Most people think they’ve cracked the Avios game. Flights, credit cards, maybe a BA Holidays package. Fair enough. But while those do most of the heavy lifting, they’re only part of the story. Other ways to collect Avios are hiding in plain sight in the everyday bookings you make out of habit. Some of them may not seem exciting on their own, but they can give your points pot a useful push.
If you've ever asked yourself, “How can I collect Avios points without constantly flying?” this is where it starts. Below are some of the less obvious ways to build your balance for Iberia and British Airways reward flights, along with the catches and the better-paying routes.
Airport Parking
Airport parking is rarely the glamorous part of a trip, which is probably why people forget it can earn points. You can usually collect Avios if you pre-book through the right British Airways Club travel partner instead of going directly to the airport.
The trick is to book through the airline’s travel extras page or partner platforms such as ParkVia and ParkCloud. You typically get around 5 Avios per £1 when you book airport parking through these routes, although rates can change.
Book the same car park through the right channel, and you may get a tidy Avios return for something you were paying for anyway. Direct bookings with the airport usually won't do the same. It also works even if you're not flying with the airline that day, which is how the small gains start to add up. It won't transform your account overnight, but it’s a neat way to collect points without changing much at all.
Train Travel
This is one of the easiest earners for Avios points value, and the kicker is that you can keep repeating it. If rail is already part of your travel plans, the earnings can roll in steadily without any extra spend.
Heathrow Express is a good example, where you can earn 5 Avios per £1 spent, although promotions can sometimes offer more. That makes it one of the better-value travel partners if you regularly go in and out of Heathrow. The same idea applies if you drive onto the train to cross the Channel Tunnel. LeShuttle is another useful one. Standard tickets can typically earn around 3 Avios per £1, while Flexiplus tickets can reach up to 6 Avios per £1.
Another great way to earn extra points on the rail is to book through the Avios online shopping portal, also known as the Avios eStore. If you click through before booking, you can earn Avios on everyday rail platforms. Trainline can earn about 1 Avios per £1, and TrainPal can go as high as 4 Avios per £1, depending on the current rate. Transport for Wales has also featured Avios earnings through partner routes.
The important step is to remember to click through the right portal first. Go directly, and the booking doesn’t earn anything. Go through the portal, and the same ticket starts earning points.
Lounge Bookings
Airport lounge access is another one people often book in a hurry, which is exactly why points get missed. As a BA Club member, you can collect 5 Avios per £1 spent if you buy lounge access through the British Airways Club Travel Extras portal. This only applies to bookings made through the Travel Extras channel, not to bookings made directly with the lounge operator.
Partners can include No. 1 Lounges, Plaza Premium, and Airport Lounge Development. Rates can shift with promotions, so it's always worth checking before you pay.
Holiday Rentals
Many travellers already know about earning points through BA Holidays, and plenty are members of hotel programmes such as Hilton or Marriott, where hotel points can later be converted into Avios. What often slips under the radar is that holiday rentals can earn points, too.
If you’re a BA Club or Iberia Plus member, you can book through British Airways Hotels & Holiday Rentals, where you can find listings that include Airbnb, Vrbo and independent rentals. Those bookings can earn Avios, unlike direct bookings with Airbnb or Vrbo.
The same rule about applying through the portal applies, though. Ignore it, and you lose the earnings. Go through the proper portal, and a villa or apartment starts feeding into your travel balance.
Dining and Lifestyle
What could be more soul-lifting than earning Avios points while you enjoy delicious meals? Here are some ways you can have your cake and eat it too:
Meals:
Restaurant spending now has more Avios potential than many people realise. In some regions, including the UK and Ireland, dining schemes let you collect Avios at participating restaurants when you register your card and use it to pay. PizzaExpress is one well-known example of a brand that has been part of this restaurant-and-Avios ecosystem.
Avios Dining can include hundreds of restaurants, depending on where you are. The typical rate is around 1 Avios per £1, €1, or $1 spent, depending on the region. Some places also run first-visit bonuses or other temporary boosts. Participating restaurants and rates change regularly, so it's worth checking the current list before you book or pay.
The process is simple enough. Register your British Airways Club or Iberia Plus number, connect the payment card, then eat and pay in the usual way. Sometimes you need to book through the programme, sometimes it just tracks from the card. It depends on the programme.
Deliveries and Collections:
Food delivery services such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats have both appeared in Avios-earning routes. You can also link your payment card on avios.com under “Collect on Card” to earn on in-store spending at participating food and drink spots. Examples have included Gail's Bakery, Paul, Hawksmoor, YO! Sushi and The Ivy Asia, Tattu, and some Gaucho locations. Not every branch will qualify, which is why checking the current participating merchant list matters.
Bills and Subscriptions
Household bills are not exciting, but they can be surprisingly effective in earning points. You can even utilise platforms such as Payr to pay your biggest monthly expense, your rent, and earn Avios.
