We started collecting points during two lean years when the family holidays were in a tent. They have since paid for most of our long haul flights. Here is how it works, from nothing.
If you have ever been told that someone flew business class to New York “for free” and quietly wondered how, this page is for you.
Nobody in our family is a frequent flyer for work. We are a family from Yorkshire who wanted to travel further than the budget allowed, and reward points turned out to be the way to do it. It took years, it was worth it, and none of it is complicated once someone explains it properly.
*Last checked: September 2026. The scheme rules on this page were checked in that month; they change, and each of the four guides below carries its own date.*
Quick answer:
“Air miles” is what most people still call airline reward points, but there has been no scheme of that name in the UK since Airmiles became Avios in 2011. Today the points are Avios with British Airways and its partners, Virgin Points with Virgin Atlantic, and other names elsewhere, and they all work the same way.
You earn them on flights, on a linked credit card, through shopping portals and supermarket loyalty schemes, and you spend them on flights, upgrades and sometimes hotels. The flights are not free, because you still pay the taxes and charges, but the fare itself can be. It works best if you commit to one airline and think in years rather than months.
Every big airline runs a loyalty scheme, and they all work on the same basic idea. You join for free, you give the airline your membership number every time you fly, and it pays you back in points. Collect enough and you swap them for a flight.
There are two kinds of points, and the first thing that trips people up is not realising they are different.
These are the currency. With British Airways and its partners they are called Avios; Virgin Atlantic calls them Virgin Points; other airlines have their own names. You earn them, they sit in your account, and you cash them in for flights and upgrades.
These measure how much you spend with the airline in a year (it used to be how far you flew) and decide whether you are a basic member or one with perks such as lounge access and priority check-in. BA calls them tier points. Most families never earn enough to matter, and that is fine, because you do not need status to spend the other kind. We have been Blue members for a decade and it has never stopped us going anywhere.
The scheme we use is The British Airways Club, which was called the Executive Club until April 2025. We chose BA because it is the UK’s biggest long haul airline and, at the time, flew from our nearest airport. Avios is a currency shared by seven programmes, not just BA, which is the first thing most beginners get wrong: Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, Finnair, Qatar Airways and Loganair use it too, so a flight with any of them can feed the same balance. That guide explains how the Club works in detail. The principles below apply to any airline.
This is the part that surprises people. Most of our points were not earned in the air.
Every flight earns points, more for longer and pricier flights, and you can collect on partner airlines too if you add your membership number when you book. This builds slowly for a family that flies once or twice a year.
The biggest earner for most families. A card that pays points on everyday spending, used for the weekly shop, the bills and the big purchases, then paid off in full every month. Paid off in full is the whole strategy; interest would wipe out any benefit many times over.
Airlines run online shopping portals. Go to the retailer through the airline’s site instead of directly and the purchase earns points. Airbnb and many high street names are on BA’s.
Nectar points can be converted into Avios, and Tesco Clubcard has had a relationship with the scheme at various points, which is how we started: doing the weekly shop at Tesco and banking the points. Check the current terms for either before you rely on them, because both have changed more than once.
Book through the airline’s site or add your number at the hotel or hire desk.
The booking itself, screen by screen. Searching with Pay with Avios, reading the availability calendar, choosing a cabin, the Avios and money options, and what two return seats to New York cost us in economy and in business with a voucher.
Where to start. How a scheme works, the UK schemes worth knowing about and which alliance each belongs to, how to choose by your nearest airport, why to commit to one or two, and how long it took us before the first big redemption.
Tier points and the status levels, what changed in April 2025, every way we collect and spend Avios, the household account that lets up to seven of you pool points, and our verdict eighteen months into the new scheme.
The two-for-one flight voucher earned by spending £15,000 a year on the BA Amex card: how to redeem it with Avios on BA, Iberia or Aer Lingus, the cabin and expiry rules, booking on release day, and how we used two to fly four of us to Dallas.
