Step by step guide for growing your points balance in the UK even when you don’t fly.
Even if you’re not flying as much, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking of your points balance. Collect miles without flying by applying the methods below.
Did you know that your visits to the petrol station or supermarket can fly you to your dream destination?
There are many things you can do even during periods of restricted movement to grow your pot so that you can enjoy better travel experiences.
In this blog post I will describe the kind of points you can earn without flying and how to maximize the benefits you get from them.
In order to be concise this post focuses on the United Kingdom. If you live in the US please subscribe to receive a notification when that post goes live.
What are points and how can they help me?
In a simplistic manner, points are a service provider’s way of rewarding customers for their fidelity. They are meant to transform a first or second time purchase into a loyal customer and ultimately a fan of a brand.
In the airline industry these are also known as miles. They form the backbone of frequent flyer programmes which include other benefits as well.
Points can be used to pay for flights, upgrade to a premium cabin, book a hotel or even rental car.
What is a Frequent Flyer Programme?
A Frequent Flyer Programme is a set of rules defining the ways in which an airline customer can collect and redeem loyalty points.
Once you enroll in an airlines’ loyalty scheme you start collecting award miles every time you fly with that airline or one of their partners and when you make qualifying purchases.
Not everyone on board an airplane will gain the same number of points. Airlines reward passengers based on the cabin they are traveling in and more recently on the price paid for the ticket.
Using simple methods that can be incorporated in daily activities you can earn a significant number of award miles without becoming George Clooney in “Up in the air”.
Do not confuse award miles with status miles. You only earn status miles when you fly and they bring you a different set of benefits. We will talk about status miles in another post.
How can I collect award miles when I don’t fly?
I will highlight practical methods you can automate in your life in order to maximize the benefits with minimum effort.
I recommend two airlines with good opportunities of collecting points without flying: British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
These airlines offer great connections all over the World both directly and through their partner airlines.
British Airways Avios
Award points for British Airways customers are called Avios. The first step you need to take to collect them is to become a member of the British Airways Executive Club. You can do that on the British Airways website for free.
Nectar Card partnership
One of the easiest ways to collect British Airways Avios is by linking your Executive Club and Nectar accounts.
This is free and can be done on the BA website here. Once you’ve done that you can convert 400 Nectar points into 250 Avios (and vice versa).
You have the option to set your account to automatically convert Nectar points into Avios every time you reach 400 Nectar points. Otherwise you can manually convert anytime you want.
I have mine setup to automatically convert because my objective is to earn as many Avios as I can.
It doesn’t matter where you get your Nectar points so check the Nectar app if you want to see the latest ways of earning them. The most common ones are Sainsburys, ebay, Argos, Esso.
British Airways Co-branded credit cards
One of the best ways to earn Avios without flying is by using British Airways co-branded credit cards. I must mention that these have to be used responsibly and they carry heavy penalties if you don’t pay your bills on time.
Make sure you only use them for planned expenses. The whole point of ethical travel is to enable fulfilling journeys. Avoid getting into debt and please don’t take part in senseless consumerism.
Only use credit cards for planned expenses and cover them in full every time!
Which credit card is better depends on your personal objectives and budget. I will highlight below the 3 ways in which they can earn you Avios without flying.
- Sign-up bonuses
Depending on which card you choose you could get some Avios by simply being approved or after you spend a certain amount in the first months.
At the moment the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card will earn you an amazing 40,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 in your first three months of membership. However this card has a £250 annual fee. This offer is only available until February 28th, after which they will probably go back to offering 25,000 Avios after spending £3,000.
- Referrals
You can also earn bonuses by referring friends and if they’re approved you both get rewarded. If one of your referrals is approved for the classic BA Amex you will earn 4,000 Avios (your friend gets 6,000 Avios if they spend £1,000 in their first three months of membership).
You get 9,000 Avios if they’re approved for the Premium Plus (your friend gets 26,000 Avios if they spend £3,000 in their first three months of membership).
For a limited time (until February 28th 2022) these bonuses are increased. For the regular BA American Express card (without an annual fee) you earn 6,000 Avios instead of 4,000 and your friend earns 12,000 Avios instead of 6,000 if they spend £1,000 in their first three months of membership.
You can apply for the classic British Airways Amex (no annual fee) using my link by clicking here. This way you can get the 12,000 Avios bonus before February 28th and help the site stay active at the same time.
- Companion vouchers
This is a good one to target. A companion voucher gives you the ability to book a free matching seat for one you pay.
For example if you book a business or first class seat on a long haul flight using cash or Avios, British Airways will give you another seat for free in the same cabin in exchange for this voucher.
You get one companion voucher when you spend £10,000 on a Premium Plus card within a membership year or £12,000 on the classic card within the same timeframe.
