Compare Avios credit cards

Avios is a frequent flyer scheme, where you earn points towards the cost of a flight as you spend. You can earn points through flying, spending with Avios partner brands or converting points from other programmes (such as Tesco Clubcard points (at the time of writing, you get 600 Avios points for every £2.50 in Clubcard points you exchange). The amount you can collect from flights you buy depends on which airline you fly with, how far you fly, and which cabin you fly in – whether you’re going in economy, business or first class.

The number of points you need to use per flight depends on which zone you travel in. The zone depends on the distance between your departure airport and your destination, and there are nine zones. Generally, if you’re travelling in Europe, your flight will be within Zones 1 and 3 (up to 2,000 miles away).

You still need to pay taxes and charges on flights. But under Avios’ “Reward Flight Saver” scheme, you pay a fixed £35 fee on most short-haul economy flights in Zones 1-3, as long as you earn at least one point during the year before you book. You can choose to pay for your flight with Avios points, or a combination of points and money.

The cost of flights in Avios points is fixed – it doesn’t fluctuate as it does if you’re paying in cash. However, availability can be lower, so book early if you want to use your points. Booking generally opens 355 days before a flight.

There are different factors you should consider when choosing a card. These include:

• Is there a sign-up bonus?
• Where you can earn points?
• What is the earn-rate?
• Are any types of transaction exempt?
• Does the card have an annual fee?
• How easy is it to convert the points?
• How much will the card cost to run?
• Does the card have other benefits?

It’s worth noting that many of these cards have a foreign exchange fee of 3%, so you may wish to get a separate credit card for spending money abroad.

Although the British Airways American Express credit card bonus might seem like a reason to go for it over the American Express Rewards credit card, you could get better value for your money going for the Premium Plus card, which has a fee of £195 per annum. This is because the earn-rate of Avios points on the Premium Plus is 1.5 (rather than 1) for every £1, which would give you 10,000 extra Avios points on a spend of £20,000. You also get an extra year to use your two-for-one voucher.

Although an annual fee can put some people off, it’s always worth weighing this up against the extra benefits that these cards typically entitle you to. Ultimately, whether or not the fee is worth paying will come down to how many points you expect to earn over the year, and how much those points will then go on to save you – you could be surprised.

If you don’t want to pay a fee, there are another couple of notable free cards. The Amex Gold is the best for sign-up bonuses, with an offer of 10,000 membership rewards points, which is the equivalent of 10,000 Avios points. However the annual fee is only waived for the first year.

The free Tesco Clubcard Mastercard is a strong choice for earning Avios, earning you 0.3 Avios per £1 spent. You can also use the points for Virgin miles or different deals such as Uber credit. American Express is not accepted everywhere so this is worth considering as an alternative.

There are other frequent flyer cards, including the Virgin Atlantic Reward card , which offers double points on Virgin flights, as well as offers from Virgin Experience Days, Virgin Trains and Virgin Wines, which can help you earn miles. Other schemes include Emirate Skywards Miles, Iberia Plus, and Miles and More.

There are also cards aimed specifically at hotel stays, such as the IHG Rewards Club credit card, which includes offers for IHG properties like Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn.

You’ll need to spend or collect 1 Avios point on your credit card every 36-months period to avoid losing any points.