Similar to Miles&More, British Airways also has a large shopping portal where you can earn Avios for various online purchases. Those who book hotels through the portal can collect an impressive 20 Avios per GBP of booking value until February 24, 2025. Based on the current exchange rate, this is approximately 16.7 Avios per Euro. Normally, you only get half of that.
The promotion applies to stays until December 2025. The hotel booking portal is based on Expedia, so the prices are roughly the same as what you would pay on Expedia, Hotels.com, and similar sites. The Avios credit is issued within 31 days after your stay.
According to the terms and conditions (F.6.11), a cancellation fee of £35 applies to hotel bookings, even if the booking is labelled as “fully refundable”:
Hotels – All hotels are fully refundable up to the specified deadline provided by the selected hotel Partner minus a £35 cancellation fee
We cannot confirm whether this fee will actually be charged. If it is, the booking process would be highly intransparent. It’s also frustrating that prices initially exclude resort fees, city taxes, etc., which are only shown later.
If you have an American address in your profile, you may even earn 20 Avios per dollar instead of pounds. However, with a European address, the page automatically switches to the British version of the shopping portal. Additionally, you currently get 15 Avios per £ for rentals with Avis and Budget.
Conditions
Please note the following booking conditions:
- Booking period: Until February 24, 2025
- Travel period: Immediately until December 31, 2025
- Avios calculation: Based on hotel price, including taxes and fees (excluding resort fees, city tax, etc., paid directly at the hotel)
- Cancellation fees: £35 plus any hotel cancellation fees (see red info box above)
- Third-party bookings: Status benefits from IHG, Marriott, etc., typically not granted
- Payment: Must be made directly online
- Avios payment: Not worthwhile as it doesn’t earn additional Avios
- Avios credit: Issued within 31 days after the stay
When booking, you must manually select the lowest option to pay the full room price by card and earn Avios. In the following example, you pay €517 including tax and collect 8,500 Avios worth about €85:
Price Comparison
Prices can vary significantly depending on the hotel. Additionally, hotel availability through the shopping portal may be noticeably smaller than on Expedia or Google Hotels.
Here are three examples comparing British Airways with other providers:
- Park Inn Radisson Frankfurt Airport Hotel (March 5 to 6, 2025)
- British Airways: €95 (1,525 Avios)
- Expedia: €91 (including member discount)
- Trivago: €105
- RadissonHotels.com: €90
- Grand Hyatt San Francisco (April 11 to 13, 2025)
- British Airways: €414 (5,650 Avios)
- Expedia: €410
- Trivago: €413
- Hyatt.com: €415
- The Westin Palace, Milan (May 14 – 15, 2025)
- British Airways: 517€ (8,500 Avios)
- Expedia: €517
- Trivago: €517
- Marriott.com: €507
Cancellation conditions may vary by provider. British Airways, as mentioned in the warning block, charges a £35 cancellation fee in addition to any hotel-specific cancellation fees.
In all three cases, booking through British Airways would be worthwhile (unless maybe if you’re missing out on status benefits).
Translated and edited by Ditmar
Cover Picture: Ditmar Lange