Only vouchers obtained with the Premium Plus card can be used in premium cabins. The vouchers you earn with the classic card can only be used for Economy Class flights (Euro Traveller and World Traveller as they’re called by BA – short haul and long haul respectively).
Redeeming these vouchers can be challenging but I’ll teach you how to make it easier in another post. It is totally worth it!
- Qualifying purchases
This is another level! It’s one of the things “travel hackers” love, if you’ve heard the term.
You earn Avios for every purchase you make with their partners. The amount you get varies depending on where and when you spend.
Use your card for any large purchase you make and ask your friends or family if they plan to buy anything from a fridge to an expensive holiday. With the Premium Plus card you get 3 Avios for every £1 spent on British Airways flights and holidays.
Have them top up your card immediately of course.
In order to further maximize the return power of these cards while shopping, read the next point.
Online Shopping
Online shopping portals offer the best value nowadays, with offers available for anything you can imagine.
I recommend using the British Airways Executive Club – Rewards app as a point of reference when you plan to buy anything.
The screenshot here is taken on January 5th 2022 and on this day with ASOS UK you get 5 Avios for £1 and with Booking.com UK you get 8 Avios for every £1 spent online.
Do you plan to spend money on expensive gear anytime soon? You might as well get maximum worth. Maybe you have a family member who plans to replace all the kitchen appliances.
There’s anything from Banking & Insurance to Fashion and DIY. You can get as much as 30 Avios for every £1 spent with some of the services and products on this app.
Are you beginning to understand how some people always fly in premium cabins?
Buying more Avios
To finish with the British Airways options, I want to mention that buying more Avios can be a good option in certain situations. I will describe various scenarios where this option could make sense in another post.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Virgin Atlantic is the second largest competitor between the UK and the US and they are well known for their charismatic product presentations and great overall quality.
Many of the methods of earning Virgin Points are similar to the ones I described for Avios.
Firstly, you must be a member of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to benefit from the methods I describe below. You can join on their website for free.
I will highlight the main differences between the two airlines so I can help you decide what’s best for your specific situation.
Tesco Clubcard
Having a Tesco Clubcard and making purchases in Tesco stores and petrol stations earns you Virgin Points.
Let’s get an idea between the ways Virgin Atlantic and British Airways compensate for a similar activity as of January 2022.
- Every £1 spent in Tesco stores or on Tesco.com brings you 2.5 Virgin points.
- If you spend £500 per month in store and you get 500 Clubcard points, these will convert into 1,250 Virgin Points (as of today if you shop at Sainsburys with a Nectar Card you get 250 Avios for every 400 Nectar points).
To setup the automatic conversion of Clubcard vouchers into Virgin Points you must go to your Tesco Clubcard account, select Virgin Points from the Voucher Schemes section.
Virgin Atlantic Credit Cards
The best options for everyday purchases in the UK are Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card and Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card.
The first one has no annual fee but earns you only 0.75 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on card purchases. If you spend £20,000 in a year you unlock exclusive benefits, like companion flights or upgrades.
The Reward+ card is much more attractive with 15,000 Virgin bonus points with your first card purchase within 90 days of opening your account. You also earn 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on card purchases. You also earn 3 points for every 1£ you spend with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays.
Companion flights or upgrades get unlocked after spending only £10,000 in a year but bear in mind that this card carries an annual fee of £160.
Two great things I like about these cards:
- As they are Mastercard they can be used with retailers that don’t accept American Express.
- If you have American Express Membership points you can easily convert them into points at a parity of 1:1.
Online shopping
If you are a member of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and want to maximize Points earnings while shopping, then my recommendation is to always start your deals hunt on Shops Away.
The process is very similar to the one described above for Avios. I find the platform easy to use and some retailers provide really great value.
Virgin Red
This is the new rewards club from Virgin and it covers the entire group and you don’t even need to be a Virgin customer. They have some great offers from some of their partners including 7,400 points when you switch to Octopus Energy or 15,000 points if you switch to Virgin Money’s M Plus account.
Virgin Wines
As a Flying Club member you can now get 1,000 bonus points on a selection of cases, the cheapest being £102.
Virgin Trains
With the Virgin Red app you can access Virgin Trains Ticketing that gives members access to train travel anywhere within England, Scotland and Wales. Moreover you can earn 3 Virgin Points for every 1£.
Conclusion
As you can see with both airlines analyzed in this post there are many ways you can continue to earn miles even when you don’t fly.
Have you tried any of these methods before? If not, are you planning to try at least one soon?
What to read next
- What is Ethical Travel and How To be an Ethical Tourist
- 10 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint When You Travel
- 9 Ways to Reduce Waste When You Fly
- Best Resources to Help You Prepare For Global Travel During Covid-19
Please share with us if you know any methods that others could use to earn more miles on the ground. Feel free to comment below.
Do please share this post if you found it useful and remember to always seek personal growth by exploring the World responsibly.
