and flight upgrades.

Here we explore the many different ways you can earn Avios.

avios logo plectrumline dark blue rgb digital 16 9

The Best Ways to Earn Avios Quickly, without even flying

  • Open either a British Airways American Express card or an American Express card that issues Membership Rewards points.  There are several different cards to choose from and introductory bonus point offers are usually very generous.
  • Open a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard.  There are two different products on offer, usually with introductory bonuses
  • Link your Nectar and British Airways Club accounts to enable transfer of Nectar points into Avios
  • Use hotels that issue Avios for stays and also those that allow transfers of their own loyalty points into Avios
  • Study the below list to make sure you earn Avios on as much of your spend as possible

Take advantage of partnerships to maximise Avios

As well as earning Avios by flying, each airline works with different partners around the world which means that there are many different ways of adding to your Avios balance.  

To optimise earning, serious collectors often join multiple airline programmes that issue Avios (BA, Iberia and Qatar give good coverage – also add Loganair if you fly domestically, especially to/from/within Scotland).  

Transferring between different Avios programmes

Points collected in different schemes can be (relatively) seamlessly transferred from one airline and to another at face value (ie 1 for 1). 

Transfers between the following programmes are currently possible:

  • British Airways Club <> Iberia Club <> Aer Lingus Aer Club <> Vueling Club <> Loganair Loyalty
  • British Airways Club <> Finnair Plus
  • British Airways Club <> Qatar Privilege Club

Indirect transfers (ie Vueling Club to Qatar Privilege Club) are possible but the Avios would need to be moved via the BA Club.

In order to facilitate a transfer between accounts, these must be linked via the avios website.  It is important to use exactly the same name and email address on both accounts otherwise the link will not work and you will be unable to transfer points across.

 The List

We have excluded some very niche local partners and small hotel groups and some partners that would be difficult for UK residents to earn on.  For convenience, the relevant Airline programmes that can be credited to are shown in brackets. 

all iag airlines flying

Flying with Airlines that use Avios as their reward currency

  1. British Airways (credit to BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar or Aer Lingus)
  2. Iberia (BA, Iberia, Finnair or Qatar)
  3. Vueling (Vueling, Iberia)
  4. Aer Lingus (Aer Lingus, BA)
  5. Qatar Airways (BA, Iberia, Finnair or Qatar)
  6. Finnair (BA, Iberia, Finnair or Qatar)
  7. Loganair (Loganair) 

Flying with other Airlines that will issue Avios

  1. Airlink (Qatar)
  2. Alaska Airlines, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  3. American Airlines, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar, Aer Lingus)
  4. Avianca, flights between Spain and Peru/Ecuador/Colombia/Central America, flights within Colombia, flights operated by Taca in Central America (Iberia) 
  5. Bangkok Airways (Qatar)
  6. Binter, between the Canary Islands, between the Canary Islands & Africa or between the Canary Islands and Azores/Madeira (Iberia)
  7. Cathay Pacific, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  8. China Southern Airlines, flights with a CZ flight number (BA)
  9. Fiji Airways, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  10. Garuda Indonesia (Qatar)
  11. Hawaiian Airlines, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  12. Iberia Express (BA, Iberia)
  13. Iberia Regional/Air Nostrum (BA, Iberia)
  14. Japan Airlines, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  15. JetBlue, (excluding flights to Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) (Qatar)
  16. LATAM, flights with a LA, 4C, XL, LP or JJ flight number (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  17. Malaysia Airlines, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  18. MEA (Qatar)
  19. Oman Air, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  20. Qantas, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  21. Royal Air Maroc, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  22. Royal Jordanian, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  23. S7 Airlines (Qatar)
  24. Philippine Airlines (Qatar)
  25. RwandAir (Qatar)
  26. SriLankan Airlines, OneWorld Member (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  27. Level, flights with an IB flight number (Iberia)
  28. United Airlines (Aer Lingus)
  29. Virgin Australia (Qatar)
  30. Xiamen Airlines (Qatar)
american express british airways premium plus card digital 16 9

Credit Cards & Financial Services

  1. Spend with a British Airways American Express Card (BA)
  2. Earn Avios with a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (BA)
  3. Spend on an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards and convert to Avios (BA, Iberia, Qatar)
  4. Spend on a HSBC Premier Credit Card, collect HSBC Premier Rewards points and convert to Avios (BA, Qatar)
  5. Earn with a Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and then convert the Marriott Bonvoy Points to Avios (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Aer Lingus, Vueling)
  6. Collect Revolut Rev points and convert to Avios (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Aer Lingus)
  7. Spend on a Capital On Tap Visa Card, small businesses only (BA)
  8. Spend with a British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card, small businesses only (BA)
  9. Activate Barclays Avios Rewards on your Barclays Premier Account (BA)
  10. Invest with JP Morgan Personal Investing (BA)
nectar logo

