新概念二册58课中有一题：If you travel by air, you will gain time.想问下为什么不能用earn? earn和gain的区别是什么?请别告诉我earn只能是赚钱：earn money._百度作业帮
新概念二册58课中有一题：If you travel by air, you will gain time.想问下为什么不能用earn? earn和gain的区别是什么?请别告诉我earn只能是赚钱：earn money.
想问下为什么不能用earn? earn和gain的区别是什么?请别告诉我earn只能是赚钱：earn money.
earn主要强调通过劳动所获得的回报,而gain是获得的意思,没有特别强调什么.个人意见,仅供参考.
She took in sewing and washing to earn a little.She took in sewing and washing to earn a little.她接缝洗活儿在家里做，来挣一点钱
gain是比较普遍的得到earn特指：1.你付出努力了之后得到的东西。e.g. ~ money， ~ a living， ~ a crust
2.钱生钱，利滚利。 e.g. Your money would earn more in a high-interest account
earn是赚，而gain是获得Primary Pollutant
Health effects
Air q however, for some pollutants, there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of unusually sensitive individuals.
Cautionary Statements
The unusually sensitive individuals should consider reducing physical activity outdoors.
Categories of Air Quality Index (AQI) and corresponding Air Quality Conditions
Air quality index
Air quality condition
Level of health concerns
Cautionary statements
Air quality is considered satisfactory and poses little or no risk
Whole population can proceed with normal activities
Air q however, for some pollutants, there may be a moderate
health concern for a very small number of unusually sensitive individuals.
The unusually sensitive individuals should consider reducing physical activity outdoors.
lightly polluted
Symptoms of sensitive groups may increase slightly, the general public is likely
to have irritant symptoms
The following groups should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion: ? People
with heart or lung disease ? Children and older adults
Medially polluted
Air pollution may increase aggravation of symptoms in people
everyone may begin to experience health effects of cardiopulmonary system.
The following groups should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion: ? People
with heart or lung disease ? Children and older adults Everyone else should limit
prolonged or heavy exertion.
Heavily polluted
Air pollution trigger a health alert, individuals with heart and lung diseases appear
significant aggravation of symptoms with reduction o and general
population experience health effects universally.
The following groups should avoid all physical activity outdoors: ? People with
heart or lung disease ? Children and older adults Everyone else should avoid prolonged
or heavy exertion.
Severely polluted
Air pollution trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The general population
appears severe symptoms with obviously reduction of exercise tolerance, and is even
more likely to have cardiopulmonary diseases ahead of time.
The following groups should remain indoors and keep activity levels low: ? People
with heart or lung disease ? Children and older adults Everyone else should avoid
all physical activity outdoors.
(AQI: 0~50)
(AQI: 51~100)
lightly polluted
(AQI: 101~150)
Medially polluted
(AQI: 151~200)
Heavily polluted
(AQI: 201~300)
Severely polluted
(AQI: 301~500)
Pollutant-Specific Breakpoints for Air Quality Index
Air quality index
Air quality condition
Sulfur Dioxide(SO2)
1-hour (ug/m3)
Nitrogen Dioxide(NO2)
1-hour (ug/m3)
Inhalable particle(PM10)
24-hour (ug/m3)
Carbon Monoxide(CO)
1-hour (mg/m3)
1-hour (ug/m3)
8-hour (ug/m3)
Fine particle(PM2.5)
24-hour (ug/m3)
lightly polluted
Medially polluted
701 ~ 1200
Heavily polluted
1201 ~ 2340
Severely polluted
2341 ~ 3090
801 ~ 1000
(1)IAQI of SO2 will not be calculated when hourly concentration of SO2
exceeded 800 ug/m3. In this case, IAQI of SO2 will be calculated
based on 24-hour averaging concentrations.
(2)IAQI of O3 will not be calculated when 8-hour averaging concentration
of O3 exceeded 800 ug/m3. In this case, IAQI of O3
will be calculated based on 1-hr concentration.
