The secrets of the Avios super-collectors

You might think you’ve got Avios nailed – shopping smartly, booking flights and watching your balance climb. But even seasoned travellers might be surprised by just how much more there is to know.

We’ve tracked down five Avios super-collectors – those savvy spenders who’ve turned everyday purchases into an art form – and asked them to reveal their best-kept secrets. From clever hacks to unexpected strategies, here’s how to level up your own loyalty game.

Talia Harvey

Blue member

What is your favourite way to collect Avios?
My favourite way is every way. I just love the way that everyday spend can get you a holiday. There’s not a single purchase I make without checking on Avios.com to see if I can collect Avios on what I am just about to buy – from school uniforms at M&S, to my summer wardrobe at H&M, and flowers sent to clients via Appleyard, plus takeaways on Just Eat. I also use Avios.com to shop for car and house insurance – my car insurance collected me 3,000 Avios this year! There’s also the ability to link your debit and credit cards on Avios.com and collect Avios in store at various places. My favourite is at Bicester Village.

How else do you collect?
Other than shopping purchases, there’s the additional earn from booking our holidays through British Airways Holidays. I’ve also linked my Uber account to my British Airways Club account, so I’m collecting Avios on all my everyday Uber rides as well as my airport runs with Uber Reserve (with Uber you can pre-book your ride up to 90 days before, so it’s now my airport transport of choice). Finally, there’s The Wine Flyer, where I can collect Avios when purchasing my favourite tipples – it always has great offers for collecting bonus Avios.

What are your biggest collection hacks?
Collecting Avios on my weekly shop. When British Airways began its Avios partnership with Nectar, I switched my supermarket shop to Sainsbury’s. The earn rate is 1 Nectar point per £1 for regular shopping – though the real earn lies in the bonus Nectar points. You can pick up bonus points for your regular purchases – which can be anything from 20 to 120 Nectar points for one item! Four-hundred Nectar points equals 250 Avios and I have them set to auto convert to my Avios account on a weekly basis. I also collect Nectar points at Esso when I fill up the car or buy anything from Argos.

Any other top tips for collecting Avios?
A top tip when using Avios.com is to give the Avios app permission to track other apps on your phone. That way you don’t need to be in front of your computer to collect Avios on purchases. You simply go into the Avios app, select the retailer you want to buy from and, when you’re redirected to their website or app, it tracks your purchase and you collect Avios.

What’s your favourite way to spend Avios?
On lovely holidays in lovely cabins – plus getting access to the British Airways lounges. Avios even funded my honeymoon. We flew Club World to Cancun and First back from Mexico City. My husband and I also flew First out to visit my sister in Dubai. It was incredible to experience the Concorde Room at London Heathrow.

Jack Leigh

Silver member

How would you describe your relationship with Avios?
Every time I see someone on social media going on multiple trips every month of the year, I just know that they – like myself – are funding it by putting all their everyday spends on an Avios-collecting credit card and spending the Avios in the most strategic way. It gives ‘baller on a budget’ energy and I love it. I always say Avios is my worst, best-kept secret (as I tell everyone I know that if they’re not doing the same, they’re losing money!).

What is your favourite way to collect Avios?
The easiest way I collect Avios is a little trick I’ve done ever since moving to London: asking my landlords if I can pay rent via PayPal, which is connected to my British Airways American Express® Credit Card. All but one landlord has agreed thus far and, that way, one of my biggest expenses ends up collecting me major Avios rewards every month.

British Airways American Express Credit Card: Representative 29.7% APR variable.
Collect Avios on eligible purchases only. Terms apply. 18+ UK residents, subject to status.

What are your biggest collection hacks?
I’m a big fan of partner programmes, which mean I can convert big bursts of loyalty points from various schemes (Nectar, BPme Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy® all let you switch their points into Avios) for my travel points gains. Let’s put it this way: if there’s a smart way to move points around, I’m doing it.

And, finally, what’s your favourite way to spend Avios?
Flights! A flight to Paris can be as little as £1 return. It allows me to tap into my spontaneous – albeit slightly chaotic – main character vibes. For instance, back in May, I met a boy at Mighty Hoopla festival, hit it off, and booked us both tickets to Barcelona that same day using my Avios and a meagre amount of cash on the carrier fees and taxes. It may sound slightly unhinged, but it’s great for the plot!

Mary and Kevin Smith

Blue members

How often do you think about Avios?
All the time! It’s definitely a family affair and a bit of an obsession. Collecting them is like a competition between us. Who’s spotted an amazing offer on Avios.com? Who’s closest to triggering the next Companion Voucher? It’s become a huge part of our daily spending, as we see it as a simple way to turn the cost of family life into future adventures. Even at the petrol station, one of us will say, “Wait – can we collect Avios on this?”

What is your favourite way to collect Avios?
It’s always when we’re getting Avios on things we’d have to pay for anyway. We don’t chase Avios for the sake of it and still manage to attain holidays we couldn’t otherwise afford in such luxury. Shopping online via Avios.com is probably our smartest, since we always like to run big family purchases through retailers offering bonus Avios – it’s become second nature at this point to check here before buying anything online. Last Christmas, we bought gadgets in the Black Friday sales and collected more than 5,000 Avios in the process.

What are your biggest collection hacks?
We regularly use Avios Balance Booster after large purchases, especially in big spending months such as around Christmas or when we have birthdays close together. Our last boost was for the full 300 per cent. We also collect by spending on our British Airways American Express® Credit Card – and we’re very strategic about it. For example, we paid for a new kitchen last year, and made sure all payments were put on the card and, where possible, bought via Avios.com. This project racked up well over 10,000 Avios alone.

And finally, what’s your favourite way to spend Avios?
Our recent family trip to LA, Washington, DC and New York takes the crown. We used two Companion Vouchers to get four seats in Club World – all on Avios and just paying the carrier fees and taxes. Travelling as a family of four in lie-flat seats, the kids happily watching movies through their noise-cancelling headphones, felt like the parenting equivalent of winning the lottery. A close second was our trip to Thailand and Singapore. For this, we used just one Companion Voucher as our eldest was under two and flew another Club class return. That trip felt like the ultimate hack: long-haul luxury, a baby sleeping in the bassinet and barely any cash spent.

Gabi Nowak-Jelonek

Blue member

What was your introduction to Avios?
I started collecting Avios around December 2023. It was my parents, actually, who were already avid collectors and encouraged me to sign up for the British Airways American Express® Credit Card. My mum sent me the referral link, which meant she got bonus Avios for signing me up, and I got bonus Avios as a new Cardmember able to hit the spend threshold within the first three months. That’s how it all began.

What is your favourite way to collect Avios?
It has to be the Amex. I think about this way: I’m spending money pretty much every single day anyway – in the shops, online, wherever – and so I might as well be rewarded for it. Travel rewards are a huge incentive for me because I do it (and love it) so much. In 2024, I took 36 flights, so if there’s a way to make my travels better and more affordable simply by spending as I would regardless, that’s a no-brainer. My second favourite would be using Avios.com to shop – I’ll always check there before buying something online.

What’s your favourite way to spend Avios?
I always prefer to spend them on long-haul, business-class flights. It’s a level of comfort that I’d be reluctant to pay for using cash, but am very happy to let Avios help me achieve. Last August, I used around 80,000 Avios and just £360 in fees and taxes to book a Club World flight from Manchester to Bali via Doha. There’s nothing like sliding that privacy door shut on 18 hours of pure luxury.

Follow Gabi’s Avios adventures at @itsgabinj and @femalesflyingsolo

For more Avios tips and tricks, visit our Avios page