How we joined IHG One Rewards by accident, the elite levels, the four rules that paid for seven nights on an Ontario and Quebec road trip, and whether the InterContinental Ambassador fee is worth it.
Reward flights cost points plus the taxes, fees and carrier charges for the seat. On a short haul flight those charges are capped and small. On a long haul flight they can run to a few hundred pounds per person, which is still a fraction of the fare, but it means “free flight” is never quite true.
Four of us flew back from London to Toronto for £800 in taxes and no fare at all, and that is the honest way to describe it. That trip was some years ago; the cash charges on BA’s long haul reward flights have risen since, so the same booking would cost more today, but the points still cover the fare, which is the expensive part.
Cashing them in on a cheap European flight rarely beats simply buying a cheap European flight. The value is in the fares that would otherwise be £600 or more.
Airlines publish peak and off-peak calendars. If you can travel outside school holidays, the same flight costs less.
Airlines release a handful of reward seats per flight, usually around eleven or twelve months ahead (BA’s come out about 355 days before departure). If you want a specific date in the summer holidays, be ready on release day.
Points can also pay for upgrades, which is where we have used them on night flights, and for hotel stays with some schemes. Hotel loyalty is its own world; our hotel reward schemes guide covers how seven free nights in Canada came about.
Yes, with two conditions…
The first is patience. We collected for several years before our first big redemption. If you want a payoff this summer, points will not give you one. If you are happy to build towards a trip three or four years away, they will, and the day you book four long haul seats and see the fare column read zero is a good day.
The second is commitment. The whole thing only works if you pick one airline and stick to it, even when it is not the very cheapest option for a given trip. Spreading your flying across five airlines leaves you with five small pots that never add up to anything. Our guide to choosing an airline reward scheme explains how we chose and what we would look at now.
Schemes change their rules, usually in the airline’s favour, and BA changed its status rules substantially in 2025; anything you sign up for can get worse, so make the most of it while it works and be ready to move on. And a points credit card is only a good idea if you would pay it off in full every month without thinking about it. If that is not you, skip the card and collect on flights and shopping only.
Avios are the reward points shared by seven airline programmes: The British Airways Club, Iberia Club, Aer Lingus AerClub, Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus and Loganair Loyalty. You earn them on flights, on linked credit cards, through shopping and by converting supermarket loyalty points, and you spend them on flights, upgrades and some hotels. They are what Airmiles became: the UK Airmiles scheme was renamed Avios in 2011, and the separate Avios programme was folded into the British Airways scheme in 2018.
With British Airways, Avios stay valid as long as you collect, spend, buy or share at least one Avios every 36 months, so any activity keeps the whole balance alive. Other schemes have their own rules, and some hotel programmes expire points after a year of inactivity, so check the terms for each scheme you join.
It depends on the route, the cabin and whether the date is peak or off-peak, and each airline publishes a chart. As a rough guide, a short haul European economy return with BA can be under 20,000 Avios each plus a small fixed charge, and a long haul economy return is usually several times that. Our guides go into the numbers for the trips we have taken.
No. You use points instead of paying the fare, but you still pay the taxes, fees and carrier charges for the seat. On short haul those are small and capped; on long haul they can be a few hundred pounds per person. It is a large saving rather than a free flight, and it is worth knowing that before you start.
Log in to your airline account, search with the pay-with-points option selected, and pick from the dates that show reward availability. With BA you then choose a cabin and a balance of Avios and cash, and pay the taxes and charges by card. Reward seats are released about 355 days ahead, so for school holiday dates search early. Our booking walkthrough shows every screen.
With British Airways, yes. A household account lets up to seven people pool their Avios, children included, so that one big redemption can be made from everyone’s earnings. Each person keeps their own membership, status is not pooled, and members need to be 18 to spend. Our British Airways Club guide explains how to set one up.
Go to the previous guides: