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How to earn free flights

How to earn free flights

If you've come back from holiday and are already dreaming of getting away again, your next break could be much cheaper if you take advantage of a rewards credit card.

These cards offer the chance to earn points to spend on 'free' flights (you just have to pay taxes and charges) or even flights themselves when you spend on them. Several have very appealing introductory offers, where you can quickly rack up a lot of points if you spend a decent chunk of money in the first three months. So if you've got a big purchase or two coming up, taking advantage of a rewards card can pay off later.



Avios cards

The Avios scheme replaced Airmiles a couple of years ago and offers points that you can redeem for flights, hotels, rail travel, holidays, days out and more. There are a number of credit cards that either allow you to collect Avios directly or offer points that you can convert into Avios. You can see how many Avios you’ll need to fly to different destinations here. Note that you'll need to pay taxes and charges on top and these start from £35 for a European round trip.

Lloyds TSB Duo

If you apply for the Lloyds TSB Duo Avios credit cards, you’ll be sent two cards – an American Express and a MasterCard (for those times American Express isn’t accepted).

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You’ll receive one Avios for roughly every £1 you spend on the American Express card and one Avios for every £5 you spend on the MasterCard. Spend £500 a month for the first three months and you'll get 15,000 Avios, enough for a return flight to Western Europe (which costs 9,000 points), although you'll have to pay £35 in fees and charges on top. The representative APR is 17.9%.

Tesco Clubcards

If you are a keen Tesco shopper, the Tesco Clubcard for Purchases credit card might be right up your aisle. It allows you to collect Clubcard points as you spend, so for every £4 you spend anywhere in the world, you’ll collect one Clubcard point.

But it doesn’t end there – your credit card also doubles as a standard Clubcard so you’ll collect points on your Tesco purchases too. At the moment you can earn five points for every £4 you spend at Tesco and on Tesco fuel.

You can then convert these Clubcard points into Avios, as well as days out, meals out, and much more. You can view the full list here. The representative APR is 16.9%.

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easyJet

If you're happy to fly easyJet, there are a couple of schemes that get you money off their flights.

Nectar

If you shop at Sainsbury’s regularly, you might want to take a look at the Nectar options.

The Sainsbury’s Low Rate Nectar credit card currently offers ten Nectar points for every £1 you spend in Sainsbury's, up to a maximum spend of £1,000 a month (so you can earn a maximum of 10,000 points a month), providing you use it in conjunction with your Nectar card. You can also earn eight points for every £1 you spend on fuel, plus an extra point per litre. After that initial period, you'll earn four points for every £1 you spend in Sainsbury's and two points for every £1 you spend on fuel and one point per litre. The representative APR, as the name suggests, is a low 7.8%.

Meanwhile, the American Express Nectar credit card is currently offering 10,000 Nectar points as a welcome bonus when you spend £1,000 in the first three months. You can then earn four points for every £1 you spend at Nectar partners including Sainsbury's, BP and Homebase. You get two Nectar points for virtually every £1 you spend elsewhere. However, it does charge an annual fee of £25, meaning it has a representative APR of 25%.

You can redeem 500 Nectar points for £2.50 off easyJet flights. Note that a £10 booking fee applies via Nectar.

NatWest and RBS YourPoints

There are also the NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland YourPoints World MasterCards.

These give you one point for every £1 you spend on your card. Right now, you'll get 2,500 points (worth £12.50) when you take out the card, double points for your first nine months and another 2,500 points after your first year.

It costs around 15,000 points for a European flight, but that does include taxes and charges. The representative APR is 17.9%.



American Express Preferred Rewards

If you put most of your spending on your plastic and you like to travel, you might also consider the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold charge card.

This card gives you roughly one Membership Reward point for every pound you spend. You can currently earn double points on all major supermarket and petrol spending during your first year.

You can spend these points on flights, hotels, shopping gift cards, and luxury items. Apply now and you'll receive 20,000 points if you spend £2,000 in the first three months, which Amex claims can earn you two free flights to Paris or Amsterdam, although we've never found any dates to back this up. But you should be able to redeem 20,000 points for one flight, including taxes, fairly easily.

You'll also get two complimentary airport lounge passes in your first year.

However, while Amex is currently waiving the £125 annual membership fee, it will be charged if you don't cancel the card after a year. You should also note that as this is a charge card, not a credit card, you HAVE to pay off your balance in full each month. If you're planning on making a big purchase early on, you need to contact Amex first.

To be eligible, you need an annual household income of at least £20,000 a year and to qualify for the 20,000 point bonus you can't have held another American Express charge card in the past six months.



Ryanair

Ryanair's credit card also offers flights when you spend. If you spend £100 in the first 90 days, you'll receive a voucher for a return flight (you'll have to pay taxes and charges on top). If you spend £3,000 in a six-month period (these run from 11th December-10th June and 11th June-10th December), you'll receive two flight vouchers. So you could earn up to five flight vouchers in your first year. The representative APR is 19.9%.



Flybe

Spend anything on the Flybe credit card (even £1) and you'll get a free return flight to selected destinations in the UK and Europe, although you'll have to pay taxes and fees on top.

You then collect one Rewards4All point for every £250 you spend on the card. Collect 16 points and you'll get a return economy flight (taxes and fees on top) to destinations in the UK and Ireland. Collect 24 points and you'll get a flight to Europe (excluding Spain, Portugal and Croatia). The representative APR is 18.9%.



Lufthansa

The Miles & More scheme gives you an American Express and a Visa. You earn two miles for every £1 you spend on the Amex during the first six months, then 1.5 points thereafter. You earn one mile for every £1 spent on the Visa in the first six months and 1.5 miles for every £2 spent after that.

You'll also earn 1,500 miles when you spend on the card within the first 90 days of having it, and 5,000 extra miles if you spend £500 or more within the first 90 days. The representative APR is 16.9%.



Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic offers an American Express and a Visa with its White Card. You earn one Flying Club Mile for every £1 spent on the Amex card and one Flying Club Mile for every £2 spent on the Visa. You'll get a bonus of 3,000 Flying Club Miles with your first purchase. The representative APR is 17.9%.



A final word of warning

Finally, remember, if you’re using a rewards credit card, always ensure you pay off your bill in full each month to avoid being hit with a hefty interest charge which will wipe out the rewards you've earned.

[Compare rewards credit cards]