How do you convert Avios points into Nectar points?

This article will show you how to transfer your Avios points into Nectar points.

In January 2021, Sainsbury’s became the official Avios supermarket partner. That means you can now convert your Nectar points into Avios and Avios into Nectar points.

If you transfer your Avios points into Nectar points, you get 0.67p per Avios to spend at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc.

This is generous and, bizarrely, gets you more value than some ‘official’ Avios redemptions. Use your Avios to book a hotel, hire a car, pay for a seat reservation or pay for excess luggage via ba.com and you only receive 0.5p per Avios!

You may also struggle to beat 0.67p per Avios if you try to spend them on Economy long haul flights on British Airways.

What is the conversion rate between Avios and Nectar points?

The conversion rate is:

• 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points
• 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios

You will see that these conversion rates are NOT equal.

If you move your Avios to Nectar and then move them back to Avios, you will have lost some value.

How to convert Avios points into Nectar points

You can convert Nectar points to Avios via the British Airways website here.

You must convert a minimum of 300 Avios which will get you 400 Nectar points.

How long does it take to transfer Avios points to Nectar points?

If you are transferring FROM Avios, there is a 10 day delay. This is deliberate due to previous issues with hackers accessing British Airways accounts and emptying the Avios onto untraceable Nectar cards.

The transfer is INSTANT if you are transferring TO Avios from Nectar.

What value do you get transferring Avios points to Nectar points?

Let’s look at the maths here.

400 Nectar points, if spent at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc would get you £2 off your shopping. As you are giving up 300 Avios, you are getting 0.67p per Avios. (300 Avios are given up in return for 200p and 200/300 = 0.67.)

0.67p is a fair deal for ‘selling’ Avios.

To be honest, I find that I do a lot better than that. I have a spreadsheet of all the Avios I have redeemed for the last nine years, and I have got 1.2p of value per Avios based on my own valuation of the flights I took.

However, for people to struggle to find the flights they want in the travel class they want, converting your Avios points into Nectar points is a good deal.

The great thing about the Avios / Nectar partnership, of course, is that you can change your mind later. If the perfect flight redemption suddenly appears on ba.com, you can simply transfer your Nectar points back – although you will take a small loss due to the unequal exchange rates.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.