Real-time Photos
Real-time concentrations of air pollutants
01:00 14-April-2015
* unit for CO is mg/m3
The real-time concentrations of air pollutants have not been verified and are forreference
Useful Links
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="../flexline/chart_tendays_en.swf"
width="1250" height="215"Avios points: 30 ways to boost & earn - MSE
Your browser isn't supported
It looks like you're using an old web browser. To get the most out of the site and to ensure guides display correctly, we suggest upgrading your browser now. Download the latest:
Cashback & Rewards
New Borrowing
Tools & Calculators
Best Buys & Calculators
Finds the best cards that you can actually get - before you apply.
Our Eligibility Calculator checks your chances of getting a top loan deal.
Big Reclaims
Govt. & Councils
Shopping & Travel
Calculators
A little bit of inspiration
Gas & Electricity
Mobile Phones
Home Phones
Broadband & TV
Utilities News
Current Accounts
Pensions & Annuities
Banking News
Click titles for full info & more top picks
Fashion & Beauty
Electronics & Gadgets
Travel & Days Out
Food & Drink
Protect Yourself
Shopping Tricks
Holiday Extras
Overseas Spending
Home + Abroad
Life + Health
Loans + More
Insurance News
Insurance Records
Updated Monthly
First Time Buyers
Home Movers
Remortgaging
Managing your Mortgage
Household Bills
Calculators
Finds monthly repayment & total mortgage cost
Would paying more on
mortgage SAVE you cash?
Uncover how much a bank may lend you for a mortgage
Vouchers & Points
Shopping Tricks
Cashback & Rewards
Shopping Rights
Household Savings
Tax & Benefits
Boost Your Income
Boost Avios Points
Boost Avios Points 30 ways to max Avios points
If you've got Avios points stashed, there are tons of hidden points boosters to help you push it (baby), push it real good (apologies
to Salt-N-Pepa).
We've put together 30 ways to
help max your Avios
points, including the best
reward cards, how to earn 10,000s of bonus points and the best value redemptions.
Confusingly,
the main Avios, BA Executive Club, and Iberia Plus points schemes are all called Avios. This guide applies to the specific Avios scheme, and largely covers BA Exec and Iberia Plus too - see
on the differences between them.
30 tips to boost your Avios, including...
How Avios works
Avios is a
points scheme formed from Air Miles and BA Miles in
2011. Many mistake it for a frequent-flyer scheme but it works more like the Nectar and Tesco Clubcard loyalty schemes. You can earn points on Britsh Airways, Iberia and Flybe flights,
in Shell and Tesco and by spending on reward credit cards. Rewards are travel-focused.
Here are some examples of what you'll have to spend in order to get a free flight or Eurostar ticket:
Points needed
Exchange ?37.50 Tesco Clubcard vouchers
Eurostar rtn to Paris/Lille/Brussels
Exchange ?37.50 Tesco Clubcard vouchers
Return to Prague
Sign up for BA Amex & spend ?17,000 (3)
Return to Athens
Buy 30,000 litres at Shell
Return to Rome
To pay the ?35 fixed Reward Flight Saver fee, you need to have collected at least one point in the last year - otherwise you'll pay full taxes. 2) Eurostar only releases a limited number of 9,000-point returns for each day - after that the
points price goes up. 3) Spend ?1,000 in the first three months and get 9,000 bonus points.
Beware of changes from April 2015 on earning and spending on flights
There are big changes if you're an Avios or BA Executive Club member booking a BA flight. If you use cash to fly
you may earn a quarter of the points currently available, though if you use points to book, you may need fewer.
BA is also splitting flights
into peak and off-peak for those using points to get a cheaper flight. Peak is mostly the summer, Easter, Christmas and half- while off-peak is other times + ALL
Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
changes apply to flights booked from 28 April. If you book before, nothing
changes, regardless of the flight date. You can book tickets on non-BA flights using Avios points, but we've
focused on BA as it's the dominant airline for most UK bookers in the schemes.
if you're booking on another airline.
Avios overhaul - the winners
Those who use points to book some economy flights will need fewer points for off-peak flights
Peak booking redemption rates stay the same regardless of flight. For instance, a return flight to zone 1 from London (eg, to Paris) stays at 9,000 points + taxes and charges.
But off-peak, the points required will fall to all zones. The number will drop from 9,000 to 8,000 to zone 1, from 15,000 to 13,000 to zone 2 (eg, Barcelona), and from 100,000 to 65,000 to zone 9 (eg, Sydney).
