Can Nectar Points help me win a free reward flight with British Airways? The answer is yes! Here’s how you can earn more Nectar Points in the future, convert them to Avios, and snap that dream BA holiday in the Pacific.
Thanks to a link-up between Avios and Nectar in 2021, Sainsbury’s is the new Avios supermarket partner. This means you can now convert your Nectar points into Avios and vice versa, giving you a chance to win exciting BA rewards like flight upgrades or even free Avios reward flights. Here’s everything you need to know about the Avios‑Nectar partnership:
Link Your BA and Nectar Accounts
It’s quick and simple to link your accounts through either BA.com or the Nectar website. Once you’ve synced your accounts, you’ll immediately receive an email confirming your newly linked status.
You’re now ready to swap your Avios and Nectar points. On the exchange page (on either website), you can manually type in the number of points you want to convert and see what you’ll get in return. However, note that you can only swap your points in multiples of 250 Avios or 400 Nectar points.
The Avios‑Nectar conversion rate is:
- 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios
- 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points
As you can see, the conversion rate is not equal, which means if you convert Avios into Nectar points and later move them back to Avios, you will have fewer Avios than you started with.
Also, note that transfers are instant when you convert Nectar points to Avios. If you transfer Avios to Nectar, the conversion is applied immediately but the points may take up to 10 days to appear in your Nectar account, depending on Nectar’s processing.
Additional details:
- You can only convert a maximum of 50,000 Avios to Nectar or 80,000 Nectar points to Avios in any calendar month.
- You can also set up weekly automatic conversion in your Nectar account, as long as you earn enough points to reach a multiple of 250 Avios or 400 Nectar. Simply log into your Nectar account and click 'Convert now' to configure this and never miss out on turning Nectar into Avios.
- Only one Nectar account can be linked to one BA Club account at a time. You can change which Nectar account is linked up to 4 times a year, which can be used to move Avios between different people via linked Nectar accounts, as long as all transfers are within the monthly limits.
Check Out at Sainsbury's, Check in at British Airways
Avios is the main reward currency of British Airways. If you’re a member of the BA Club, you earn Avios points when you book flights, hotel stays, car hire and more with British Airways and their partners, including American Express. You also earn Avios points by using an Avios credit card.
In January 2021, British Airways partnered with Nectar, making it even easier for you to boost your Avios balance. If you are a regular customer at Sainsbury's or other Nectar partner retailers, you now have a chance to earn Avios points when you spend on groceries, fuel, homecare, electronics and more.
Founded in 1869, Sainsbury’s is now the UK’s second-largest supermarket chain with around 600 supermarkets and more than 850 convenience stores. Catering to millions of in‑store customers and a large base of online shoppers, Sainsbury’s offers a wide range of goods available for delivery, through its app and website.
So if you’re living in the UK, it’s likely you will buy something from a Sainsbury’s store several times a year. You might even bank with Sainsbury’s, have insurance with them or wear clothes from their Tu collection, allowing you to rack up even more Avios points to redeem in the future.
Remember, Sainsbury's owns and runs the Nectar Points loyalty programme, with tens of millions of active members who can now convert Nectar points into Avios and use them on British Airways and other partner rewards.
How Can I Earn More Nectar Points?
Nectar points are everywhere! Even if you’re not a regular shopper at Sainsbury’s, you can still collect Nectar points with over 300 brand partners on the Nectar.com Eshop portal as well as offline.
For example:
- eBay (1 Nectar point per £ spent, up to a maximum of 300 points per transaction)
- Argos (1 Nectar point per £ spent)
- Esso (2 Nectar points per £ spent in the shop and 1 point for every litre of fuel)
Other Nectar partners in the UK include ASOS, Dunelm, Domino's Pizza, Just Eat, MADE.COM, Lego and Booking.com. You can also use Nectar points at Sainsbury’s, Argos and Esso, as well as converting them to Avios for British Airways and other partners. Find the current list of Nectar partners and how to spend points here.
By now, you can see how easy it is to collect Nectar points and increase your chances of having enough Avios for a BA reward flight. You can use Reward Flight Finder (RFF) to check for the availability of reward flights and find one that works best for you.
Remember, with BA being a part of the One World Alliance, you can also spend your Avios points on Aer Lingus, Iberia and American Airlines, among other airlines.
Can I Earn Nectar Points on a Credit Card?
As of 2026, there are several UK credit cards which can bring you Avios points at a rate of at least 1 Avios per £1 spent, including a number of American Express products that earn Membership Rewards points transferrable to Avios. You can transfer Membership Rewards points to Avios at a 1:1 ratio and then convert Avios to Nectar via the BA–Nectar link‑up, creating a powerful route to turn everyday spending into Nectar points and ultimately BA reward flights.
