So, if you were to have followed the advice in the previous post, you would have found yourself in possession of 57,000 American Express Membership Rewards points, which are worth 57,000 Avios, and not have spent any additional money.

If you want to go further, and experience more luxurious travel, the best next step is to take look in the British Airways Premium Plus American Express. The card costs £195 a year so this means that you will have to make a commitment to spending some cold hard cash – I think it is worth it, so let me explain how you can make it worthwhile.

Step 1:  Get referred for British Airways Premium Plus 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 £3,000 in the first three months and get 25,000 bonus Avios. The Card costs £195 a year, and you get 1.5 Avios per pound on everything and 3 Avios per pound on spend at BA.

Step 3:  If you spend £10,000 in a year, you get the 2for1 voucher meaning you need pay the Avios for one person but both can fly (you will pay the taxes for 2).

So, by following these three steps, you could have 40,000 Avios and the crucial 2for1 voucher in as long as it takes you to spend £10k from:

25,000 Avios from sign up bonuses

15,000 Avios from the £10,000 spend on Card 2

Add these to the MR points from the AmEx Gold card, and you would be sitting on 97,000 Avios and a 2for1 voucher. This is enough for 13 off peak return flights to Nice which I value roughly at £150 each -£1755 of flights after the cost of the card has been deducted which is incredible value.

80,000 and the voucher will get 2 people to New York in First Class one way, but to fly a round-trip in Business to Los Angeles or San Francisco, we need 125k Avios off peak, or 150k Avios on peak. Part three will show how you can get a few more Avios.

Extra Step 2.5:   For an additional 32,500 Avios, for an outlay of about £40, you could get your partner to take out their own card. Once you have got the initial 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. The £195 fee for the first card is refunded pro-rata, so you should get back about £175.

I don’t do this, as it involves diverting spend away from other cards that I would want to reach a spend threshold on. I also like to keep the card as it is better for credit ratings if the average age of the credit account is more than 36 months.

Part 1: Dipping your toes in with credit cards

Part 3: Shopping to fly

Part 4: Flying to fly

Part 5: Flying on miles

Part 6: Flying solo