Can you use Avios points for Eurostar tickets?

In our Q&A question today, I want to look at how you can use Avios points for Eurostar train tickets.

A few years ago, it was possible to redeem Avios directly for train tickets on Eurostar. This is no longer possible.

There is, however, still a way of redeeming Avios for Eurostar seats:

• you can transfer your Avios points into Nectar points, then

• you can redeem your Nectar points for Eurostar vouchers

Let’s look at how it works.

How do you turn your Avios points into Nectar points?

The first stage of redeeming Avios for Eurostar tickets is to transfer your Avios points into the Nectar loyalty scheme. This only works if you live in the UK.

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.

What is interesting about converting Nectar and Avios points is that you can transfer them back and forth, as often as you like, with no loss of value.

If you transfer your Avios points into Nectar points, you get 0.8p per Avios to spend with Nectar partners. This includes Eurostar.

This is very generous and, bizarrely, gets you far more value than many ‘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 will also struggle to beat 0.8p 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:

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

Here is the key thing: there is no value loss in either direction. You can transfer your points as often as you want and you will still have the same amount you started with.

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 250 Avios which will get you 400 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.

How do you spend your Nectar points on Eurostar tickets?

Once your points are in your Nectar account, it is very easy to turn them into Eurostar vouchers.

The spend rate at Eurostar is £2.50 per 500 Nectar points. This is the same rate you get when redeeming Nectar points at other partners such as eBay, Sainsburys and Argos.

There is a minimum conversion of 2,000 Nectar points (£10 of Eurostar vouchers) with vouchers only available for £10, £25, £50 and £100.

Multiple vouchers can be used in one transaction if booking a train-only ticket on the Eurostar website, but only one voucher per transaction can be used if booking a ‘train and hotel’ package.

What value do you get per Avios when you redeem for Eurostar vouchers?

Let’s look at the maths here.

2,000 Nectar points, if spent at Eurostar, would get you a £10 voucher. As you are giving up 1,250 Avios, you are getting 0.8p per Avios. (1,250 Avios are given up in return for £10 and 1000/1250 = 0.8.)

0.8p is a decent deal for ‘selling’ Avios, so you are getting a decent deal if you use your points for Eurostar tickets via a Nectar conversion.

Find out more on the Nectar website

The Nectar website has a dedicated page on how to redeem your points for Eurostar vouchers. This is also where you find the online form to order vouchers.

Click here to read it – you will need to log-in to your Nectar account in order to access the page.

(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.