From Miles to Smiles Stylish travel for professionals seeking luxury at affordable prices
January was a record month for me for air miles. I have yet to do the final recce but the total is in excess of 114,000. I was absolutely astonished when I checked one of my card statements to find 91,000 AVIOS waiting to be transferred to my AVIOS account. Then, I checked the other account and found a further 25,000!
It almost doesn’t matter what the exact number is at that rate! It was so easy, it was serious child’s play!!
Avios account update
So, here’s how I did it.
Amex Gold card
I have just signed up for a new Gold card (read how to earn AVIOS quickly to discover why you should only ever retain this card for as long as it takes to hit minimum spend).
The minimum spend for the sign-up bonus for this card is £2,000 within two months. I timed this to coincide with the need to book flights to Nepal for our Everest base camp expedition. Added to that, I got a second card for Jason, so we were both able to put all our spending on the card. Because I used a referral link (use this one to earn an extra 2,000 points) I banked 22,000 points. You still earn an acceptable 20,000 miles even if you don’t have a referral link.
In addition, every £1 spent contributed another 1 mile/point to the account giving me an additional 2,400 points. Yes, it has been a bumper month for spending!
British Airways Amex card
Read this post on why you should avoid the FREE blue card like the plague, and this post for the only time you ever should opt for the blue card. Both of these posts help to explain why the BA Premium AMEX card is such a great option for racking up a ton of miles. The sign-up bonus on this card is 26,000 if you use a referral link however that’s not how I earned the points this month.
No, instead I made a point of telling everyone I know about the virtues of the card and banking a ton of referral points. For every referral you earn 9,000 points. In theory, it’s limited to ten referrals a year but I’ve had more than that (no idea if this is a fluke but I’m not the only person to say this!) Sssh, don’t tell American Express.
Both the Gold card and the BA Premium card allow you to refer friends and family so if you can achieve the maximum referrals for both, that’s 180,000 plus the sign-up bonuses. Pretty impressive hey? You will be excitedly planning your next big trip in no time!
Boost your AVIOS account by recycling
Just remember to tell your friends that hoarding is not rewarding when it comes to air miles. Satisfy the minimum spend, bank the points and cancel. You then wait six months after you cancel the cards before you can apply again, and repeat the whole process.
So, what are you waiting for? Shout from the rooftops about your credit cards and encourage your friends to sign up using your referrals.
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I really, really don’t mean to be critical but this blog post isn’t very clear on the math. I “get” how this must have worked for you but to someone not in the know or someone that may have never visited your blog it just tells me that:
1. you got an AMEX Gold and hit the spending bonus which resulted in AMEX points
2. You seem to think other AMEX products aren’t too great
3. The BA card is also good and seems to have provided 26,000 Avios of the 114,000 you mention
4. You can earn through referrals.
5. You also applied for cards for Jason (I’ll have to read up on who that is).
6. There is a bunch of link to click (I assume as affiliate links (which is OK btw)).
Again not trying to be negative but maybe a better recap on AMEX=X=Avios, etc.
The links aren’t affiliate links. They are links to posts which help to explain some of the questions you ask. The gold card earned me 22,000 points on sign up plus I earned the rest through referrals. Jason is my husband.
Have to admit, I haven’t yet cancelled my BAPP. I think I’ll look at self referral for the Gold, then cancelling the BAPP. Best time to do it, I think, is when the final payment is due for the Kos holiday, which should trigger the spend requirements.
No one I know seems particularly bothered about referrals from me, sadly – tried a few times from my AmEx Platinum Cashback over the last couple of years, to no avail 😕