The Ultimate Avios Earning/Converting List
Jan 17, 2012, 6:05 am
#31
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Jan 17, 2012, 6:10 am
#32
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Great list.
As an FYI, with Marriott you can get a direct 1:1 conversion to Avios if you choose a travel package, which includes a 7 night hotel stay (https://www.marriott.com/rewards/use...ck.mi#packages)
As an FYI, with Marriott you can get a direct 1:1 conversion to Avios if you choose a travel package, which includes a 7 night hotel stay (https://www.marriott.com/rewards/use...ck.mi#packages)
After reading the T+C I still dont get it
https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/packinstr.mi
Jan 17, 2012, 11:57 am
#33
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: HKG
Programs: Marriott Ambassador (Titanium Lifetime), BA Gold, Ex-Hertz 5* PC, Ex-HH Diamond, Ex-BD*G
Posts: 3,060
It is basically a bonus that Marriott offers for people who take one holiday a year with their points - they get a single hotel for 7 nights for the normal price of those 7 nights, and to be able to convert airmiles for a number of airlines on a 1:1 basis (when you assume that the hotel has a fixed cost, which clearly in the case Marriott don't). They also throw in a Hertz voucher
This does mean if you want to stay in a hotel using your Marriott points for 7 nights you can use this package as a mechanism to get 1:1 points from Marriott to BA. This isn't a loophole (if you cancel your stay after you get the airmiles they will give you pretty much nothing back)
It has long been a perk of the programme, but clearly has very limited usage and you need to have a lot (200k+) of Marriott points and a desire to use the majority for a hotel stay. You can't use it to get 100k Marriott points into 100k avios miles. At the higher level you get marginally over 0.4 points to an avios - but with a 7 night hotel stay thrown in for "free".
This does mean if you want to stay in a hotel using your Marriott points for 7 nights you can use this package as a mechanism to get 1:1 points from Marriott to BA. This isn't a loophole (if you cancel your stay after you get the airmiles they will give you pretty much nothing back)
It has long been a perk of the programme, but clearly has very limited usage and you need to have a lot (200k+) of Marriott points and a desire to use the majority for a hotel stay. You can't use it to get 100k Marriott points into 100k avios miles. At the higher level you get marginally over 0.4 points to an avios - but with a 7 night hotel stay thrown in for "free".
Jan 19, 2012, 6:21 am
#34
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze card, NHS Blood Donor silver card
Posts: 1,617
Two more opportunities...
Iberia Credit Cards
While BA don't have a credit card in Spain, Iberia do.
There's the Sendo option, which gives you an Amex (earning 1 Avios per 1 EUR) and a Visa (1 Avios per 2 EUR); and the Max option, which is 9 Avios per 5 EUR for "deferred payment", or 3 Avios per 3 EUR for "full payment"
Full details (in Spanish) at www.iberiacards.es. These options will only pay your Avios into an Iberia Plus account - but provided both accounts have been active for 3 months, you can move the Avios into an Executive Club account.
Cash Passport
There's also the Avios Cash Passport - a reloadable MasterCard available in USD, GBP or EUR. The fees and T&Cs don't make it quite as good as the standard Cash Passport (available through Travelex, et al) but it does have some benefits.
First, the downsides: there's an ATM fee ($2.50/€2/£1.50 per withdrawal); a 2% commission fee for topping up a GBP card; if you've not used it for 12 months, it starts charging an inactivity fee; there's a negative balance fee, and a £6 'cashout' fee. The exchange rate is not quite as favourable as the regular Cash Passport, or using a fee-free card (eg Halifax Clarity) though likely still better than what your bank will offer if you use your debit card.
But: you get 1 Avios per £1 you load onto it, which potentially makes it the best non-Amex earner out there for USD or EUR purchases. If you know what you're going to be spending, then load one of these up with between £100 and £2500, and spend away. If my maths are right, the difference in exchange rate means you'll be effectively paying 4p per Avios. Or, looking at it another way, getting 0.96 Avios per £1.
(If you want to check my working, see this spreadsheet.)
Iberia Credit Cards
While BA don't have a credit card in Spain, Iberia do.
There's the Sendo option, which gives you an Amex (earning 1 Avios per 1 EUR) and a Visa (1 Avios per 2 EUR); and the Max option, which is 9 Avios per 5 EUR for "deferred payment", or 3 Avios per 3 EUR for "full payment"
Full details (in Spanish) at www.iberiacards.es. These options will only pay your Avios into an Iberia Plus account - but provided both accounts have been active for 3 months, you can move the Avios into an Executive Club account.
Cash Passport
There's also the Avios Cash Passport - a reloadable MasterCard available in USD, GBP or EUR. The fees and T&Cs don't make it quite as good as the standard Cash Passport (available through Travelex, et al) but it does have some benefits.
