One million Avios. Not a flash sale, not a credit card sign-up target - just a straight-up prize draw with the biggest single Avios giveaway we've seen from BA and Amex in years.

BA and Amex are celebrating how many years of their co-branded card partnership with this prize draw?

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

British Airways and American Express are marking 25 years of their co-branded card partnership with a prize draw that's genuinely worth your attention. The top prize is 1,000,000 Avios - and beyond that, there are 25 further prizes of 100,000 Avios each. That's 26 separate winners in total.

To put that top prize in context: 1,000,000 Avios is enough to fly two people return to Tokyo in Club World multiple times over. Using our BA Avios flight calculator, a return Club World flight to Tokyo costs around 160,000 Avios plus taxes. So the top prize alone could theoretically cover six of those.

Even the runner-up prizes are serious. 100,000 Avios is enough for a return Business Class flight to the US or a long-haul redemption to parts of Africa or Asia - comfortably worth £1,000+ in redemption value at our standard estimate of 1p per Avios.

The draw is open to holders of either of the British Airways American Express cards - that's the BA Amex (free) or the BA Premium Plus card. If you hold one, you're eligible to enter.

Heads up: full terms and conditions aren't yet widely published, so it's worth checking your card app or the BA Executive Club website directly to confirm entry details and any closing date. This is a genuine promotion tied to the partnership anniversary - not a points earning offer, just a free-to-enter draw.

Don't hold either card? The BA Premium Plus Amex currently comes with a substantial welcome bonus and earns 3 Avios per £1 on BA spend, 1.5 Avios per £1 everywhere else. The annual fee is £295, but the companion voucher (a 2-4-1 on Reward Flights when you spend £10,000 in a year) can easily justify the cost on a single long-haul redemption.

Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it will not operate any flights to Dubai during the entire Winter 2026/27 season. This isn't a temporary scheduling gap - flights were expected to resume in late October as normal, but that's now off the table entirely.

This follows Virgin's earlier cancellation of its Riyadh route. The airline is also boosting capacity on South Africa routes to compensate, but for anyone who had Virgin Points earmarked for a Dubai redemption this winter, you'll need to rethink.

The practical implication: if you want to reach Dubai using points from the UK this winter, you're looking at BA via Avios (which remains an option), Emirates, or transferring to a Middle East carrier. Worth checking available Virgin Points redemption alternatives using our Virgin Atlantic reward seat finder to see what's still open.

Warning: if you have existing bookings on VS to Dubai in the Winter 2026/27 period, contact Virgin Atlantic directly about rebooking or refund options. Don't wait for them to contact you first.

Until Monday 19th May, you can convert Avios into ALL Accor loyalty points with a 50% bonus via Finnair Plus. The mechanics: you send Avios to Finnair Plus first, then convert into ALL points - and during this window, every 750 Avios you convert becomes 750 ALL points (instead of the standard 500).

ALL Accor covers Novotel, Pullman, Mercure, Sofitel, Raffles, ibis and many more - so there's genuine breadth here for UK travellers. If you've been sitting on Avios but can't find a flight redemption you love, this is a decent alternative route to hotel nights.

The maths: at our standard estimate of 1p per Avios, you'd want to make sure the hotel nights you're unlocking are genuinely worth the conversion. ALL points typically yield around 2 euro cents per point on redemptions - so run the numbers before you transfer. It's not always better than just holding Avios, but for Accor loyalists with surplus points, the 50% boost changes the equation meaningfully.

Heads up: the transfer route goes Avios - Finnair Plus - ALL Accor, so you'll need a Finnair Plus account set up. Allow time for the transfer to process before the deadline.

IHG One Rewards has launched its summer Pick Your Points promotion for stays between 20th May and 31st August 2026. You choose between earning 2,000 bonus points every 2 nights, or 8,000 bonus points every 4 nights. The maths on the second option is better if you tend to stay for longer stretches - 8,000 points for 4 nights versus 8,000 points for 4x2 night stretches are effectively equivalent, but the 4-night option concentrates the earning.

You must register before your first eligible stay. IHG covers Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, Kimpton, and more. Registration is required - the bonus won't apply automatically. Head to the IHG One Rewards website to sign up. Eligible for members outside Greater China.

Not all BA long-haul routes behave the same when Avios seats drop at midnight, 355 days out. Some routes release eight economy, two premium economy, and four business class seats on day one - and those business class seats on popular routes (think New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo) can be gone in minutes. On quieter routes, those same seats sit untouched for weeks.

If you're planning an Avios redemption this summer or beyond, use our BA Reward Avios Flight Finder to check what's actually available on your route before you set your alarm for midnight. Knowing whether your route is 'competitive' or 'relaxed' changes how aggressively you need to hunt for seats - and could save you a very early morning.

The answer is 🔵 25 years. BA and Amex have been co-branded card partners since 2001, and to mark the occasion they've put up a 1,000,000 Avios top prize - plus 25 runner-up prizes of 100,000 Avios each, one for each year of the partnership. A neat bit of symmetry.

If you won 1,000,000 Avios tomorrow, what's the first redemption you'd make? Business Class to Japan? A cluster of short-haul returns for the family? Or something more creative? Hit reply - genuinely curious what our readers would do with a million points.

That's it for today - but don't forget the Avios-to-ALL Accor 50% transfer bonus closes this Monday 19th May. If you've been meaning to check whether your Avios are worth more as hotel nights right now, that window is closing fast. Run the numbers this weekend before it's gone.

Frequent flyer? Make every device look the part. 5+ hand-designed airport maps, formatted for iPhone, iPad, Mac and desktop.

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Business Gold Card: 60,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

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