Big changes to Airmiles flight deals

Airmiles is now Avios, and it's not just the name that's changed.

The relaunch of Airmiles under the new name of Avios, which went live this week, has not been a popular one with customers and has already run into problems.

On the day of launch, the website crashed due to the high number of visitors. It’s no wonder there was so much interest – the reward scheme has changed significantly.

I was a big fan of Airmiles. It paid for my honeymoon after all, meaning my wife and I didn’t have to shell out a penny for a fortnight in the sun (my dad spends a lot of time, and money, at Tesco!). That wouldn’t be the case now though, as with Avios you’ll have to pay separately for things like airline taxes, fees and surcharges.

As a result, previously free flights within Europe will now set you back £27, while longer flights could cost you hundreds. For a full rundown of the changes, check out The end of free Airmiles flights.

Collecting miles

Another change that will irritate many is that you will now need more miles to reach certain destinations than previously. As a result, it’s all the more important to collect as many Avios as possible.

Of course, an easy way to collect miles, whether for the Avios scheme or the various Airmile-style schemes the major airlines run is to take up a participating credit card.

I do this somewhat indirectly, with the Tesco Clubcard credit card. This piece of plastic not only offers a market-leading 15 months' free from interest, but you also earn Clubcard points whenever you use it. Those points can then be converted into Avios.

However, if you really want to rack up the miles, going with a more direct rewards card will give you a better return. Let’s take a look at some of the best travel credit cards.

Lloyds TSB Duo Avios

Lloyds offers the official card of the Avios scheme. I say card, but really that should be cards, as you get two different credit cards to use, a MasterCard and an American Express card.

With the American Express card, you get one Avios for every £1 you spend, an excellent return. The trouble is, American Express isn’t accepted everywhere, so you have the MasterCard as a back-up. With the MasterCard, you’ll earn one Avios for every £5 you spend, quite a substantial difference.

And should you apply for the cards before 1st March next year, you’ll get a bonus of 2,000 Avios when you spend £500 per month in the first three months.

Lloyds TSB Premier Duo

The Premier version from Lloyds offers an even better return on your spending.

Again you get two cards, but this time you earn 1.25 Avios for every £1 spent on the American Express, and every £5 spent on the MasterCard. What’s more, should you spend £15,000 on the cards in a single year, you’ll get a free companion ticket when you cash in your Avios on a flight.

The bonus for applying before March is also far greater with the Premier cards, as you’ll get 10,000 Avios should you spend £500 in each of the first three months. That’s enough Avios for a flight to any zone one area, so places like Paris or Milan are within reach.

However, you will have to pay an annual fee of £50, though half of that is refunded in year one.

British Airways American Express

British Airways offers its own credit cards which allow you to collect Avios.

The basic card is the British Airways American Express credit card, where you collect one Avios for virtually every £1 you spend, the same return as with the Lloyds version. However, the bonus is a little better – if you spend £1,000 in your first three months, you’ll get a bonus of a whopping 9,000 Avios.

You’ll need to spend £20,000 on this card to get a free companion ticket, but you do get travel accident insurance of up to £75,000 included.

The fancier version is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card. You’ll get 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend, with 3 Avios for every £1 spent on flights or holidays with British Airways. You’ll only need to spend £10,000 on the card to qualify for a companion ticket, and you get far more travel accident insurance, in this case worth up to £250,000.

The initial bonus is also very generous – 18,000 Avios should you spend £3,000 in the first three months with the card.

However, there is a fee to pay, in this case £150 a year.

The best of the rest

If you have an airline that you absolutely insist on flying with, then it’s worth checking to see if they have their own reward scheme in place. Virgin Atlantic has two credit cards offering miles you can cash in on its flights.

In both instances you get both a Visa and an American Express, with the American Express card offering a far greater return.

Similarly, bmi has a couple of cards on offer, a basic card and a bmi plus card. With the plus card, you’ll have to shell out £85 a year.

Personally, I much prefer the Avios offering, but if you’re one of those people that are avowedly anti-BA, you might want to go for an alternative!

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