A unique way to regularly boost your points balance
Avios Subscriptions were launched back in 2022, and they’re one of the lesser-known ways to boost your balance. They’re on the Avios.com website, but play second fiddle to other ways of getting points.
What is an Avios subscription?
In simple terms, it’s a way to commit to buying a set number of Avios each month. The price of those points will be lower than buying the points outright.
From a functional point of view, if you want to increase your balance, this is a way to regularly boost your points over time. If you want to increase your points right now, this is not the best approach. That would be buying points, or boosting points.
When you set up an Avios subscription, you can choose between paying monthly or paying annually. Committing to a full twelve months will reduce the cost per points
- Pay monthly, which requires a minimum three-month subscription. After that you can cancel at any point
- Pay annually, which commits you to twelve months. The total annual payment is taken immediately; the payments are not spread out over the year, but the points will be given to you each month
To get the cheapest per point cost, you have to buy the largest plan and commit to twelve months.
What’s the cost of an Avios subscription?
| Avios Subscription | Pay Monthly Costs | Annual Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Voyager (1,667 points/month) | £26/month 64 points per £ OR | £259/year 77 points per £ |
| Traveller (4,167 points/month) | £55/month 76 points per £ OR | £549/year 91 point per £ |
| Explorer (8,334 points/month) | £105/month 79 points per £ OR | £1,049/year 95 points per £ |
| Adventurer (16,667 points/month) | £199/month 84 points per £ OR | £1,989/year 101 points per £ |
The most efficient option is to commit for 12 months if that is affordable. This gives you between 19.7% and 20.3% extra points per pound than paying monthly.
How does this pricing compare to buying or boosting?
The table below shows three different ways to get Avios: buying, boosting and subscription. The costs to buy and boost are one-off, while it’s worth saying that the subscription costs are based on the monthly subscription, which requires a three-month minimum period.
I’m using the table to show how the cheapest way to get Avios is by boosting. Subscriptions are more cost-effective than buying, but if you have transactions to boost, then this is absolutely the way to go.
| Avios Amount | Cost to buy | Cost to boost | Cost via subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4,000 Avios | £89 to buy | £36.80 to boost | £55 via subscription |
| 8,000 Avios | £159 to buy | £73.60 to boost | £105 via subscription |
| 16,000 Avios | £279 to buy (15,000 Avios, not 16,000) | £147.20 to boost | £199 via subscription |
How do you setup an Avios subscription?
Setting up an Avios subscription is easy.
- Log into Avios.com using your BA The Club details.
- However over the Collect Avios menu item, then click the Avios Subscriptions option.
- Decide whether you want to pay monthly, or setup an annual subscription
- Select a plan (price point)
- Enter your card detail, your home address and click “confirm order” to start the subscription.
What are the important terms around subscriptions?
Like all aspects of Avios, there are some important terms that are worth considering.
Firstly, you can only have one subscription at once, and that allows you to secure up to 200,000 Avios in one calendar year. This is on top of the 200,000 points you can opt to purchase, and the 300,000 that you can gain through boosting.
It is an important point, because you may take out a lower-cost subscription, and then want to increase this at some point in the year. That isn’t possible, you are committed to the original subscription for the minimum period (twelve months for the annual plan, three months for the monthly).
You can get around this if you have a household account. Simply get a second subscription linked to another member of your household.
If you’re getting close to your Avios expiring (36 months since the last activity on your account) then the subscription will reset the clock on this, however it is very rare to not have some level of activity in your account, and there are much more cost-effective ways of going back to zero, like linking your Uber account and taking a single journey.
Are Avios subscriptions worth it?
For most people, a subscription will not be the best way to increase their points balance. Boosting points is more efficient. However, there will be some travellers who will find that subscriptions work for them.
The most likely group will be people who have longer-term travel plans, even beyond this year. By committing a set amount of money, you can grow your points balance every month, and get you close to a goal. It’s almost like Klarna for Avios.
Buying Avios to use in the medium term has its risks. A devaluation (one happened in December 2025) means that your target is now further away. Given that one has taken place recently, it feels less risky for the next couple of years, but you cannot guarantee that BA won’t make another change.
Add a comment