Business and first class bookers who buy
a ticket with cash will often earn more points
Business class flyers will still earn 150% of the miles flown in points for non-flexible fares, but this rises to 250% for flexible. First is currently 200% on all flights, rising to 250% for non-flexible, and 300% for flexible.
Avios overhaul - the losers
Those buying a non-flexible economy ticket
in cash will earn half or a quarter of the points
An economy flight currently earns you the same number of points as miles flown, so 1,000 miles gets 1,000 points. After the changes, you'll only earn all those points if you buy an expensive flexible ticket. Non-flexible tickets, which are the ones most MoneySaving flyers end up buying, only qualify for 50% or 25% of the points, depending how cheap it is.
Those using points to book a premium cabin seat will mostly need more points
Most premium economy tickets will cost more in points. From London to Zone 4 (eg, Kuwait) you will need 50,000 in peak and 40,000 in off-peak to fly return in premium economy rather than the current 37,500.
In premium economy you currently earn 125% of the miles flown ? this will fall to 100% for non-flexible tickets but rise to 150% for flexible tickets.
use points to fly from a non-London airport to
Europe will need to use more & pay more
Most of these reward flights require a connection in London but you don't pay for the connecting flight now. You will do from 28 April if going to Europe. For example, if you fly from Manchester to Paris return, at present you only pay for the London to Paris flights if you use your points (9,000 points + ?35 in taxes and charges). As you will also pay for the connection from 28 April, this will double to 18,000 points + ?70 in charges. You will still get a free connection for long-haul.
Full tables with new and old Avios earning and spending rates
Changes to points earned on flights booked after 28 April
Cabin class
Ticket type
Current rate
Non-flexible
Non-flexible
Premium economy
Non-flexible
Non-flexible
25% or 50%
100% means 100% of the miles flown, so fly 2,000 miles, get 2,000 points
Changes to points needed
from 28 April to book flights
Premium economy
New off-peak
New off-peak
1 (eg, Paris)
2 (eg, Madrid)
3 (eg, Marrakech)
4 (eg, Kuwait)
5 (eg, New York)
6 (eg, Barbados)
7 (eg, Mauritius)
8 (eg, Singapore)
9 (eg, Sydney)
New off-peak
New off-peak
1 (eg, Paris)
2 (eg, Madrid)
3 (eg, Marrakech)
4 (eg, Kuwait)
5 (eg, New York)
6 (eg, Barbados)
7 (eg, Mauritius)
8 (eg, Singapore)
9 (eg, Sydney)
Non-BA flights - the changes
How the changes affect flights with airlines including
Iberia, Malaysia Airlines and American Airlines
Iberia is the most affected airline as it's part of the same group as BA and also has its own frequent flyer scheme that uses Avios points.
On spending points, it will also introduce peak and off-peak pricing. For economy flights,
off-peak short haul
and peak long haul
will cost the same. But short haul peak fares will be 10%-11% more, while long haul off-peak flights will be 12%-15% less. Check the
for full details.
With regards to
earning on flights paid in cash, the
points you'll get per mile differ to BA. In general, those on non-flexible, economy flights will be worse off, while those flying business class will be better off.
Avios collectors can sometimes book on other airlines such as
Malaysia Airlines and American Airlines too. For premium cabin flights, you'll need more points to get a reward flight. See the
for more on other airlines.
Avios vs BA Executive Club Avios
The main Avios, BA Executive Club, and Iberia Plus points are all called Avios. Points are usually worth the same, regardless of scheme.
says the main Avios scheme's better for irregular travellers while the BA
Executive Club's best for frequent flyers, offering benefits such as free
airport lounge access for members in certain tiers. You can move or pool Avios and BA Executive Club points at any time, so if you
change your mind later, it doesn't matter.
A boon for high spenders is that the
gives a free like-for-like companion ticket if you spend
over ?20,000/year (always repay in full or it's 15.9% representative APR).
You still pay taxes under Avios
Avios charges
passengers taxes and fees on flights, wiping some of the gain. These can be up to ?100 or more for British Airways return flights in Europe.
under its Reward Flight Saver scheme, you pay a
fixed ?35 fee on most
short-haul economy flights, as long as you earn at least one point during the year before you
for more info.