Earning Avios via rent using Payr is a bit indirect — you’re not earning Avios from Payr itself, but from the credit card you use through it. Payr acts as a middleman - you pay your rent with an Avios earning credit card and Payr then sends the rent to your landlord (via bank transfer). Because you used a points-earning credit card, you earn Avios on that spend - simple. You can get a unique discount of 20% off your first rent payment using the platform by using code RFF2026.
Energy and broadband switching deals sometimes come with chunky Avios bonuses, which is why they deserve a place in any secret-earning guide. Endesa is one of the most direct links. Customers can connect their energy account to their airline loyalty account, earn a 200 Avios welcome bonus, and collect 50 Avios each month just for staying with them.
Utility Warehouse is another good example. The first-year total can reach up to 4,500 Avios if you sign up for multiple services such as energy, broadband, mobile and home phone. The following years can still bring around 2,250 Avios for staying put.
There's also an indirect route with E.ON. Join E.ON Rewards, convert those points to Tesco Clubcard, then move Clubcard into Avios. It’s not as tidy, but it still shows how the Avios ecosystem rewards people willing to follow the chain.
Broadband and telecom deals often appear on the Avios shopping portal and switching sites such as USwitch. Providers such as Sky and Three have appeared in past promotions. These tend to run as limited campaigns, so availability and exact Avios amounts can change. Utility switching can be one of the best ways to earn Avios if you’re due to change provider anyway.
Online Payment Methods
Earning Avios with online payment platforms, such as PayPal, isn’t as straightforward as with flights or shopping portals — but there are a few ways to do it, mostly by pairing PayPal with the right cards or offers. Use an Avios-earning credit card via PayPal to pay for purchases online, and because the transaction goes through your card you earn Avios. You’re not earning from PayPal itself, but just like with Payr, it’s your card doing the work.
If you use the British Airways Shopping Portal and PayPal together you can essentially double dip and really boost your earnings. All you have to do is go through the BA shopping portal, click through to a retailer (e.g. eBay, ASOS, etc.), shop as normal and pay using PayPal at the checkout. You’ll earn Avios from the BA portal tracking AND your Avios earning credit card via Paypal.
Insurance
Insurance looks dull until you see what some portal rates can earn. Here’s how you can make use of it:
Travel Insurance:
Travel insurance bought through the official Avios or Virgin Shopping portals can earn some very healthy Avios returns. You must click through the portal before buying the policy to ensure your purchase is tracked and points are credited. Rates vary widely, depending on the provider and promotion, so treat these as examples rather than fixed returns:
- Coverwise at around 20 Avios per £1 spent
- Saga at about 15 Avios per £1
- Coverforyou at about 8 Avios per £1
- Avanti at around 7 Avios per £1
- Staysure at around 7 Avios per £1
Admiral often runs a fixed bonus of around 1,000 Avios. Wanda sits even closer to the Avios world, with its own dedicated policies within the wider ecosystem.
Home Insurance:
Home insurance can also earn Avios, but only if you click through an official shopping or tracking portal, such as the British Airways Avios eShopping portal, before getting quotes and buying. Compare the Market has historically shown around 2,000 Avios for a new policy. Buy the same policy without that tracked click, and the Avios may never appear.
Even when you do it right, insurance can be slow. It’s common for points to take 90 to 180 days to land.
Foreign Currency
This is one of the more overlooked ways to pick up Avios. Buy foreign currency through certain airline-linked partners, and you can collect around 1 Avios per £1 or €1 spent, sometimes more when a promotion is running. Travelex is one of the better-known names in this space, and Thomas Cook has also featured in some markets.
The key is to take the right route. If the provider appears in the Avios Travel Money or Travel Extras portal, you need to click through from there, select the provider, enter your membership number, and complete the purchase in that session. If you go direct, there’s a good chance nothing will track.
There’s also a card angle here. Some Avios-earning credit cards, like the British Airways cards, will earn points on foreign currency spend in the usual way. And a few UK banking partners, such as Lloyds, NatWest, or Santander, depending on the product, let you earn points on FX spending that can later be converted into Avios.
It’s not the most obvious route, but it still belongs in the wider answer to “how do I earn Avios points” beyond flights, especially if you’re already buying currency for a trip anyway.
Final Verdict: Stack Where You Can
The strongest collectors rarely rely on one route. The principle of ‘the more the merrier’ applies here. Gains come from layering opportunities on top of each other. A simple example: shop through the Avios portal, pay with an Avios-earning credit card, and then convert any store points you’ve picked up into Avios as well. One purchase, three different earning streams.
The same thinking applies across travel, too. Book parking through a partner, add a hotel stay or car hire, and pay with a British Airways card. Suddenly, one ordinary purchase is doing triple duty.
So, if you've been asking yourself, “How can I collect Avios points” in smarter ways or trying to work out the best way to earn Avios beyond the usual headlines, this is really the trick: stack wherever you can.
