Last chance to grab free British Airways flights!

Find out how to fly for free on British Airways....

It’s getting to that time of year when we all start to think about our summer holiday. But if you’re anything like me, the idea of having to fork out money to pay for it probably fills you with dread.

However, if you’re clever enough, there is one way to help pay for your holiday (or for your flights anyway) – and that’s by using airmiles.

The top six airmiles credit cards

If you regularly spend on a credit card and you religiously pay the balance off in full each month, it’s time you were rewarded for your spending.

Some reward credit cards allow you to earn airmiles as you spend – which you can then put towards the cost of a flight.

There are many such 'airmiles credit cards' out there. Here's how the top six stack up:

The trouble with most of these reward credit cards is that when you come to use your airmiles, you’ll discover taxes and fees aren’t actually included – and as a result, you’ll still have to contribute something towards your flight. So in fact, your flight won’t be completely free after all.

Luckily, one card - the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo credit card isn’t like that - all flights include airline taxes, fees and surcharges.

Plus, if you apply before 30 June (that's Wednesday next week!), you'll get 10 times more airmiles for each £1 you spend than you would usually get, for the first three months. You can redeem these miles on flights to a huge range of worldwide destinations, served by many airlines - including British Airways!

So today, I'm going to focus in a bit more depth on the pros and cons of this particular card. Is it worth getting?

Get jet-setting with Lloyds

If you apply for this card, you’ll actually be sent two cards – an American Express card and a Mastercard – both of which are part of the Airmiles scheme.

Although having two cards might sound a touch bizarre, there is a reason for this – and that’s because American Express isn’t accepted everywhere. This means that wherever American Express isn’t accepted, you’ve got the Mastercard to fall back on.

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But why can’t you simply spend on the Mastercard every time? Well, there’s nothing stopping you, but if you do, you won’t get as many airmiles for your money. That’s because you’ll receive one airmile for every £10 you spend on the American Express card, and one airmile for every £50 you spend on the Mastercard.

What’s more, as I said earlier, if you apply for the Duo card before 30 June, you can earn one airmile for every £1 you spend on the American Express card for the first three months. That’s certainly an offer worth snapping up!

The benefits are even greater if you’re planning to use your Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo credit card abroad as you will be able to collect double airmiles for doing so! I think this is a great bonus considering most credit cards generally penalise you if you use your card overseas.

If you're curious to know exactly how many miles you can get for your typical monthly spend, check out this nifty calculator.

Spending your airmiles

Once you’ve collected enough airmiles, you’ll be able to start putting them towards a flight. So if you’re wondering how many airmiles you’ll need to get to your favourite destination, the chart below should give you some idea:

It’s worth noting at this point, that although the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo credit card does not charge an annual fee, if you’re prepared to pay £50 a year, you could decide to opt for the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Premier Account credit card instead.

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Find out how to cut the cost of your flights, get discounts, tip correctly, spend wisely, get cashback and most importantly, cut the cost of your holiday.

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With this option, you’ll earn slightly more airmiles for your money. With the American Express card, you'll earn 1.25 miles for every £10 you spend and with the Mastercard, you'll earn 1.25 miles for every £50 you spend. But what's really great is that if you’re planning to travel with someone, providing you spend £15,000 in a year, you’ll be rewarded with a worldwide companion ticket!

Of course, because you will be paying for this card, make sure you carefully weigh up the benefits to see whether paying an annual fee of £50 is really worth it. I probably wouldn't bother unless you were planning to get that worldwide companion ticket!

Other benefits

Even if you’re not planning to fly off on holiday any time soon, you can still use your airmiles for a range of days out and activities. The chart below will give you some idea of what’s on offer:

So if recent events in the airline industry have put you off flying for good, at least you know there are other options available!

Collecting airmiles

Finally, if you're desperately trying to boost your airmiles, it’s worth noting that there are several other ways to collect them. For a start, if you’re a keen Tesco shopper, you’ll be pleased to hear that you can turn Tesco Clubcard points into airmiles. In fact, £2.50 in Clubcard vouchers will give you 60 airmiles.

You can also collect airmiles if you shop at certain stores online, such as Play.com, ebay, Waterstones and Debenhams – providing you do so via the Airmiles website.

To find out more about where you can collect airmiles, check out this page of the Airmiles website.

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