Air miles, which are collected with an air miles credit card. are a type of rewards point that can be exchanged for flights, upgrades and other travel services. They’re offered by major airlines, and collected whenever you spend with them or one of their partner brands.
The UK’s most popular air miles schemes are:
- Avios — offered by British Airways Executive Club
- Virgin Points — offered by Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Others include:
- American Airlines — AAdvantage Miles
- Emirates — Skywards
- Etihad — Etihad Guest
- Lufthansa — Miles & more
- United Airlines — Mileage Plus
Before you can collect air miles, you’ll need to register with your chosen loyalty scheme. It’s free to sign up, and you can collect air miles with as many providers as you like.
Whenever you book a flight, or shop with one of the scheme’s partner brands, you’ll be prompted to enter your membership information so the air miles you earn can be credited to your account.
Exactly how much you earn will vary depending on the scheme you sign up for and the tickets you buy.
With British Airways Executive Club, the number of Avios you earn is related to how far you fly, rather than how much you spend. On each flight, you’ll earn between 25% and 250% of the miles you fly in Avios.
On a 1,000 mile flight you’d earn between 250 and 2,500 Avios, depending on the cabin class and whether you purchased a flexible or advance ticket.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club uses a similar calculation. According to Virgin’s website, booking a return flight from London to New York would earn you between 866 and 13,856 Virgin Points. This means you can effectively collect between 0.15 points and 1 point per mile travelled.
You can also collect points by spending on an air miles credit card, such as one of the above.