Generally, you’ll get one reward point per £1 spent via cards such as the American Express Rewards card, the American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card and the Platinum card. When you transfer an Amex Reward (Membership Rewards) point to Avios and then convert those Avios to Nectar, the combined move is worth around 0.67p per Amex point, compared with roughly 0.5p via a straight Amex‑to‑Nectar route, giving you a 30–33% uplift in effective value.
The American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is another strong option for Avios collectors. Representative examples are based on a credit limit of £1200.00 charged at 29.1% variable per annum for purchases, giving a Representative 85.8% APR variable. The card has a 36.3% annual rate on cash advances and no penalty APR, with a 29.1% variable purchase rate. Fees include a £0 intro annual fee in your first year and an ongoing annual fee of £195, a 2.99% foreign transaction fee, a 3% cash advance fee, a £12 late fee, a £12 return payment fee and a minimum payment due of £25. There is no balance transfer or intro balance transfer fee.
The card offers a welcome bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £5,000 in your first six months of cardmembership, subject to terms and eligibility and the ongoing annual fee after the first year. You earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on most purchases, 2 points per £1 spent directly with airlines or in a foreign currency and 3 points per £1 spent at American Express Travel, with no cap on how many points you can earn. You can transfer these points 1:1 to Avios and then convert them to Nectar, which can significantly boost your Nectar‑earning power from everyday spending. The card also gives you x4 complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge visits, a Deliveroo benefit giving you £5 back on eligible purchases twice a month when enrolled, and complimentary supplementary cards for family members or partners so you can pool spending and earn Rewards faster.
You can also collect Nectar points through the Nectar American Express credit card, which is designed specifically for Nectar and Avios collectors. Representative examples for this card are based on a credit limit of £1200.00, charged at 29.4% variable per annum for purchases with a £30 annual fee (giving a Representative 36.1% APR variable), or charged at 29.1% variable per annum for purchases with a £30 annual fee (Representative 35.8% APR variable). The card carries a 36.7% or 36.3% annual rate on cash advances and no penalty APR, with a 29.4% or 29.1% variable purchase rate, depending on the offer or version you’re given.
Fees on the Nectar American Express card include a £0 intro annual fee and an ongoing annual fee of £30, a 2.99% foreign transaction fee, a 3% cash advance fee, a £12 late fee, a £12 return payment fee and a minimum payment due of £25. The card does not charge a balance transfer or intro balance transfer fee, which can be useful if you are considering it mainly for Nectar‑earning rather than debt consolidation.
For rewards, the Nectar American Express card gives you a new cardmember offer of 20,000 bonus Nectar points when you spend £2,000 in your first three months of cardmembership, plus a welcome offer of a free first year’s £30 annual fee. You collect 2 Nectar points for every full £1 you spend on the card and at least 3 Nectar points per £1 spent at Nectar partners when your Nectar loyalty card is linked to your American Express account. You are also entitled to up to 5 complimentary supplementary cards, subject to approval, and anyone aged 18 or over can hold one; as the main cardholder you are responsible for all spending on the account, but this can be a useful way to pool household spending and collect even more Nectar points.
So there you have it, an exciting partnership that enables you to continually build your Avios points balance through your normal shopping habits, including via American Express cards such as the Preferred Rewards Gold and the Nectar American Express credit card. To snap up your ideal reward seats, let BA Redemption Finder help you make the most of your hard-earned miles.
Before this partnership, your Avios spending options were mainly flights, wine, car hire and hotels, so the Avios‑Nectar deal has opened up many more ways to earn and use points. Luckily, with British Airways and Nectar linking up, you don’t have to be a big flier to earn enough points to bag a free BA reward flight to your dream holiday destination.
Can I Use My Preferred Rewards Gold for Nectar Points?
The American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card does not collect Nectar points on the card itself, but it can still be a powerful way to build up Nectar via your Membership Rewards points. Here’s how it works.
First, you earn Membership Rewards points on everyday spending with the Preferred Rewards Gold card. You get 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on eligible purchases, plus up to 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points per year when you spend £10,000 in a 12‑month period. These points can then be transferred directly to Nectar through the Membership Rewards portal, typically on a 1:1 basis, which turns them into Nectar points you can spend or convert.
Alternatively, many readers choose an extra step to get more value from their points. You can transfer Membership Rewards points 1:1 to Avios and then convert those Avios into Nectar using the British Airways–Nectar partnership at the 300 Avios = 400 Nectar rate. This route usually makes each Amex point worth about 0.67p in Nectar, compared to roughly 0.5p if you swap Membership Rewards points straight to Nectar, giving you a useful uplift in effective value.
So while the Preferred Rewards Gold card doesn’t ring up Nectar points at the till, it can be a strong indirect route into the Nectar–Avios ecosystem, especially if you enjoy elevated earn rates on flights and travel and then want to feed those points into your BA reward‑flight plans via RFF.
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