First, the downsides: there's an ATM fee ($2.50/€2/£1.50 per withdrawal); a 2% commission fee for topping up a GBP card; if you've not used it for 12 months, it starts charging an inactivity fee; there's a negative balance fee, and a £6 'cashout' fee. The exchange rate is not quite as favourable as the regular Cash Passport, or using a fee-free card (eg Halifax Clarity) though likely still better than what your bank will offer if you use your debit card.
But: you get 1 Avios per £1 you load onto it, which potentially makes it the best non-Amex earner out there for USD or EUR purchases. If you know what you're going to be spending, then load one of these up with between £100 and £2500, and spend away. If my maths are right, the difference in exchange rate means you'll be effectively paying 4p per Avios. Or, looking at it another way, getting 0.96 Avios per £1.
(If you want to check my working, see this spreadsheet.)
Jan 19, 2012, 6:24 am
#35
Join Date: Jul 2008
Programs: I am a lowly ant
Posts: 1,751
Jan 19, 2012, 10:42 am
#37
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze card, NHS Blood Donor silver card
Posts: 1,617
Jan 19, 2012, 10:49 am
#38
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Her Majesty's United Kingdom
Programs: BA Gold, BA Lounge Rats, BA Audit Survivors, CW Kitchen Defender, CX Noodle Connoisseurs Club
Posts: 5,955
Two more opportunities...
Iberia Credit Cards
While BA don't have a credit card in Spain, Iberia do.
There's the Sendo option, which gives you an Amex (earning 1 Avios per 1 EUR) and a Visa (1 Avios per 2 EUR); and the Max option, which is 9 Avios per 5 EUR for "deferred payment", or 3 Avios per 3 EUR for "full payment"
Full details (in Spanish) at www.iberiacards.es. These options will only pay your Avios into an Iberia Plus account - but provided both accounts have been active for 3 months, you can move the Avios into an Executive Club account.
Cash Passport
There's also the Avios Cash Passport - a reloadable MasterCard available in USD, GBP or EUR. The fees and T&Cs don't make it quite as good as the standard Cash Passport (available through Travelex, et al) but it does have some benefits.
First, the downsides: there's an ATM fee ($2.50/€2/£1.50 per withdrawal); a 2% commission fee for topping up a GBP card; if you've not used it for 12 months, it starts charging an inactivity fee; there's a negative balance fee, and a £6 'cashout' fee. The exchange rate is not quite as favourable as the regular Cash Passport, or using a fee-free card (eg Halifax Clarity) though likely still better than what your bank will offer if you use your debit card.
But: you get 1 Avios per £1 you load onto it, which potentially makes it the best non-Amex earner out there for USD or EUR purchases. If you know what you're going to be spending, then load one of these up with between £100 and £2500, and spend away. If my maths are right, the difference in exchange rate means you'll be effectively paying 4p per Avios. Or, looking at it another way, getting 0.96 Avios per £1.
(If you want to check my working, see this spreadsheet.)
Iberia Credit Cards
While BA don't have a credit card in Spain, Iberia do.
There's the Sendo option, which gives you an Amex (earning 1 Avios per 1 EUR) and a Visa (1 Avios per 2 EUR); and the Max option, which is 9 Avios per 5 EUR for "deferred payment", or 3 Avios per 3 EUR for "full payment"
Full details (in Spanish) at www.iberiacards.es. These options will only pay your Avios into an Iberia Plus account - but provided both accounts have been active for 3 months, you can move the Avios into an Executive Club account.
Cash Passport
There's also the Avios Cash Passport - a reloadable MasterCard available in USD, GBP or EUR. The fees and T&Cs don't make it quite as good as the standard Cash Passport (available through Travelex, et al) but it does have some benefits.
First, the downsides: there's an ATM fee ($2.50/€2/£1.50 per withdrawal); a 2% commission fee for topping up a GBP card; if you've not used it for 12 months, it starts charging an inactivity fee; there's a negative balance fee, and a £6 'cashout' fee. The exchange rate is not quite as favourable as the regular Cash Passport, or using a fee-free card (eg Halifax Clarity) though likely still better than what your bank will offer if you use your debit card.
But: you get 1 Avios per £1 you load onto it, which potentially makes it the best non-Amex earner out there for USD or EUR purchases. If you know what you're going to be spending, then load one of these up with between £100 and £2500, and spend away. If my maths are right, the difference in exchange rate means you'll be effectively paying 4p per Avios. Or, looking at it another way, getting 0.96 Avios per £1.
(If you want to check my working, see this spreadsheet.)
Jan 19, 2012, 10:51 am
#39
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Join Date: Oct 2011
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Jan 20, 2012, 3:27 am
#40
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA IHG
Posts: 1,370
Trying to change a BA booking to include my Avios number. MMB won't allow this so I called up the call centre to do this. They only want the last 9 digits of my Avios Number.
I'm a little confused as to what to give them, because my actual Avios card has:
308147 10141xxxx 7 - but technically the last 9 digits are:
0141xxxx7
So, the fact there are 9 digits separated by spaces on the actual card, draws me to those, especially since otherwise my last 9 start with a 0.
