How to get free flights and cabin upgrades
Smart spending can earn you free travel or the chance to go up a cabin class.
If the idea of free flights sounds appealing, then why not take advantage of the various loyalty schemes out there?
And, rather than dressing up in your best gear and hoping for the best at check-in, earning points through these schemes also lets you upgrade your cabin for free. This could save you hundreds on a long haul flight, not to mention provide a much more comfortable experience.
Having said that, free is something of a loose term when it comes to paying for flights, as in most cases you'll have to pay taxes and charges.
Whichever option you go for, here are the best ways to pay less to fly.
Supermarket loyalty schemes and credit cards
Both Tesco’s Clubcard and Nectar offer airline rewards as part of their schemes.
Clubcard
If you’re a Tesco Clubcard points collector, you can redeem them for Monarch and Virgin Atlantic flights, as well as those offered by the Avios (formerly Airmiles) scheme.
Right now, £10 in Clubcard vouchers is worth £20 of Clubcard tokens to spend on Monarch flights, while £2.50 in vouchers gets you 625 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles or 600 Avios.
Team these up with the Tesco Clubcard credit card and you can earn an extra five points for every £4 you spend in store or online at Tesco.
Nectar
If you're a Nectar collector, you can turn 500 points into £2.50 off easyJet flights. Note that there is an £11 booking fee for Nectar customers plus a charge for booking by credit card. By using the Sainsbury's Bank Nectar credit card, you can double the points on your Sainsbury's shopping. Or for an annual fee of £25, you can earn 20,000 Nectar points, worth £100, via the American Express Nectar card.
Airline loyalty schemes and credit cards
If you're a frequent flyer with one particular airline, make sure you join its frequent flyer scheme. If you take out that airline's credit card you can also earn points faster too. Some are currently offering very impressive introductory bonuses right now.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic has extended the improved introductory bonus on its credit cards. However, you need to apply by 30th June and spend set amounts within the first three months to get the whole bonus on offer.
The White cards are fee free, while the Black charges an annual fee of £140, so is only really suitable if you’re a heavy spender, for example using it for your business expenses, or you want to use it as a way of getting a cheap cabin upgrade on a flight.
With either option, you will get two cards to use: an American Express and a Visa.
With the White cards, you earn one Flying Club Mile for every £1 you spend on the American Express, and one mile for every £2 you spend on the White Visa.
The White cards will give you 3,000 Flying Club Miles when you spend anything on either card. Spend £1,000 within the first 90 days of having the card and you’ll also receive 7,000 bonus miles.
Those 10,000 miles will earn you a ‘free’ return flight within the UK (they cost 7,500 miles), to/from London Heathrow, Manchester, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. You will have to pay a charge of £34 per return flight though, or £17 one-way.
Alternatively, you’re just under a third away from a ‘free’ flight to New York, Boston, Chicago or Washington. Again, you’ll have to pay taxes and charges.
Or you could use the miles to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy, or Premium Economy to Upper Class one way on a transatlantic flight.
Spend on the Black American Express and you’ll earn two miles for every £1 you spend, while the Black Visa will earn you one mile for every £1 spent.
With the Black cards, you’ll earn 18,500 miles the first time you make a purchase. Spend £3,000 within the first 90 days and you’ll get an additional bonus of 11,500 miles.
Those 30,000 miles would get you most of the way to a ‘free’ flight to New York, Boston, Chicago or Washington, remembering you'll still need to pay taxes and charges.
Or it would pay for an upgrade, and you'd have miles left over, from Economy to Premium Economy or Premium to Upper on both legs of a transatlantic, Caribbean, African or Asian flight, or a one-way upgrade from Economy to Upper Class. Or you could spend them on a one-way cabin upgrade (Economy to Premium Economy or Premium Economy to Upper) on a flight to Sydney (although you'll need to be quick as this service is being withdrawn on 5th May).
British Airways
If you prefer British Airways for short haul, the British Airways American Express card is offering an introductory bonus of 9,000 Avios (enough for a free European flight, albeit with a £35 fee) if you spend £1,000 or more in the first three months, although this is higher than the Virgin Atlantic cards. Similarly, to earn a cabin upgrade you'll need to be a really heavy spender. You earn roughly one Avios for every £1 you spend on the card.
If you've got a big spend planned and you fancy going a bit further afield, you might want to take a look at the British Airways American Express Premium Plus. This card has an annual fee of £150 but if you spend £3,000 within the first three months you'll earn an introductory bonus of 25,000 Avios. That would be enough for a return flight to Eastern Europe or parts of the Middle East and Africa (plus a £35 charge).
Emirates
Emirates also offers two card packages: the Emirates Skyward and the Emirates Skyward Elite. Each deal comes with two cards: an American Express and a Visa. The Skyward cards are fee free and offer a 5,000-point bonus when you spend on them. The Skyward Elite cards have an annual fee of £150 and offer a 10,000-point bonus when you first spend on them.
However, you'll need to spend heavily on them and be a relatively frequent flyer to earn a free flight or cabin upgrade on a longer journey. A return from London to New York costs from 45,000 Skywards Miles with a one-way cabin upgrade on the same route costing from 62,500 miles.
Etihad
Etihad offers the Etihad Guest credit cards, again with the combination of an American Express and a Visa. Right now, you'll earn 5,000 Guest Miles when you spend £250 within the first 90 days of account opening. You earn 1.5 miles for every £1 you spend on the American Express card and for every £2 you spend on the Visa.
Again, the free flight and cabin upgrade points levels are much higher than the Virgin Atlantic ones. A return flight from London to Cairo, for example, costs 88,762 miles, and around 37,000 miles for an upgrade from Economy to Business.
Flybe
Much more short haul, but take out the Flybe credit card and spend on it and you'll be entitled to a free Bonus Return flight within the UK or to France. You will have to pay taxes and charges on top.
Compare airline and air miles credit cards
Other credit cards
There are a few other cards that offer loyalty points and good introductory bonuses that you can redeem for flights.
American Express Preferred Rewards
The American Express Preferred Rewards charge card also offers a decent introductory bonus that can be used for flights. Spend £2,000 within the first three months and you’ll earn 20,000 points, enough for two return flights to over 30 European destinations (adding on the fees and charges again).
Note that this is a charge card, not a credit card, so you HAVE to pay your balance off in full each month. And while it's fee free for the first year, it costs £125 a year after that. You also get two free airport lounge visits included.
Lloyds Bank Avios
The fee-free Lloyds Bank Avios Rewards also gives you an American Express and a MasterCard. Spend £7,000 in a year and you'll receive a free cabin upgrade. Meanwhile, the Lloyds Bank Premier Avios Rewards, again with an Amex and MasterCard, offers a free cabin upgrade voucher if you spend £5,000 in a year. Spend £12,000 or more and you'll get a free flight voucher for a companion too. However, this package comes with a £140 annual fee.
What to remember
Make sure you pay off your balance in full each month, or interest charges will wipe out the value of your miles. And don't overspend just to earn an introductory bonus or more miles, as this could also cost you more in the long run.
More on travel:
What does an EHIC really cover?
Where your pound will go further
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