💳 Spend smarter

ℹ️ This is my personal experience, not financial advice. Check the terms and APR before applying for any card.

💳 The card

The card does most of the work. I use the British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Card, and I already wrote about it in Get your first credit card. Short version:

• ✈️ 1.25 Avios per £1 you spend.
• 💷 It costs £300 a year.
• 🎁 Spend £15,000 in 12 months (£1,250 a month) and you get a Companion Voucher.

The voucher works on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus flights paid with Avios. Pick one:

• 💸 50% off the Avios

  A flight costs 60,000 Avios? You pay 30,000. This is the one I use, because I usually travel alone.

• 👫 Two seats for one

  Pay the Avios of one flight and a second person flies with you. Great if you have a partner.

You still pay the taxes and fees in cash. Those are never free, sadly 😢.

Don’t know how to spend £1,250 a month? Pay your rent with Payr using the card. They charge 1.99%, so I only find it worth it while you’re chasing the voucher.

🛍️ Online shopping

Before you buy anything online, check the Avios eStore. It has more than 2,000 shops. Click the shop from there, buy as normal, pay with the Amex. You get points from the shop and from the card on the same purchase 🙌.

Also check TopCashback or Quidco. Sometimes cash beats points.

🏖️ Holidays

British Airways also sells packages: flight + hotel, or flight + car, in BA Holidays.

From 24 November 2026 you get 6 Avios per £1 on the whole package. They’re split between everyone travelling, so if you go with someone you get half each. (You can pool them again with a Household Account.)

For me the real wins aren’t the points though:

• 💷 Low deposit. Reserve with £60 per person and pay the rest 7 weeks before the trip.
• 🛡️ ATOL protected.
• 🧳 Checked bags included. The cheapest flight-only tickets don’t have them.

🚗 Car rental

Avis gives you 5 Avios per £1, plus 1,000 extra the first time you rent after joining Avis Preferred (free). You also get a free additional driver. That normally costs money, and it’s the thing I always forget to add.

📋 Surveys

eRewards pays Avios for answering surveys. 600 Avios for the first one. After that they pay very little for the time, so I treat it as something to do on the Tube 🚇, not as a real strategy.