Can I earn Avios points from Heathrow Express?

This articles shows you how you can earn Avios points on Heathrow Express train tickets.

Heathrow Express is a fast 15-minute train service from Paddington Station in Central London to Heathrow Airport.  It is the most convenient, yet also expensive, public transport option for connecting into central London.

In this article we’ll look at how you can maximise your Avios with a Heathrow Express booking.

There are two ways to earn Avios by taking Heathrow Express.

The first is to collect ‘Heathrow Rewards’ points on online bookings. This is a rewards currency offered by various Heathrow services, including duty-free shopping, and can be easily transferred into Avios (or many other frequent-flyer currencies). You earn 1 point per £1 spent and these transfer 1:1 into Avios.  This article explains more about Heathrow Rewards.

The second is to take advantage of a special Heathrow Rewards / Avios deal

To take advantage of the Avios offer, you need to book your ticket in advance via this special Avios / Heathrow Rewards link.

This promotion is significantly more generous than earning Heathrow Rewards points and converting them to Avios, as you earn 5 Avios per £1 spent.

There is only one snag – you cannot use other promotional codes or book (cheaper) Advance Purchase tickets via this route.

If you are booking an Advance Purchase ticket or taking advantage of a package deal such as Duo Saver for a couple travelling together, the only reward you can claim is Heathrow Rewards points.

When choosing your means of travel from Heathrow to London you should consider what fits best for you. This article (click) outlines the various ways you can save money on Heathrow Express – including some non-Avios promotions – which may save you more money than the Avios collected.

(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.