Airmiles is celebrating 21 years in providing members with free flights, hotels and days out – making it the UK’s longest running travel loyalty scheme.

The benefits really are pretty good but you do need to be willing to spend in order to gain airmiles. Read on to find out which ways of collecting are better for you.

• What are Airmiles?
• Collecting Airmiles
• Spending Airmiles

What are Airmiles?

Airmiles are not as complicated as you might think. They work like a loyalty points system – the more you spend, the more you collect. The collected Airmiles can then be used in exchange for flights, hotels, activities and day trips.

It’s free to sign up on the website where you can also review your account. The home page has an option that will show you where you can travel to with your Airmiles without you having to calculate anything yourself – a perfect option if you want a quick break and aren’t particularly fussed where you go.

Collecting Airmiles

There are several ways to collect Airmiles and turn them into free travel and trips.

Every day spending through the website

Shop online at the Airmiles estore from over 200 online and high street partners, including Currys, John Lewis, Toys ‘R’ Us, Game, HMV and Waterstones. Many retailers offer one mile for every £2 spent, but some only offer one mile for every £5 or £10 spent. If you can buy what you need with the most rewarding merchants then tactically this will pay off.

Tesco Clubcard

You can convert your Tesco Clubcard vouchers to Airmiles with the online Voucher Calculator. Simply choose how many vouchers you wish to convert, add them to your basket and proceed to the ‘Clubcard Checkout’. £2.50 worth of vouchers will earn you 60 Airmiles. This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to clock up Airmiles and benefit from free travel and outings.

Shell petrol

For every 20 litres of fuel you buy at a Shell garage you will earn yourself 1 airmile. Simply pick up a Shell Driver’s Clubcard from a participating garage or register online (and earn 50 bonus points in the process) and then swipe your card every time you fill up with petrol. Your Airmiles will be added to your account three times a year.

Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card Account

Earn Airmiles when you spend on your Airmiles credit cards. The account comes with two cards, as the title suggests; one American Express and the other Mastercard. For every £10 spent on the American Express you’ll earn 1 airmile, while you’ll earn the same on the Mastercard when you spend £50.

There is no annual fee but the cards do come with a typical 15.9% APR. There is 0% interest on balance transfers for the first 6 months, providing you spend a minimum of £100 on purchases in the first 3 months. Otherwise, the interest-free period for transfers will be set at 3 months. There is a 3% handling fee and the transfers must be a minimum of £100 and come from a non-Lloyds TSB account within six weeks of the account opening.

Recycle your old mobile phone

You can also get up to 750 Airmiles by recycling your old mobile phone. Simply log on to your Airmiles account, select the make and model of your phone and Airmiles will tell you how much you can receive.

Then all you have to do is send the phone handset (without the SIM or memory card) to the Airmiles freepost address. Easy.

Travel shopping

You can collect airmiles by booking travel and buying your holiday essentials through various companies connected with Airmiles. Use your Airmiles membership number when booking car hire over the phone or online with Avis and receive 30 miles for every day of your hire. You can gain a maximum of 630 miles per hire.

If you travel frequently, sign up for a BAA Worldpoints card and choose ‘Airmiles’ as your reward. Then for every £1 you spend in airport shops, bars and restaurants you’ll receive 1 mile when you present your Worldcard. You can view the full range of ways to collect airmiles through your travel shopping here.

Spending Airmiles

Flights

Airmiles can be used to get free flights to destinations all over the world, including Vienna, Cairo, Sydney and LA. The website has an easy to use map that separates the world into 7 zones – the further you travel, the more Airmiles you will use to get there. Just 750 Airmiles will allow you to fly to destinations in the UK and Ireland, as well as Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

1500 miles will take you a little further afield to such places as Gibralter, Ibiza and Malta. If you feel like travelling more long-haul, collect 6500 miles to travel to places including Hong Kong or Kingston, Jamaica. 10,000 airmiles will allow you to fly to Buenos Aires or Sydney, which are placed in zone 7.

When you have selected the airport you wish to fly from and the destination to fly to, the website gives the option to pay with a combination of Airmiles and cash if you haven’t got enough Airmiles to cover the whole cost. A flight to Paris could cost you just 500 Airmiles plus £45 per person. Cash prices for flights to different destinations in the same zone do vary.

Hotels, car hire and insurance

You can search and select hotels, car hire and travel insurance separately in all destinations. As with flights, hotels, car hire and insurance also offer the option to pay in Airmiles and cash.

Eurostar

Airmiles offer return Eurostar trips from St Pancras or Ebbsfleet International to Paris, Lille, Calais and Brussels from 800 miles for adults and 740 for children. You can also travel to Disneyland Paris from 900 miles for adults and 800 for children. Alternatively, you can also pay with Airmiles and cash.

Other holidays

You can also search for package holidays, ferry trips, cruises and ski holidays through Airmiles. All are booked using leading travel companies and tour operators such as Thomson, Kuoni, Princess Cruises, Inghams and P&O Ferries.

The difference with booking one of these trips compared with flights and hotels is that you can decide how much you pay in Airmiles and how much in cash. With flights the amount you can pay in airmiles is prescribed where as here, if you want to pay for 25% in Airmiles and 75% in cash that’s fine, or if you want to pay for 32% in Airmiles they’ll work out how much cash you owe. With flights the ratios are set in stone.

If you don’t want to redeem any of your airmiles towards the trip, you are can still get really good value holidays through Airmiles ‘Deals of the Week’ and ‘Last-minute Deals’.

Activities and days out

You can also use your Airmiles to purchase tickets to top UK attractions, activity days and outings. Attractions include Legoland, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Madame Tussauds. Other days out include white water rafting, paintballing, wine tasting and football club tours and you can spend as little as 100 Airmiles on a fabulous day out.

You can even purchase a Merlin Annual Pass through Airmiles for 1500 miles, which gives you 12 months access to many of the UK’s top attractions including the ones above, 20% off food and drink at most attractions and 20% off stays at Alton Towers.

Useful links

• Airmiles
• Tesco
• Shell Drivers Club
• Find out more about Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Cards