This post was originally published in 2016 so has had a quick refresh.

Over the Easter weekend I had a couple of conversations with people who were keen to find out more about travelling on Avios, but didn’t know where to start, so I thought I would dig out and update some advice I gave to a friend a while ago. This will eventually be a three part guide at the top of the page and a good place to start if you are new to the game.

 

This is what I would suggest someone do if they were starting out and didn’t want to put too much time and effort into it, or to pay for a credit card that they might not value:

Step 1:  Get referred for AmEx Gold and apply for the card. You get a bonus for being referred, and I get some miles too, which are always appreciated! If you would like a referral, please do get in touch.

Step 2:  Spend £2,000 on the Gold Card in first 3 months and get 22,000 bonus Membership Reward points. MR points can be converted 1:1 into Avios. The Gold card is fee-free for the first year; you also get 2 free airport lounge passes with it and earn 1 point per £ spent.

Step 3: Once you have got the bonus points, refer your partner for the card and once the bonus points come through for referral cancel yours. You can then repeat in reverse, leaving at least 6.5 months from your cancellation to reapplication and you will be eligible for the bonus again.

So, by following these three steps, you can your partner would have a total of 57,000 MR points in just 6 month from:

44,000 points from sign up bonuses

9,000 points from the referral bonus

4,000 points from the £4,000 spend

At this point you could redeem these for 3 return trips each to Nice in EuroTraveller on peak dates, a return for both to New York on off peak dates or a one way trip for one of you to Dubai in Business class. You would only have to pay the taxes on each.

In the next post, I will be looking at how you can take this a step further with credit cards, to maximise the British Airways American Express 2for1 voucher opportunities.

Part 2: Taking the next step with credit cards

Part 3: Shopping to fly

Part 4: Flying to fly

Part 5: Flying on miles

Part 6: Flying solo

Please note:

I would only be considering this if I have a good credit rating and paid off my card each month; if I was not in that category, then I would be looking at cards with long 0% interest fees. This post is not meant to be financial advice, just my opinion on collecting miles and points.