In parts one and two, I discussed how credit card sign up bonuses can help to bolster your Avios balance. In this post, I am going to look at the two other ways I get my Avios from Tesco and topcashback.

One Tesco clubcard point is awarded for each pound spent and they convert in multiples of 250 points into 600 Avios, or at a rate of 1:2.4.  Assume you spend £100 a week in Tesco, you could earn 5,200 Clubcard points a year. There are also opportunities for bonus points, most commonly with the Tesco Wine by the Case, so you go easily earn another 1,800 bonus points.

You need to order the wine online through Tesco.com, but by visiting topcashback first, you can get a bonus. The amount of cashback varies between retailers and products; some offering a percentage and others a fixed amount. Last time I ordered wine, I got a 1% rebate.

The trick to maximising this is then to withdraw your cashback to Tesco Clubcard points at the rate of 1 point per penny. You can withdraw up to £50 a year in this way, giving you another 5,000 clubcard points – there are more details about it here, plus a sign-up link if you are not already a member. This option has now ceased – you can only withdraw your toipcashback as Avios directly at 1:1.05 so your £50 will get 5050 Avios

Let’s assume that you take three months to churn both the AmEx Gold cards, and 12 months for the BAPP, which is the maximum time you can take for the bonuses. You will need to pro-rata the clubcard points too, giving you 18,000 points, or 43,200 Avios in the 18 months

Add these to the 57,000 Avios from part one and the 40,000 from part two, and you could be sitting on over 140,000 Avios and a 2for1 voucher which is more than enough for off-peak returns for 2 to LA in business or New York in First.

As with any redemption you will need to pay that taxes on both tickets which vary. Last time I redeemed in First to New York, it was about £500 per person.

The next parts will look at how flying can increase your Avios balance, the difference that status, cabin and routing can make, and other ways to redeem the miles.

Part 1: Dipping your toes in with credit cards

Part 2: Taking the next step with credit cards

Part 4: Flying to fly

Part 5: Flying on miles

Part 6: Flying solo