Avios customers can book one-way and 'open-jaw' tickets
? say, London to Las Vegas, Los Angeles to London. You
can also use points to upgrade cabin class.
Use the best Avios credit card
We've crunched the numbers on the big Avios credit cards to find the best way to earn points while you spend.
You'll need a reasonable credit score and a decent income. Applying without either of these will leave a search on your file, even if you're rejected. See the
guide for more details.
Never aim to borrow on these cards. You're far better off focusing on getting the lowest interest rates (full info in the
guides). And always remember...
Always set up a direct debit to repay the card in full each month, so you'll never pay interest
The BA Amex card is the clear winner for most people. There's no annual fee and it offers a free companion ticket if you spend more than ?20,000 in a year.
Get a companion ticket on ?20k spend
(you can use our
for this card) you accrue
one Avios point for every ?1 spent. In addition, spend ?20,000 on your card in a year and you'll get a 'free'
to use when you redeem your miles.
So it's good for bigger-spending couples wanting long-haul flights - though you must pay taxes and charges. Here's what you'd have to spend on the card to get to different destinations:
London to...
Passengers
(1) Incl 'free' companion ticket. (2) Under the Reward Flight Saver scheme.
Apply now and you'll get an extra 3,000 Avios points if you spend ?500 within the first three months.
Be sure you repay in full though, otherwise the gain will be eroded by the 15.9%
Introductory Avios points: 3,000
Standard points: 1 for every ?1
Rep variable APR:
Annual fee: N/A
Min income: ?20,000 household
Miles expire 3 years after you collect your last.
Going to get this? Click for full details first
What airlines can points be redeemed against? Avios can be redeemed on BA and other
airlines, including American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. See the
site for where you can go.
Companion ticket: The companion flight can be used
to get the same ticket type as the cardholder (if you go first class, so do they), though only on BA. It's valid for 12 months. You'll also need to pay taxes and charges. You can continue to collect points after
it has been issued,
but ensure you leave enough time as seat numbers can be limited when redeeming miles.
Additional cardholder: If you're in a trusting relationship, you can boost Avios further by adding a partner to your account. The points accumulated when they spend will also be added to your account, making your points grow quicker.
If you're willing to pay a hefty ?150 fee, the BA Premium Plus card is the best way to boost your points as you get
50% more points per ?1 than the standard BA card above. Plus, you only need to spend ?10,000 for a free companion ticket. A fee that big is a risk though - you'll need to be a big spender for it to be worth it.
It is also possible to earn Avios points via a Tesco Clubcard credit card, but this never comes top. The main advantage
is it gives 0% for 19 months on new purchases if you want to spread the cost of a big purchase.
See the table below to see how all the major Avios cards stack up. For full details, see the
Avios cards compared
Avios per ?1k spend:
Sign up bonus:
3,000 Avios (?500 spend in first 3 months)
Double Avios
for the first 6 months when using
18,000 Avios
(?3,000 spend in first 3 months)
Double Avios
for the first 6 months when using
19 mths 0% on purchases
Annual Fee:
Yes plus Mastercard
YesYes plus Mastercard
No, Mastercard
Companion flight?
?20,000+ spend
-?10,000+ spend
?12,000+ spend
Minimum income
?20,000 household
?20,000 household
22.7% (incl fee)
56.4% (incl fee)
50.8% (incl fee)
You're not getting something for nothing
Don't think
Avios is giving you something
for nothing. Loyalty points schemes are incorporated into pricing policies.
the golden rule is: choose where to shop on price, not because you
get Avios points, but always get points when you're spending there anyway.
You pay nowt if you redeem on Eurostar
Swap Avios points for Eurostar return tickets
and you don't pay taxes or charges, which makes it an excellent value exchange. Plus it's rare to find hefty discounts on Eurostar fares.
Return tickets to Paris, Lille or Brussels all
start from 9,000 Avios points (redeem this way and 1,000 Avios points are worth ?8ish). You need to book ahead for peak times, as
Eurostar only releases a limited number of 9,000 returns for each day ? once
those have gone, the price in points goes up.
Short-haul flights are great value
Avios charges
passengers taxes and fees on flights, which can be up to ?100 or more for European return
Yet under its Reward Flight Saver scheme, charges on most short-haul economy BA flights are currently fixed at ?35. The fee is ?50 for
business class flights.
Destinations in these zones include Moscow and Marrakesh - check whether where you're going is covered on the Avios . You must
earn at least one Avios point
the year before you book to take advantage.
Keep your eyes open for sales
Avios sometimes holds points sales that
temporarily cut the number of points needed to fly to certain destinations, or reduce the flat-rate Reward Flight Saver fee charged on short-haul flights.
They're always short-lived - the last one only ran for a week - so be
ready to pounce when they happen.
Tesco shopper? Time your Avios trade-in
convert Clubcard vouchers into Avios points, ?10 becomes 2,400 Avios points. This means ?37.50 of Tesco vouchers buys a Eurostar return to Paris. It could also get you to Prague or Milan in economy (plus ?35 fee).
But it occasionally boosts this to 4,000 Avios for every ?10. So if you've no plans to use your points yet, hold your horses until Tesco runs one of these promotions. See
for more on getting max value for Clubcard vouchers.
Pick redemptions carefully
Choose how you spend your points with care. 1,000 Avios
points can be worth anything from ?1 to ?50 depending on how you spend them, so aim to
exchange them for things giving better value.
Always check what it would actually cost to
buy in cash first to see if it's a good value exchange. We've used estimates in the table below, so it's best to check yourself before booking to make sure it's worth using your points on the flight.
How much to buy directHow much are 1,000 points worth?
Eurostar rtn to Paris
BA economy rtn to Prague
?158?13.70
BA economy rtn to Amsterdam
BA economy rtn to NYC
BA biz-class rtn to NYC
2x business class
rtns to Rio (with 2for1 BA card voucher)
1) To pay the ?35 fixed Reward Flight Saver fee, you need to have collected at least one point in the last year - otherwise you will pay full taxes.
Watch out with some long-haul economy
Back in the days of Air Miles, folk used to squirrel them away for a
trip of a lifetime, such as economy flights to New York. But if you're going to shorter long-haul destinations (ie New York, Dubai,North or Central Africa), Avios economy charges can now be similar to paying to fly on a cheap airline (see
for how to compare prices).
However, if you're flying long haul to destinations such as Sydney this isn't such a problem. The taxes you pay are similar on flights to New York (a seven-hour flight) as they are to Sydney (a 24 hour flight) - it's the cost of the ticket that varies.
The other exception's if you want an economy long-haul flight at expensive peak times. For example, if you flew around Christmas and were lucky enough to find space on an Avios flight, this
could boost
your points' value.
Buying business class tickets is top value
Using your points for long-haul business flights gives you a
better cash equivalent return than economy. Plus, while you pay taxes on long-haul flights, on
pricey first class tickets these make up a smaller proportion of the overall
ticket price.
Use your points on an
economy New York return and 1,000 points can be worth ?3.88 - but use them to
buy a business-class return and those same 1,000 points are worth ?12.63.
This is, of course, based on business
flights' list values, and you pay a huge amount more for that extra comfort
of five-star hotels' worth). So it depends on how much you value
flying in luxury.
You get more flights using your points for economy short-haul trips,
and don't have to wait as long to earn enough.
A story from Martin..
One Christmas, I used a couple of years of saved-up points and a credit card companion ticket to treat Mrs MSE to a New York trip, flying out biz, back first class. If I'd paid cash, it would have cost ?12,600 ? completely unjustifiable. Yet with total charges of ?875, it was cheaper than
during that peak time.
Upgrades are also good value - yet there are catches
can use Avios to upgrade when you make a cash booking
with British Airways, Iberia or American Airlines.
This can be fab value. On a typical London - NYC return, you can upgrade from Premium Economy (usually ?1,050) to Business Class (usually ?2,636), using
20,000 Avios points. Based on list prices, spend your Avios this way, and 1,000 points would be worth
There are a few catches. Perhaps most annoyingly, you can only upgrade on certain types of fares. Only
fully flexible
economy tickets are eligible. Though you can upgrade all British Airways fares in World Traveller Plus and
Club World
using Avios.
