Overnight, a quiet but genuinely useful update landed for Avios collectors with Asia travel on the agenda: Philippine Airlines went live as an Avios earn and redeem partner - and the pricing on some routes is more interesting than you might expect.

Philippine Airlines has joined the Avios ecosystem, but which platform do you use to actually book Avios redemptions on Philippine Airlines flights?

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

As of yesterday, Philippine Airlines is now a live Avios earn and redeem partner - and it's a partnership that works entirely through Qatar Airways Privilege Club, not through BA directly. You cannot book Philippine Airlines Avios redemptions on ba.com, and you cannot credit cash flights to the British Airways Executive Club. Everything flows through Qatar.

If you don't already have a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account, you'll need to open one and link it to your BA Executive Club account. The good news: you do NOT need to transfer Avios into your Qatar account to redeem. When you book, Avios are automatically withdrawn from your linked BA account. Nice and clean.

There is one catch worth flagging immediately: only Avios from your own personal BA Executive Club account can be used. Qatar cannot withdraw Avios from household account members, so you'll need to have the full balance yourself. Pooling won't work here.

So where does Philippine Airlines actually fly? The network is broader than many UK travellers might realise. Outside Asia, it serves:

Now for the pricing. Qatar no longer publishes a fixed partner redemption chart, so rates are dynamic. Here's what test bookings showed:

At 1p per Avios (our standard estimate - check the Avios Value Calculator for context), the Manila to Singapore business redemption works out to roughly £340 + £83 = £423 total. That's not outrageous for a business class seat, though it depends heavily on the cash fare equivalent.

The honest summary: this partnership won't help you fly from the UK to Asia on Avios (Philippine Airlines has no European routes). But if you're already in Asia - or transiting through Manila - this opens up a genuinely useful set of regional hops and an additional path to Australia. Use the BA Avios Map to visualise where your Avios balance could now take you.

Timing is everything here. Qatar Airways Privilege Club is running a 50% bonus on purchased Avios through 25th May 2026 (23:59 Doha time). The promotion runs from 18-25 May, so this Sunday is the hard deadline. Given that Philippine Airlines redemptions now pull directly from your linked BA account, topping up your Qatar (and therefore BA-linked) Avios balance right now could be a smart move if you have a specific redemption in mind. The promotion is available to Privilege Club members who have earned at least 1 Avios. Check your account directly on the Qatar Airways website for your personalised offer.

Separately, Finnair Plus is running its own 50% bonus on purchased Avios through 22nd May - meaning this Friday is your cut-off. Critically, Avios bought through Finnair can be transferred freely to your British Airways Executive Club account after linking the two programmes - so this is effectively a route to topping up your BA Avios balance at a potential discount. Heads up: not all sources agree this is the best value option once you factor in Finnair's pricing per point versus Qatar's - compare both before buying. The Finnair sale ends earlier, so if you're going to act on either, sort the Finnair one first.

If you've been sitting on World of Hyatt points and haven't acted yet, today is the day that matters. Hyatt's updated award chart goes live on Wednesday 20th May 2026 - that's today - with award pricing increasing by up to 67% at some properties. Any bookings made from today onward will be priced at the new, higher rates.

Hyatt is one of the few major hotel programmes still publishing a fixed award chart, which has historically been one of its biggest selling points for points collectors. These changes don't eliminate that chart - but they do make some previously excellent-value properties meaningfully more expensive. If you had specific properties on your radar (particularly Category 2-4 hotels that were strong sweet spots), the pricing calculus has shifted.

For UK travellers, Hyatt properties are redeemable using Hyatt points transferred from certain US credit card programmes, but the programme itself isn't natively linked to any UK card. Worth keeping in mind if you're planning an upcoming trip and have a Hyatt balance sitting idle.

IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus on purchased points through Friday 6th June 2026, bringing the effective cost down to 0.5 cents (roughly 0.4p) per IHG point. Members can typically purchase up to 200,000 points per year before the bonus, though some accounts show an increased limit of up to 300,000 - check your account for the personalised cap.

IHG has a wide footprint of hotels across the UK and Europe - Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, and InterContinental properties all redeem on the same currency. A quick example: a Kimpton hotel in London can run to £250-£350 per night in cash, while an award night might cost 50,000-70,000 IHG points. At 0.5 cents each, buying 60,000 points costs roughly £240 before tax - which starts to make the maths interesting if you have a specific stay in mind. Warning: buying points speculatively is rarely smart - only buy if you have a firm redemption target.

The answer is 🟡 Via Qatar Airways Privilege Club. You cannot book Philippine Airlines Avios redemptions on ba.com at all - everything must be done through Qatar Airways Privilege Club. You'll need to open a QR Privilege Club account, link it to your BA Executive Club, and redeem from there. The Avios are pulled automatically from your linked BA account, so no manual transfer required.

With Philippine Airlines now in the Avios ecosystem, Asia redemptions just got a bit more interesting - but the lack of European routes means it's mostly useful for those already in the region. Do you have a Southeast Asia trip on the horizon where this could actually be useful? Or does this feel like a partnership that doesn't quite hit the mark for UK-based travellers? Hit reply - I read every response and genuinely want to know where you're planning to use your Avios next.

That's it for today - but don't sleep on the Qatar Airways 50% buy Avios bonus, which expires this Sunday 25th May. If you're eyeing a Philippine Airlines redemption or any other Qatar-ecosystem booking, topping up now at the bonused rate is about as good a buying window as we tend to see. The Finnair version is even more urgent - that one closes this Friday 22nd May. Don't leave it to the weekend.

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

1. Platinum Card: 75,000 points after spending £10,000 in 6 months (£6.5/yr)

2. HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard: Receive 60,000 reward points when you spend £3,000 on your card in the first 90 ... (£2.9/yr)

3. Gold Card: 40,000 points after spending £5,000 in 6 months (£1.95/yr (waived first year))

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.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →