Discover The Top 5 Ways To Earn Airline Rewards In The UK

Recently, I have been trying to determine which is the best airline rewards program in the UK. I’ve analysed routes and redemptions, but today want to look at which offers the greatest opportunities to earn airline rewards points.

I am going to start with the top five ways to earn airline rewards and then highlight some other ways to boost your balance. These five are the ones I use most frequently to earn over 500,000 airline rewards a year.

Top Five ways to earn

Credit cards

Credit cards are the best way to earn miles in the UK. You can use the AMEX Gold and Platinum cards to transfer points directly to either British Airways AVIOS or Virgin Atlantic Flying Miles.
Otherwise, you can opt for branded cards with British Airways (AMEX) and Virgin Atlantic Mastercard.

You can read more about the best UK airline credit cards here but I also recently reviewed the Virgin Atlantic cards in detail.

In my opinion, the British Airways cards are better when it comes to branded cards. They generally offer a higher earnings rate, or better sign up bonus.

In 2018, I earned over 400,000 AVIOS from credit cards. I sign up for a new card, satisfy the spend for the minimum bonus, and cancel. I then wait six months and repeat. This is one of the quickest ways to earn a ton of miles.

Best program for earning from credit cards: British Airways

Flying

In all honesty, I earn very few airmiles from flying. However, if you are a frequent flyer for work, then this could be a huge bonus for you.

British Airways awards miles for flights based on the distance flown and the class of ticket. Economy class flights can be as low as 25% of the miles flown, whilst First class rewards with up to 300% of the miles flown.

Virgin Atlantic  Flying Miles work on the same basis but have higher earnings potential. Economy earnings range from 25% to 150% of the miles flown, compared to a maximum of 100% with British Airways. For Upper Class, Virgin rewards up to 400% of the miles flown.

Both airlines are part of alliances which allow you to earn miles when flying with key partners. This infographic provides further details.

Best rewards for flying: Virgin

Tesco

Tesco Clubcard Points can be converted into both Virgin Atlantic Flying Miles and British Airways AVIOS. Your £2.50 voucher converts into 600 AVIOS or 625 Virgin Atlantic Flying Miles.

Best rewards from Tesco: Virgin Atlantic

Top Cashback

By changing your spending habits, you can add thousands of airmiles to your account. If you want to buy something from hotels.com, Debenhams, M & S, Halfords and hundreds of other stores, simply navigate to their website from your Top Cashback account.

The cashback deposits into your account and can be withdrawn as British Airways AVIOS. For every 1p in cashback, you will earn 1 AVIOS plus a 5% bonus. Thus £10 of cashback translates into 1,005 AVIOS.

This may sound paltry but do not be deceived. I earned over 43,000 AVIOS one year just by changing my spending habits.

Most mainstream stores feature, so you should make a habit of always starting your shopping journey on the Top Cashback site. These are free AVIOS (unless you charge for your time)!!

Sadly, Virgin Atlantic does not offer the same facility so British Airways wins this crown.

Hotels

Both airlines have agreements in place with a number of hotels to earn airmiles. Here is the list from the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic websites.

Hotel chain	British Airways	Virgin Atlantic
Accor Hotels	2.5 AVIOS per €2 spent	x
Agoda	Up to 10,000 AVIOS per night	x
Best Western	500 miles per stay	500 miles per stay
Booking.com	4 AVIOS per £1 spent	x
Fiesta	2,000 AVIOS per stay	x
Hotels.com	Up to 6 AVIOS per £1 spent	x
Travelplus	x	2 miles per £1 spent
Hilton	x	Up to 2 miles per $ spent
Marriott	Up to 2 miles per $ spent	Up to 2 miles per $ spent
IHG	Up to 2 AVIOS per $ spent	Up to 500 miles per night
Hyatt	500 miles per stay	750 miles per stay
Langham hospitality group	Up to 500 AVIOS per night	x
Mandarin Oriental group	800 AVIOS per qualifying stay	x
Radisson	Up to 500 AVIOS per qualifying stay	x
Yotel	x	Up to 500 miles per night
Rocketmiles	Up to 10,000 per night	Up to 10,000 per night
Kaligo	Between 5 and 20 AVIOS per £1 spent	Up to 10,000 per night
Pointshound	x	Up to 5,000 per night
Shangri-La	500 per qualifying stay	x
World Hotels	x	500 miles per stay
Edition	x	2 miles per $ spent
Virgin Hotels	x	1,000 miles per stay
Trip.com	3 AVIOS per £1 spent	x
British Airways hotels	1 AVIOS per £1 spent	x

For full terms and conditions of each offer, please navigate to the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic websites.

It is hard to determine a clear winner in this category. British Airways have more links in place but sometimes they do not offer better terms than Virgin Atlantic. Clearly, if you are booking hotels, it pays to check both to see which will offer the best deal on the day.

At this point, it is fair to say that of the five main ways to earn airmiles, there is little to choose between the two programs. British Airways has better deals in some categories whilst Virgin Atlantic has a better offering in others.

However, what about other ways to earn AVIOS or Flying Miles? Here is a quick summary of the other options available.

Other ways to collect

Earnings Mode	AVIOS	Virgin Flying Miles
Avios store	Up to 12 AVIOS per £1 spent	x
British Airways store	Up to 30 AVIOS per £1 spent	x
British Airways	250 points – 250 AVIOS	250 points – 250 Flying Miles
Shell garages	10 AVIOS for every 20 Shell points	x
Virgin Atlantic store	x	Up to 10 miles per £1 spent

Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have paired with thousands of companies from financial institutions to car hire firms to offer you more ways to earn. Be sure to check the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic websites before making purchases.

Which airline rewards program is best for collecting?

Honestly, I don’t think there is much in it. Much will depend on how you plan to build your balance. If it is primarily through credit cards, then British Airways is a bit ahead but if it is through hotels and shopping there is little difference.

Remember, you can also multiply your points by using a credit card which earns miles to buy from the various shops mentioned above.

You may also like

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Warning: Airline Loyalty Clubs can seriously upgrade your travel experience

How to Boost your Avios Balance

What do you think?

I know I have some extremely experienced readers, so what are your views? Do you have a preference for reward program and why? I’d love to know.