Upgrades depend if there's room in the class you want to upgrade to. You can only upgrade one cabin level up - so usually premium economy to business, not economy to business. Though the next cabin up varies depending on which flight you're on.
You can only book upgrades
call centre, not online. If you're keen to upgrade a flight, before you purchase, call
to check the ticket type is eligible.
You may be able to bag a ?50 flight
downside of spending your Avios points
on short-haul flights is that some destinations may be served by budget
airlines, so it could be possible to fly for around ?50.
tool cleverly tells you when
to go for super-cheap prices.
You just say "find any ?50-and-under Marseille flights during November" or
set a price and pick "I?ll go anywhere".
Though, of course, with British Airways flights you can put baggage in the hold without extra charges. See
for a full guide to beating budget airline fees.
Get Martin's Free Money Tips Email!
For all the latest deals, guides and loopholes - join the 10m who get it. Don't miss out
Combine one-way
tix with budget flights
You can book one-way tickets
? they simply cost half the number of points as a return flight.
boon, for example, if you find a super-cheap budget airline flight for your
outward journey, but can't find a cheapie on the way back.
budget flights, use our
tool to find "all sub-?30 flights in May" either to a specific destination or
just "I?ll go anywhere".
Always earn at least one point
Points on all Avios schemes expire if you don't collect or redeem at least one point in three years.
Plus under its
scheme, you pay a fixed ?35 fee on most
short-haul economy flights, as long as you earn at least one point the year before you
Book quick, quick, quick for peak times
Availability is much more limited than when
paying for flights, so ensure you're flexible when booking.
Tactically, the ideal time to start checking is a year before - this is when
start to be released. Though keep checking, as sometimes there are no seats available when
a flight's launched, but extra seats are
If you want to fly at peak times such as Christmas or school
book well in advance. Use
to find routes with availability.
Avios e-store is useful - but beatable
works like a cashback site: you
sign up, then click through it to buy something. The site gets paid for sending
traffic and gives some of this cash to you in the form of Avios points.
Sounds great,
yet the top cashback sites almost always beat it. For example, spend ?50 at House of Fraser and you'd get 200 Avios points, yet spend ?50 at House of Fraser via Topcashback
and you'd get ?2.10. Full info's in our
Though if you're buying something small and
haven't collected an Avios point in the last year, this is an easy way to ensure you earn the points you need to qualify for
points offers.
Earn Avios points for your opinion
Sign up for Avios
and you get paid
points for your opinions. To become an e-Rewards member, you have to be invited.
This isn't guaranteed, but follow
to get your name on the waiting list and you usually get an invite.
If you do, wait for survey alerts to land in your
inbox and zip through the questions. The number of points you can earn depends
on how many surveys you qualify for - once you
earn 1,200, they convert to 250 Avios points.
Some MoneySavers who take part say they've
earned 500 points a year, so you're not going to build up points quickly this way but it will boost your stash. For more ways to earn with online survey sites and focus groups, see the
Earn via American Express Currency Exchange
For every ?1 you exchange at an American Express airport currency exchange, you'll
get one point, but always check you're getting the
best deal first - it's not worth doing just for Avios. Our
tool compares over 40 online bureaux
to find who gives the most for each country.
When paying abroad, stealth
charges abound, whether you go to a bureau de change or pay by plastic (unless you've got a top specialist overseas card). For how to maximise your holiday cash, see .
Trade in cashback site earnings for Avios
If you've money squirrelled away with cashback site ,
there's another trick to boost your Avios points stash. You can trade
in every ?10 of cashback for 1,050 Avios points.
You could also use cashback for Tesco points and convert them into Avios to get even more points - 2,400 per 1,000 Clubcard points (600 Avios per ?2.50 of Tesco points). There are step-by-step instructions in the
you're new to cashback sites, they work by giving you a cut of
earned for directing you to retailers and providers. See full
help and warnings in
You can combine Avios & BA Exec accounts
You can combine Avios points from different
Avios schemes (eg, BA and Iberia) and different family members' accounts online -
handy if you're saving for a dream trip.
To do this, log into the Avios scheme you want
to put the points in, go to your account and click 'combine your Avios' or 'create a household account'.
