Got Avios you won't use for flights? Swap them to Nectar before 11 March as their value is being slashed
If you collect Avios – the reward currency of the British Airways 'Executive Club' loyalty scheme – and you're planning to convert them into Nectar points, you should make the swap before Monday 11 March. From this date, the value of Avios being converted to Nectar will be slashed. But only do this if you're sure you won't use your Avios for reward flights, as that can be much more lucrative.
Here's what you need to know:
Currently, every 300 Avios you convert gets you 400 Nectar points. These are usually worth £2 to spend at Sainsbury's, Argos and other Nectar partners – see our Nectar points boosting guide for more on how this works.
From Monday 11 March, you'll need 400 Avios to get 400 Nectar points. For example: currently, 1,200 Avios gets you £8 to spend at Sainsbury's; from Monday 11 March, the same number of Avios will only get you £6.
This affects everyone with an Avios balance, regardless of how they were collected. So you'll see the change whether you accrued your Avios through flights, credit cards, holidays or any other way.
Be warned – swapping Avios to Nectar is not the most lucrative way of using them. For example, it's possible to get much better value from your Avios by putting them towards reward flights, especially the fancier seats on long-haul trips. As a ballpark figure, each Avios point can be worth 1p or more when used this way, according to experts at the loyalty scheme news site HeadforPoints. In comparison, convert Avios into Nectar and each point is currently worth 0.67p, falling to 0.5p from 11 March.
The Nectar to Avios conversion rate is not changing. This will remain at 400 Nectar points to 250 Avios.
It's not the first time the Avios to Nectar conversion rate has changed – when the partnership first launched, you could swap 250 Avios for 400 Nectar points, but this was cut to 300 Avios in November 2022.
How to convert Avios to Nectar and vice versa
Here's how to convert Avios into Nectar points, or Nectar points into Avios:
First, your Avios and Nectar accounts must be linked. If they're not already, you must visit either the Executive Club Exchange or the Nectar website and select "Link your account".
Then you'll need to decide how many points to convert – though there are limits. Avios can currently only be converted into Nectar points in increments of 300 Avios (increasing to 400 Avios from Monday 11 March), while Nectar points can only be converted into Avios in increments of 400 Nectar points.
You can then either manually convert points, or set-up an automatic conversion.
- To manually convert points, select "Convert points". Be aware that you can only manually swap a maximum of 50,100 Avios (50,000 Avios from Monday 11 March) (and/or 80,000 Nectar points) in any one calendar month.
- To auto-convert points, select "Setup auto-convert". The cap on automatic conversions is 25,000 Avios (and/or 40,000 Nectar points) per calendar quarter (so from 1 October to 31 December, for example).
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8 October 2024
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