Day-to-day spending

  1. Spend at Sainsbury’s, Argos, Esso etc and convert your Nectar points to Avios (BA)
  2. Spend on fuel or in-store at BP filling stations and convert BPme Rewards to Avios (BA)
  3. Travel with Uber and earn Avios on journeys in the UK & ROI (BA, Aer Lingus)
  4. Order takeaway food from Uber Eats in the UK (BA, Aer Lingus)
  5. In-store spend by linking credit card(s) at avios.com (BA, Aer Lingus)
  6. Spend at hundreds of retailers via the Avios Shop (BA)
  7. Add to your cellar via The Wine Flyer (BA)
  8. Purchase theatre & entertainment tickets from TodayTix (BA)
  9. Shop at Bicester Village (near Oxford), Kildare Village (near Dublin) or 7 other Bicester Collection Designer Outlets across Europe,  (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Aer Lingus, Vueling)

Car Rental – see article

  1. Avis (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Finnair, Aer Lingus)
  2. Budget (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Finnair, Aer Lingus)
  3. Europcar (Qatar, Finnair)
  4. Hertz (Qatar, Finnair)
  5. Sixt (Qatar, Finnair)
  6. Turo car sharing platform (Qatar)
  7. Add a hire car when booking your BA flight on ba.com (BA)
couple on beach with palm trees sunset at the tropical beach of saint lucia or st lucia caribbean

Holidays

  1. Book a trip with British Airways Holidays (BA)
  2. Take a cruise with Royal Caribbean Holidays (BA, Aer Lingus)

Hotels & Accommodation – see article

  1. Stay with an hotel participating in the Accor Live Limitless programme (Finnair, Qatar)
  2. Stay with an hotel in the World of Hyatt programme (Qatar)
  3. Stay at an hotel in the IHG One Rewards scheme (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  4. Stay with a hotel which offers Marriott Bonvoy points (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Aer Lingus, Vueling)
  5. Stay with Strawberry Hotels, very strong in the Nordics & Baltics (Finnair)
  6. Convert from Accor Live Limitless reward points (BA, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar)
  7. Convert from Hilton Honors (BA, Qatar)
  8. Convert from World of Hyatt (BA, Qatar)
  9. Convert from IHG One Rewards (BA, Ibera, Finnair, Qatar)
  10. Convert from Marriott Bonvoy (BA, Iberia, Qatar, Aer Lingus, Vueling)
  11. Book with Booking.com using this link  (Qatar)
  12. Book accommodation with Avios Hotels (BA, Aer Lingus)
  13. Book a hotel with Rocketmiles (Qatar, Vueling, or to Heathrow Rewards and transfer to BA)
  14. Book a hotel with Kaligo (Qatar)
  15. Book accommodation with AirBnB via this link  (BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus)

Simply buy Avios

  1. Purchase Avios (BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus)
  2. Take out an Avios Subscription (BA)
  3. Avios Balance Boost (BA)

Other

  1. Convert Heathrow Rewards points (BA)
  2. Pre-book your trip on the Heathrow Express  (BA, Iberia)
  3. Buy your Duty Free at Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Spanish airports and earn Avios with Club Avolta 
  4. Book airport parking via ParkVia using this page
  5. Complete surveys for Avios for Thoughts (BA, Iberia)
  6. Complete surveys for e-rewards (BA, Iberia)
  7. Instruct Foxtons to sell, manage or let your property (BA)
  8. Pay to upgrade your British Airways flight, add additional luggage or choose a seat on ba.com (BA)
  9. Make a contribution towards Sustainable Aviation Fuel (BA) 
  10. Take out an Avios Travel Insurance policy (BA)
  11. Get a friend or family member to transfer their Avios to you, flat £50 fee applies (BA, Iberia)
  12. Open a British Airways Household Account with other family members and pool your Avios.
avios hero image

Some things to be aware of:

  • Earning rates may vary significantly according to the airline scheme that is being credited so it pays to check the best option for your particular circumstances first. The site wheretocredit.com is an excellent resource to help you decide.
  • Some shopping portals such as Avios Hotels can have attractive rates but do not always give the absolute best price on the market so be sure that the price offered is the best value for money.  As with most online travel agent bookings, these stays will not earn points in the loyalty scheme that the hotel participates in.
  • You should always check the value when transferring points, especially out of hotel loyalty schemes as the exchange rates do tend to be poor compared with redeeming points for a hotel stay.   However, transfers can sometimes be a really good way of realising some value from points that could be at risk of expiring due to inactivity.
  • Whilst airlines may credit Avios for the flight, they may not always credit tier points as well .  For BA, the general rule is that if a flight has a BA, Aer Lingus or OneWorld partner flight number you should get the tier points.

Maximise your Avios balance

While flying remains an excellent way to collect Avios, many UK travellers can earn far more through credit cards and everyday spending.  By combining several of the methods we have shown in this article, it is possible to build a meaningful Avios balance without even stepping onto an aircraft.

myt logo no clouds wide

Hi there 👋 it’s great to meet you

Sign up to receive a daily email with travel tips, tricks and other content in your inbox​

Alternatively, if you would prefer a weekly rundown of the best of MaxYourTrip, click here

We never sell or share your data and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Found this useful? Share it with a fellow traveller.

Related Posts

Subscribe
Subscribe