Buy British Airways Avios With 40% Bonus (1.64 Cents Per Avios)

Buy British Airways Avios With 40% Bonus (1.64 Cents Per Avios)

No current offers.
Deal History
40% bonus on purchased Avios December 11, 2023 December 15, 2023
40% bonus on purchased Avios September 14, 2023 September 20, 2023
40% bonus on purchased Avios March 9, 2023 March 13, 2023
40% bonus on purchased Avios January 16, 2023 January 20, 2023
50% bonus on purchased Avios December 16, 2022 December 19, 2022
50% bonus on purchased Avios November 17, 2022 November 20, 2022
50% bonus on purchased Avios September 5, 2022 September 14, 2022
50% bonus on purchased Avios June 23, 2022 July 10, 2022
50% bonus on purchased Avios March 18, 2022 March 24, 2022
50% bonus on purchased Avios January 17, 2022 January 19, 2022
50% bonus on purchased Avios December 10, 2021 December 19, 2021
50% bonus on purchased Avios August 19, 2021 August 30, 2021
50% bonus on purchased Avios June 21, 2021 July 4, 2021
50% bonus on purchased Avios March 29, 2021 April 11, 2021
2
In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support!

Buying airline points strategically can make a lot of sense, especially for first and business class redemptions, where redeeming points represents a disproportionately good deal. British Airways Executive Club has just launched a bonus on purchased points, which some people might find to be worthwhile.

Promotion on purchased British Airways Avios

Through 11:59PM GMT on Friday, December 15, 2023, British Airways Executive Club is offering a 40% bonus on purchased Avios. With this promotion, you can receive a 40% bonus as long as you purchase at least 2,000 Avios in one transaction (pre-bonus).

Buy British Airways Avios with a 40% bonus

How much does it cost to purchase British Airways Avios?

Back in April 2023, British Airways adjusted the cost to buy Avios. With British Airways Executive Club, the cost to purchase Avios varies based on how many you buy, even without any promotions — the more Avios you buy, the lower the cost per Avios. Furthermore, the cost varies based on where your account is registered. With this 40% bonus offer, you can expect to pay the following to max out this promotion:

  • If you bought 280,000 Avios (including the bonus) in USD you’d pay $4,599; that’s a cost of 1.64 cents (in USD) per Avios
  • If you bought 280,000 Avios (including the bonus) in EUR you’d pay €4,245, which is $4,568; that’s a cost of 1.63 cents (in USD) per Avios
  • If you bought 280,000 Avios (including the bonus) in GBP you’d pay £3,539, which is $4,442; that’s a cost of 1.59 cents (in USD) per Avios

The differences aren’t huge, but you’ll get a slightly better price in GBP than you do in USD or EUR. However, it’s all based on where your account is registered, so it’s not like you have a choice in the matter.

By Avios for 1.64 cents each

While British Airways has historically offered up to a 50% bonus on purchased Avios, this year the program has only offered bonuses of up to 40%, so it seems like that may be the new standard offer for the program.

How many British Airways Avios can you purchase?

Ordinarily British Airways Executive Club lets members purchase up to 100,000 Avios per account per calendar year, before factoring in any bonuses. However, during a promotion, that cap is often increased, as is the case now. Currently you can buy up to 200,000 Avios before any bonuses.

Buy up to 200,000 British Airways Avios per year

Which credit card should you buy British Airways Avios with?

British Airways Avios purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.

In this case the best option is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees), which offers 2x miles and has no foreign transaction fees. Usually the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi Double Cash® Card (review) would also be good options for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so wouldn’t be ideal in this case.

Citi Double Cash® Card
  • Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
  • $0
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Learn More Terms Apply.
  • Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
  • Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
  • Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
  • $0
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
  • Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees
  • Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
  • $95
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
  • Earn 2x miles on every purchase
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees
  • 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
  • $395
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
  • 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
  • Access to Amex Offers
  • No annual fee

Is buying British Airways Avios worth it?

British Airways Executive Club can be a polarizing frequent flyer program, given its unconventional distance based award chart. There’s a lot to love about British Airways Avios, including the ability to redeem them for great value on short haul flights with oneworld carriers, like Alaska and American.

That being said, there are hefty fuel surcharges when redeeming Avios for travel on British Airways, which many members find to be frustrating. There’s definitely value to be had with the program, though in general I’d prefer to acquire Avios with methods other than outright buying points.

See this post for some of the best uses of British Airways Avios.

There are lots of great partner redemptions with Avios

How much are British Airways Avios worth?

Everyone will value points currencies differently, but personally I value British Airways Avios at ~1.3 cents each, based on the ways to get outsized value with the distance based award chart. However, I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get way more value from British Airways Avios than that.

Do British Airways Avios expire?

British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any earning or redeeming of Avios will reset the expiration of your balance.

What other ways can you earn British Airways Avios?

While I think there’s a lot of value to be had with Avios, do keep in mind that there are quite a few ways to earn Avios with US credit cards. British Airways Executive Club partners with a few transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.

On top of that, there are three credit cards issued in the US that earn Avios:

You can find a detailed comparison of the three cards here.

There are lots of ways to earn British Airways Avios

Bottom line

British Airways is offering a 40% bonus on purchased Avios. While not quite as good as some of the past offers we’ve see from British Airways Executive Club, it’s better than nothing, and there’s potentially value to be had.

Personally my preferred way to acquire Avios continues to be to earn them through Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, etc. However, if you don’t have access to US credit cards, some might consider this to be worthwhile.

Do you plan on purchasing Avios with this promotion?

Conversations (2)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. Antonio C. Guest

    Can we transfer these avios to Qatar Airways and reduce the fuel surcharges?

    1. Pratap Guest

      Yes you can once you link the 2 accounts. If you are booking a redemption flight on Qatar with stopover in Doha then it may be better to book via qatar website as I think BA calculates avios requirements separately for each leg rather than origin and final destination.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Pratap Guest

Yes you can once you link the 2 accounts. If you are booking a redemption flight on Qatar with stopover in Doha then it may be better to book via qatar website as I think BA calculates avios requirements separately for each leg rather than origin and final destination.

0
Antonio C. Guest

Can we transfer these avios to Qatar Airways and reduce the fuel surcharges?

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published

Keep Exploring OMAAT