ADVERTORIAL • December 2023

The northern lights: made possible with Avios

Super-charge your Avios balance to pull off a magical trip to nature’s greatest show

The destination: Iceland

You’ll find the aurora borealis – where the planet’s northernmost skies turn a celestial, hallucinogenic green – atop many a traveller’s bucket list. One of the best short-haul destinations to catch the spectacle is on a city break to ice-cool Reykjavik. Watching the lights dance across the sky above Iceland’s otherworldly landscapes is awe-inspiring – just ask anyone who’s seen them. Base yourself at the design-led Reykjavik EDITION (Marriott Bonvoy Members can turn points accrued here into Avios, post-stay¹) and kick off your snow boots in its luxurious terrace king suite with a private balcony overlooking the marina…

Avios: how many do you need?

That’ll be 27,500 Avios plus £1 for a return, off-peak seat in Euro Traveller,² or 48,500 plus £1 for a Club Europe, off-peak return from London to Reykjavik.³ To make things even more affordable, why not use any extra Avios to spend on car hire with Avis, which has three rental locations in Iceland.⁴

Step one: turbo-fuel your Avios at your next petrol pit stop

We’ve all heard the 1998 hit ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ – but who knew that one drive home could put a whole load of Avios in your stocking? Thanks to a popular collaboration between bp and British Airways, all you lovely Executive Club Members can now collect Avios when refuelling any of the supplier’s 1,200 stations via the brand’s loyalty programme, BPme Rewards. Simply sign up for BPme Rewards (new members will receive 500 BPme Rewards points to kick-start their loyalty journeys) and purchase fuel or in-store station products before heading here to convert the points to Avios.⁵

Step two: go further with American Express

The British Airways American Express^® Credit Card is an Avios-accruing credit card with no annual fee, and Avios are collected with every purchase made: one Avios for every pound spent,⁶which means there’s a little holiday hiding in all those everyday things you buy. In addition, you can collect 4,000 Avios for every approved friend you refer to take out a BA Amex^® Credit Card (that’s up to a possible 90,000 Avios a year through referrals alone) and they’ll receive 7,000 Avios.⁷ If you are a new Cardmember, bank a 7,000 Avios welcome bonus⁶ when you apply for a Card through the British Airways Executive Club exclusive offer page via ba.com and spend £1,000 in your first three months of Cardmembership. Offers are only available to Executive Club Members who apply or refer a friend through BA channels by 9 January 2024. Applications made through other channels may receive a lower offer.

Representative 31.0% APR variable.

New Cardmembers only. No annual fee. Terms apply. 18+. UK residents only. Subject to status. British Airways is a credit broker, not a lender.

Step three: toast your trip to Iceland with The Wine Flyer

The Wine Flyer brings you wines from across the globe and delivers them to your door. It also allows you to collect Avios as an Executive Club Member – with at least five Avios per £1 spent up for grabs on wine, beers and spirits.⁸ The best tipple to toast your trip to the northern lights? Pure Icelandic Crafted Gin, made with water filtered through millennia-old volcanic rock, to create a distinctive character with citrus-led botanicals complementing the juniper – and it will also reward you with up to 160 Avios.

Step four: Christmas shop your way to the northern lights

This year’s Christmas shopping can pay towards next year’s trip to see the northern lights in Iceland – so make sure your purchases get you those all-important Avios via the British Airways shopping portal. You can currently collect 50 per cent bonus Avios on top of everything you buy this festive season when you shop with more than 1,500 online brands, from Harrods to M&S, until 24 December.⁹

Step five: visit family and friends

Heading off to see loved ones this holiday season? If you’re using the railways, book via our British Airways Executive Club app to purchase your tickets on Trainline, the online train booking platform, which will see up to 3 Avios per £1 land in your Executive Club account. Then again, National Express coaches will get you pretty much anywhere – and also get you 2 Avios per £1 spent.

Get one shop closer to your next getaway at shopping.ba.com. Download the British Airways Executive Club Rewards app from the App Store or Google Play

Terms and conditions

Marriott Bonvoy
1. Full terms and conditions can be found here.

Reward Flight Saver
2. The price shown is based on an off-peak, return Reward Flight Saver to Reykjavik for one passenger seated in our Euro Traveller cabin. Reward Flight Savers are British Airways’ best value reward flights. Reward Flight Saver offers customers great value flights with a low, flat fee to cover taxes, fees and carrier charges and a fixed Avios amount. To be eligible for Reward Flight Saver, you need to have collected at least one Avios in the past 12 months. To find out more about Reward Flight Saver,  click here. Reward flights are subject to availability.

3. The price shown is based on an off-peak, return Reward Flight Saver to Reykjavik for one passenger seated in our Club Europe cabin. Reward Flight Savers are British Airways’ best value reward flights. Reward Flight Saver offers customers great value flights with a low, flat fee to cover taxes, fees and carrier charges and a fixed Avios amount. To be eligible for Reward Flight Saver, you need to have collected at least one Avios in the past 12 months. To find out more about Reward Flight Saver,  click here. Reward flights are subject to availability.

Avis
4. Full terms and conditions can be found here.

BPme
5. Full BPme Rewards terms and conditions can be found here.

British Airways American Express^® Credit Card
6. T&Cs, taxes, fees and carrier charges apply per person. For the Credit Card Terms and Conditions apply. Introductory offers are not available if you currently hold or have held any personal American Express Card product in the past 24 months. All information including Representative APR is correct as of 11 October 2023. Interest rates link to the Bank of England base rate. See amex.co.uk for details. Applicants must be UK residents aged 18 years old or over and are subject to approval. For the Credit Card, apply through British Airways channels before midnight on 9 January 2024 and 7,000 bonus Avios will be awarded onto your Account once you have been approved and you have spent and charged a minimum of £1,000 on goods and services to the Account within three months of Account opening. Offer only available to British Airways Executive Club Members. For the Credit Card, you will be awarded 1 Avios for every £1 spent and charged per transaction. Avios are not earned on Balance Transfers, Cash Withdrawals, American Express Travellers Cheques purchases, Foreign Exchange, interest, any spending in excess of your credit limit, charges for returned payments, late payment or referral charges and American Express Credit Card finance charges. Written details available on request. Please note, it can take up to one month for the bonus Avios to be awarded to your Account once you have met the required spend. New Cardmembers only. Please note this offer is subject to change.

7. If you are eligible to participate in the Referral Programme, you may refer as many friends or family members as you wish but there are annual limits on the rewards you can earn through referrals. Please visit https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral to find out more. Please only refer friends and family who are happy to receive information from American Express. You can earn up to a maximum of 90,000 bonus Avios per calendar year. You’ll collect 9,000 Avios for each approved friend and your friend will receive 7,000 Avios if they spend £1,000 in their first three months of Cardmembership. New Cardmembers only. Only available to new Cardmembers referred through British Airways channels before midnight on 9 January 2024. Please note that your offer is correct at the time of viewing. This offer may change or become unavailable at a later date if you return to your Referral Hub or Mobile App Account. Your offer could be subject to change if your Card is lost, stolen or replaced. Your Card Account’s eligibility to participate in the Referral Programme is based on your overall credit rating and other factors including your Account history with American Express. If payments to your American Express® Card Account are not kept up to date, you could lose your bonus Avios.

The Wine Flyer
8. Full terms and conditions can be found here.

Shopping through British Airways
9. See terms and conditions at shopping.ba.com.

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This article has been tagged Advertorial, Adventure