Anyone know better - so far I've just gone with 0141xxxx7
I'm a little confused as to what to give them, because my actual Avios card has:
308147 10141xxxx 7 - but technically the last 9 digits are:
0141xxxx7
So, the fact there are 9 digits separated by spaces on the actual card, draws me to those, especially since otherwise my last 9 start with a 0.
Anyone know better - so far I've just gone with 0141xxxx7
Jan 20, 2012, 5:38 am
#41
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA IHG
Posts: 1,370
Trying to change a BA booking to include my Avios number. MMB won't allow this so I called up the call centre to do this. They only want the last 9 digits of my Avios Number.
I'm a little confused as to what to give them, because my actual Avios card has:
308147 10141xxxx 7 - but technically the last 9 digits are:
0141xxxx7
So, the fact there are 9 digits separated by spaces on the actual card, draws me to those, especially since otherwise my last 9 start with a 0.
Anyone know better - so far I've just gone with 0141xxxx7
I'm a little confused as to what to give them, because my actual Avios card has:
308147 10141xxxx 7 - but technically the last 9 digits are:
0141xxxx7
So, the fact there are 9 digits separated by spaces on the actual card, draws me to those, especially since otherwise my last 9 start with a 0.
Anyone know better - so far I've just gone with 0141xxxx7
Jan 27, 2012, 2:21 pm
#42
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BOS
Programs: BA Silver, Mucci
Posts: 5,289
May I suggest that you change the link for the Chase card? At the moment it is going to Chase with no bonus miles available.
By following the link through BA, 50000 bonus miles are available. I realize that this link might not always work, but there is usually a link to the Chase offer that is current on the US BA front page.
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...s/public/en_us
You could also list the Chase card by name for those who aren't in on the joke.
By following the link through BA, 50000 bonus miles are available. I realize that this link might not always work, but there is usually a link to the Chase offer that is current on the US BA front page.
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...s/public/en_us
You could also list the Chase card by name for those who aren't in on the joke.
Jan 28, 2012, 4:31 am
#43
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 138
Note that according to this table :
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...arningmiles.do
BAEC gets 500/100 avios per stay, but IB+ get 750/150 per stay, so it makes sense to credit to IB+ and transfer to BAEC.
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...arningmiles.do
BAEC gets 500/100 avios per stay, but IB+ get 750/150 per stay, so it makes sense to credit to IB+ and transfer to BAEC.
Jan 28, 2012, 5:35 am
#44
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Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Her Majesty's United Kingdom
Programs: BA Gold, BA Lounge Rats, BA Audit Survivors, CW Kitchen Defender, CX Noodle Connoisseurs Club
Posts: 5,955
Note that according to this table :
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...arningmiles.do
BAEC gets 500/100 avios per stay, but IB+ get 750/150 per stay, so it makes sense to credit to IB+ and transfer to BAEC.
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...arningmiles.do
BAEC gets 500/100 avios per stay, but IB+ get 750/150 per stay, so it makes sense to credit to IB+ and transfer to BAEC.
May I suggest that you change the link for the Chase card? At the moment it is going to Chase with no bonus miles available.
By following the link through BA, 50000 bonus miles are available. I realize that this link might not always work, but there is usually a link to the Chase offer that is current on the US BA front page.
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...s/public/en_us
You could also list the Chase card by name for those who aren't in on the joke.
By following the link through BA, 50000 bonus miles are available. I realize that this link might not always work, but there is usually a link to the Chase offer that is current on the US BA front page.
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...s/public/en_us
You could also list the Chase card by name for those who aren't in on the joke.
Feb 13, 2012, 3:03 am
#45
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Her Majesty's United Kingdom
Programs: BA Gold, BA Lounge Rats, BA Audit Survivors, CW Kitchen Defender, CX Noodle Connoisseurs Club
Posts: 5,955
I was just over on the VS forum (sorry 
) and someone said this, they are talking about Avios and I quote....
I've asked hijm who it's through, but he is offline now and I'm just dying to know the answer. Can anyone please shed some light on this?
Edit: I just re-read his OP and it's actually Tesco CC points he gets. Sorry i was PWHA (posting whilst half asleep). I still want to know to get CC points on a mortgage though
Re-edit: No, wrong, it's actually Avios he earns and the mortgage is through C+G. I clearly still haven't woken up properly yet!
) and someone said this, they are talking about Avios and I quote....
I should get to 80k fairly easily as it's our mortgage that's been earning the points (without me knowing).
Edit: I just re-read his OP and it's actually Tesco CC points he gets. Sorry i was PWHA (posting whilst half asleep). I still want to know to get CC points on a mortgage though
Re-edit: No, wrong, it's actually Avios he earns and the mortgage is through C+G. I clearly still haven't woken up properly yet!
Last edited by PanGalactic; Feb 13, 2012 at 6:27 am