WOULD you believe me if I told you that you could bag yourself a break for £1 just by doing your regular grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s or by filling up with petrol at BP – no strings attached?
You may roll your eyes at the term ‘loyalty scheme’, but you’re going to want to hear me out on this one, as Avios will make your Boots Advantage Card seem utterly pathetic.
And I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but what you think you know about Avios or air miles is completely wrong. You won’t need to hop on a single flight to earn points here.
In fact, I’m so confident about this scheme that if you follow my advice below for one year and don’t end up with enough points for a free flight or holiday, I’ll eat my hat (…that I bought with my points).
So, pay close attention. Here’s everything you need to know.
What actually is Avios?
It is essentially a rewards currency, some may call it an air-mile points scheme, although it’s so much more than that.
Avios is linked to the IAG (International Airlines Group) loyalty scheme, meaning you can earn and (most importantly) spend with British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and LEVEL, as well as partner airlines Qatar Airways, Finnair, and Loganair.
It’s a very common mistake, however, to think that you can only earn Avios on direct spend with these airlines, by booking flights, for example.
IAG Loyalty allows you to collect a generous number of points on over 2,000 brands, including major names like Deliveroo, Domino’s Pizza and Just Eat – and that’s only if you want a takeaway.
Clothing retail brands include River Island, H&M and Sports Direct, while department stores include Debenhams, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer, and wellness brands include Superdrug, Boots and Holland & Barrett.
You can earn points (Avios) on every penny you spend with these brands.
I won’t name every brand right now, but you can find the list here on the Avios website – chances are if it’s a well known name, it’ll be on there.
Do I need to spend big to earn big?
I was sceptical too, but rest assured you won’t have to pain-stakingly collect points for 10 years to reap the benefits.
A few months ago I gained 2,500 Avios simply by renewing my car insurance with Compare the Market – another brand on IAG Loyalty’s books.
I’ll explain what the number of points equates to below, but, in rough terms, that’s about a quarter of the points you’d need to pay for a one-way flight to Amsterdam.
If you’re serious about it, you can earn mega points quickly and easily (more on that below too).
What can I buy with Avios?
The most popular way to spend Avios is on “reward” flights with the IAG and Oneworld airlines. The big players will tell you that this gets you the most for your money, but you can also redeem your points against holiday packages (flights and hotel), as well as hotels, car hire and cases of wine.
There’s also the Avios shop which sells everything from perfumes and lotions to Apple products and coffee machines; plus you can convert Avios to Nectar points and spend in Sainsbury’s, Argos or Habitat; or feast at Pizza Express.
That’s why Avios is nothing like your Boots card – you’re not tied to one product or brand.
How many points will I earn?
It varies from retailer to retailer with many brands offering special deals throughout the year – keep your eyes peeled at Christmas time and in January.
But to give you some perspective, last month I earned 1,790 Avios, just through my regular, everyday shopping: I get 19 points for my train to work (booked through Uber), I earned 136 points for buying some protein powder and 14 points for some new socks from ASOS.
No, I’m not a big spender. I’m a frugal 33-year-old that’s currently living with her parents, in the process of buying her first home, meaning my key expenses are my commute to work, petrol for my car and the odd meal out with pals.
I – properly – started my Avios journey almost exactly two years ago and I now have 99,420 Avios.
Just shy of enough to fly me to the furthest-away destination possible, Sydney, Australia, and all the way back again.
But that is by following a few simple rules carved out at the end of this piece.
How many points do I need for a holiday or flight?
If you’re just looking for flights then 10,000 points can get you a one-way ticket to short haul destinations like Paris, Copenhagen or Munich, while 27,500 can get you to the far-flung cities of Chicago, Dubai and Toronto.
Sydney is of course the priciest spot, costing a minimum of 55,000 Avios each way.
The above figures are all based on travelling in an economy seat at off-peak times, although you can splash your points on premium economy flights and even business class, or use points to upgrade if you’ve already booked your flight.
Head for Points has a useful table on which destinations your points will get you to.
There is one thing you need to know, though.
You may have noticed that my opening sentence to this piece read: “bag a break for £1”. That is because you will have to pay a flat-fee, essentially a nominal charge that covers taxes, carrier charges and a fixed Avios amount.
For short-haul flights like Paris, this is just £1, but for destinations like Chicago this is £60 and this price increases if you decide to fly in an upper cabin or further afield.
Points work differently on holidays and products, however, and you can pay partly in points and partly in cash – the split is entirely up to you. If, for example, I were to buy a fancy Dyson hairdryer worth £400, I could pay £200 in cash and the rest can be paid with 33,670 Avios.
How do I actually earn Avios points then?
This requires several minutes of faffing to set yourself up and link your cards and accounts, but once you’re done that’s everything sorted for good.
Sign up for free to Avios here, or if you are already a member of the free British Airways Club you can sign in that way – or you can sign in via Iberia Club or Aer Club if you’d prefer.
Those who like to shop on their phones should download the Avios app.
What comes next is the MOST important step. In general, every time you do any online shopping, you should check if you can earn points at that retailer by clicking on the ‘collect’ button on the Avios site or on the app.
Then select that retailer and the ‘shop now’ button. This will register your visit and then you can shop as normal and earn those points.
Sophie’s personal hacks
If you use Uber, link your account to your Avios account (Avios has a guide on this); if you buy your petrol at BP, link your Avios account to your BPme account; and if you shop at Sainsbury’s, link your Nectar account to your Avios account… you get the drift by now.
If you have the ability to do so, get yourself a British Airways American Express credit card.
You don’t necessarily need one to earn Avios but simply using the Amex for the majority of your spending is the easiest way to accumulate points. Just remember to pay it off in full at the end of the month.
I have just two rules for earning big: Always(!) check if you can earn Avios before making any purchase (literally, any purchase) and only buy what you were going to in the first place – no willy-nilly spending, please.
Of course there are other airline loyalty schemes, I just don’t know enough about those yet.
Watch this space though…