In partnership with
If you've been busy with the festive season and missed this news, here's one worth catching up on: PizzaExpress has partnered with Avios to become the first UK restaurant where you can both earn and redeem points. The partnership went live on 1st December, and with Christmas gatherings and family meals on the horizon, it's worth knowing how to make it work for you.
Let me walk you through exactly how to set this up, what the earning rates look like, and give you my honest take on whether spending Avios here makes sense.
How to Earn 3 Avios Per £1 at PizzaExpress
The earning side is genuinely impressive. You'll collect 3 Avios for every £1 spent at PizzaExpress when paying with a pre-registered payment card. That's double what you'd earn on the Barclaycard Avios Plus (1.5 Avios per £1) and triple the standard Capital on Tap earning rate.
Here's how to get set up:
Make sure you're a member of The British Airways Club (free to join if you're not already)
Visit avios.com and navigate to 'My Account' → 'Registered Cards'
Link any UK, US, or Ireland-issued Visa, Mastercard, or Amex card
Wait at least 24 hours before dining (the card needs time to register)
Pay as normal – via your server, Pay at Table, or the PizzaExpress Club app
Your Avios should appear in your account within 7 days of dining.
Important Exclusions to Know
There are a few catches worth knowing about before your next visit:
Digital wallets don't work – you must tap or insert your physical registered card (no Apple Pay or Google Pay)
PayPal, YoYo Wallet, and store cards aren't eligible
Airport restaurants are excluded (Gatwick and Edinburgh specifically)
Delivery and collection orders don't qualify
Supermarket PizzaExpress products don't count
Alcohol only qualifies when purchased alongside food
The digital wallet restriction is the biggest frustration. Many of us have moved to Apple Pay or Google Pay for convenience, but you'll need to physically tap your card to earn Avios here.
Stacking Your Rewards
The beauty of this partnership is that the 3 Avios per £1 stacks on top of whatever your underlying credit card earns. For example:
Register your Barclaycard Avios Plus and earn 3 Avios (PizzaExpress) + 1.5 Avios (card) = 4.5 Avios per £1. Use your Amex Gold and earn 3 Avios + 1 MR point per £1 (transferable to Avios at 1:1). Or register Capital on Tap for 3 Avios + 1 Avios per £1 = 4 Avios per £1.
A £50 family meal could net you 150-225 Avios depending on your card. Over the course of a year with regular visits, that adds up nicely.
The Redemption Side – Is It Worth It?
Here's where my enthusiasm cools considerably. You can convert your Avios into PizzaExpress vouchers at a rate of 1,000 Avios for £5 – that's 0.5p per Avios.
To put that in perspective, a short-haul economy flight can get you 1p+ per Avios, business class redemptions often yield 1.5p+ per Avios, and peak business class to the US can push towards 2p per Avios. So you're looking at roughly half the value (or less) compared to saving your Avios for flights.
Use our Avios calculator to see what flights cost and you'll quickly see why I'd hesitate to spend points this way.
There are also some redemption restrictions to note:
Vouchers are single-use only – if your bill is less than the voucher value, you don't get change
Maximum of £250 in vouchers per day (up to 5 vouchers)
Vouchers expire after 6 months
Can't combine with other PizzaExpress promotions or Club rewards
Can't earn Avios if you're paying with a voucher (you'd miss out on the earning side)
When Redemption Might Make Sense
That said, there are a few scenarios where spending Avios on pizza could be reasonable:
You have a small Avios balance that wouldn't be enough for flights
Your points are about to expire and you need to use them
You genuinely have more Avios than you can realistically use for travel
You want to treat someone to dinner using points rather than cash
For most of us focused on maximising value, though, I'd stick to earning here and redeeming elsewhere. If you do need to burn some expiring points, the Avios Shop might offer better value depending on what you're after.
The Bigger Picture
This partnership is part of IAG Loyalty's broader strategy to make Avios a 'lifestyle currency' rather than purely a travel rewards programme. We've already seen the Avios Shop expand to 300+ products, and the BA Shopping Portal continues to offer solid earning opportunities with retailers.
PizzaExpress is described as the first restaurant partnership, which suggests we might see more dining options joining the Avios ecosystem in future. Whether that's a positive development depends on your perspective – more earning opportunities are always welcome, but I'd rather see IAG maintain the value of Avios for flights than push low-value retail redemptions.
The Bottom Line
The earning side of this partnership is excellent and worth setting up if you eat at PizzaExpress with any regularity. Three Avios per £1, stacking with your credit card rewards, makes for a compelling proposition – especially with Christmas meals coming up.
The redemption side? Unless you're sitting on points you can't otherwise use, save them for flights. At 0.5p per Avios, you're leaving value on the table compared to even basic economy redemptions.
If you haven't already, make sure you've got a strong Avios-earning credit card setup. Check out our guides to the best Avios credit cards and business card options to maximise what you're earning on everyday spending – including your next Dough Balls and American Hot.
Jack
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