If you buy Avios at British Airways‘ Executive Club right now, you will get a bonus of 50% on top of your mileage purchase. Just log into your Executive Club account and follow this link:
For example: If you buy 100,000 Avios you will receive an additional bonus of 50,000 Avios on top of your purchase. That results in a total amount of 150,000 Avios for the price of €1,800. This way an Avio only costs about 1,2 Euro cents. You can purchase a maximum of 200,000 points per year (any bonus however, does not count against this limit).
You need to purchase at least 2,000 Avios to get the bonus. The maximum amount you can purchase is 300,000 Avios (= 200,000 Avios purchase + 100,000 bonus) at a price of €3,601.
In order to purchase Avios, you need to have an activated Executive Club account. That means your account has to exist for at least 90 days and there has to be at least one registered activity.
As part of this promotion, you can also buy Avios for other people. These purchases do not count against your yearly purchase limit of 200,000 Avios.
This promotion ends January 19, 2022.
Some Avios Sweet Spots
As with all frequent flyer programs, there are certain redemptions for which it makes sense to actually purchase Avios. A few suggestions:
Reward Flight Saver: Short-Haul Flights from 4,750 Avios + €21
A very interesting redemption option is short-haul European British Airways flights. Those so-called Reward Flight Saver fares only cost you a fixed fee of €21 per way (so a total of €42 for a roundtrip).
Depending on the distance and peak or off-peak season, you will have to pay an Avios amount of 4,750 to 8,250:
- Zone 1: Up to 650 miles: 4,750 / 5,250 Avios
- Zone 2: 651 to 1,151 miles: 7,250 / 8,250 Avios
If you purchase Avios at the price of 1,2 Cent/Avio, these flights will cost you between €57 and €99 + €21 fixed fees. This makes sense on very expensive routes or if you need a ticket at short notice. It may also make sense if you travel with baggage since these fares include checked baggage.
Attention: Short-haul flights with other Oneworld airlines, e.g. with American Airlines within North America or with Japan Airlines within Japan, were booked in Zone 1 some time ago. However, British Airways has changed this. Accordingly, flights via partner airlines always fall in zone 2, even if the distance would theoretically fall in zone 1. What dampens the whole thing down a bit is the fact that sometimes even fewer fees are due than with British Airways (e.g. a flight with American Airlines from Miami to Orlando costs 8,250 Avios and only € 5 in taxes).
We had a more in-depth look at this sweet spot in this recent article:
Upgrade From Premium Economy to British Airways’ Business Class
A very lucrative option of getting rid of your Avios is to redeem them for upgrade awards, especially for upgrades from British Airways’ premium economy class into their business class. Apart from the Avios, you will usually also have to pay some extra fees and taxes, but that doesn’t tend to be much.
The great thing about this option: You don’t need to have a specific booking class, as practically all premium economy tickets are eligible for Avios upgrades. You’ll find more on this here:
Qsuite with Qatar Airways from various European cities to Doha
Flying Qatar Airways’ Qsuite is another sweet spot in British Airway’s Executive Club. Flights from Stockholm, Milan, and Copenhagen all feature the new business class and are still below 4,000 miles and therefore in zone 4 of the award chart. This redemption costs you 38,750 Avios. Taxes start at around €238.
Qatar Airways often changes their airplanes and it may happen that you are not flying with a Qsuite business class although you booked an official Qsuite route.
Conclusion
It’s really up to your personal circumstances if it’s worth it to purchase Avios at this price point. Compare cash tickets with award tickets. Consider mileage accrual and cashback as well when making a decision. If you decide it’s worth it to purchase Avios – go ahead! Generally speaking, we do not recommend purchasing Avios and any other miles if you do not have an immediate use for them because frequent flyer programs can devalue their points/miles at any point.