Shoppers looking to earn air miles from their everyday spending now have a new option after last week’s new tie-up between British Airways and Nectar.
American Express’ Nectar credit card is now one of the most generous ways of earning Avios points from everyday spending, with customers able to earn 1.25 Avios for every £1 they spend.
This is a better conversion rate than the free Avios-earning British Airways American Express credit card and even the American Express gold card, which costs £140 a year after the first 12 months – although that comes with added benefits like airport lounge passes.
American Express offers multiple credit cards which let users earn Avios points
And it is only slightly worse than the £195-a-year British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, which earns Avios points at a rate of 1.5 for every £1 spent.
The card comes with an APR of 27.3 per cent, an interest rate of 22.2 per cent on purchases and a fee of £25 after the first year, which Rob Burgess, editor of frequent flyer website Head for Points, said made the card ‘harder to justify after year one’.
However, he said the card ‘will be attractive to some people who are looking to collect Avios from a credit card.’
Under the new tie-up announced last Thursday, shoppers can swap 400 Nectar points for 250 Avios.
Nectar points can be earned at a rate of one point per every £1 spent with Sainsbury’s and one point for every litre of fuel bought at Esso and Sainsbury’s petrol stations.
But while this conversion rate of 0.625 Avios per Nectar point is less generous than the old Tesco Clubcard scheme, the Amex Nectar card effectively doubles it because holders earn two points for every £1 they spend.
This means 250 Avios can be achieved through spending £200, rather than £400.
Cardholders can also earn a 20,000 Nectar points bonus for spending £2,000 in the first three months if they have not previously held an Amex card in the last year.
This means those who hit that spending threshold can earn 12,500 Avios points if they convert the Nectar bonus, which is more generous than the 5,000 Avios bonus earned from spending £1,000 on the free British Airways Amex card in the first three months of having it.
| Credit card | Fee | Avios-earning rate |
|---|---|---|
| American Express Nectar Credit Card | £25 after the first year | 1.25 Avios per £1 (after conversion from Nectar points) |
| British Airways American Express Credit Card | £0 | 1 Avios per £1 |
| British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card | £195 | 1.5 Avios per £1 |
| American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card | £140 after the first year | 1 Avios per £1 (after conversion from Amex points) |
Newcomers can also get a one-off welcome bonus of 500 extra Avios when they convert 1,600 Nectar points, although they are not eligible for the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher through the Nectar card.
Meanwhile, Rob Burgess said those who later decide to move from the Amex Nectar card to the BA Premium Plus card can benefit from that introductory bonus of 25,000 Avios when spending £3,000 in three months, which is not available to those who had previously held the free BA card.
Cardholders can transfer up to 80,000 Nectar points a month into Avios, while up to 50,000 Avios a month can be transferred the other way into Nectar points at a rate of 0.8p per point.
Burgess last week called this news an ‘extremely positive change’ for those who, because they cannot currently fly, wish to use their Avios balance for something else.
Nectar points can also be converted into Argos or Sainsbury’s vouchers, and can also be used at Caffé Nero, Esso, Eurostar or eBay.
Avios points, which can be put towards British Airways flights and holidays, expire after 36 months of inactivity, but this means customers keep their points balance provided they earn or spend any Avios over a three-year period.
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