If you have a free companion flight, it usually makes sense to combine accounts, so you can fly further. The companion must be named on the household account, as well as the cardholder.
Earn points at Shell...
Flash your Shell Drivers' Club card
when buying petrol at Shell and you bag 10 Avios points per 20 litres of standard fuel and 20 Avios for Shell's V-Power Nitro+ fuel.
To sign up, pick up a card at
your , then
it online and swipe it each time you spend. You earn 50 bonus points when you opt into Avios within 28 days of signing up. Every 20 Shell Drivers'
points equals 10 Avios points.
It's also worth signing up for Shell's , which occasionally has
promos such as "buy 30 litres, get 50 extra points".
...though Tesco fuel beats it
Earning points via Shell is slow going. You'll need to fill up 30,000 litres of fuel (about ?45,000) to earn
enough points to get a flight to Rome (plus fees).
But buy ?45,000
of fuel at Tesco, and you'd get ?225 Clubcard vouchers, which convert to 54,000 Avios -
enough for four Europe Zone 1 returns, plus a ?35 Reward Flight Saver fee per flight.
Check availability on Avios and BA Exec
Bizarrely, flight availability sometimes varies
between the main Avios site and the British Airways Executive Club website. If you're
struggling to find the flight you want, check availability on both sites and move
your points into the scheme with flights available.
Buy extra points if you're short
The Avios scheme lets you buy extra points, so if you're
short, you can top them up.
The points aren't cheap, at ?31 per 1,000. So only do this if you need to travel soon and don't have time to earn them.
To buy them, visit
the . The cost varies according to how many you purchase. Here are some examples:
extra Avios points
1,000 points
2,000 points
3,000 points
4,000 points
Max number of points
you can buy per year
Also keep an eye out for
promotions when buying points, because sometimes you can get
up to 30% extra
Earn via BA, Flybe & Iberia flights
Avios members can still earn points in the same way
when flying on BA and its partner airlines Flybe and Iberia, as well as a . So remember to collect if you were
flying on those airlines anyway.
Use companion tickets wisely
give you a companion ticket
when you spend over a certain amount, so you get to take someone else with you
under exactly the same conditions for no extra points.
So if you're going business to Sydney paid for with Avios, they can come for free (though
you need to
pay taxes for both of you).
If your card does that, it's worth waiting until you have the companion
voucher before spending your points, as you get much better value from them.
What NOT to spend Avios points on
Think twice before spending Avios points on hotels or car hire. In our research, we found these gave poor value for points - you're usually
better off redeeming on other rewards, like flights or upgrades.
You can change bookings for ?35
It's worth noting changes or cancellations can be made for ?35 up to 24
hours before a flight. So if you change your mind about a flight, you needn't lose
your points.
with zones
divides the world into nine geographical zones with each costing a specific number of points (see its ).
these zones, some destinations are better value than others.
1 covers Paris, but stretches as far as Prague ? both cost 9,000 Avios points (plus
?35). Zone 5 includes popular charter-flight destination Orlando, but also more exotic, pricier destinations such as Cape Town and Beijing ? all cost 50,000 Avios points (plus taxes).
This is a ticket that allows you to take a friend / partner with you for free. Usually it means they get exactly what you get. So if you've enough points for a business class return to Miami and have a companion ticket - they get the same flight. They're usually only awarded once a year though. Plus if you need pay taxes and charges then of course that'll be double with two going.
Where credit cards or loans use a representative APR, this means that 51% of successful applicants will be given the stated interest rate.
Credit Cards
With credit cards, the rate for purchases (as opposed to balance transfers or cash withdrawals) is used as the main rate to advertise the card.
So if that is described as 19.9% representative APR, then 51% of people accepted will get 19.9% APR, but 49% will get a different rate (likely to be higher).
Personal Loans
Loans are slightly simpler as they only have one rate. So if a loan is advertised as being 7.5% representative APR, this means 51% of accepted applicants will get 7.5%, and 49% will get a different rate (likely to be higher).
Of course, some people will be rejected outright for the
card or loan too.
Get this free weekly email full of deals, guides & it's spam free
More tools from MoneySavingExpert}