2 Minute Guide

About to buy online? Take two minutes first. This quick guide shows you how to capture points on everyday purchases before checkout -same spend, same price, but now every transaction earns rewards.
Buying online, stop and get points
Points 101: Do This Before You Buy Anything Online
Points 101

Do This Before You Buy Anything Online

If your browser is open and you’re about to click “buy”, stop for a moment.

It’s taken us at Points Travel Pro more than ten years to learn and build what’s on this site. It will take the average reader time to work through the guides and understand the system.

But you don’t need any of that right now.

If you’re about to make a purchase — insurance, a phone, flights, tech, anything — and you’re not earning points, do this first.

Earn Avios before you buy online
1

Open a BA / Avios account

Sign up for a free British Airways Executive Club account (or log in if you already have one). This is your points wallet — every Avios you earn lands here.

2

Go to the Avios shopping portal

Visit avios.com and log in with your BA details. This is the middleman — it tracks your click so the retailer knows to credit you Avios.

3

Search for your retailer and click through

Find the shop you were about to buy from. Click the link on the portal — not a Google search, not a bookmark. The portal link is what triggers the tracking.

4

Buy as normal — earn Avios

Complete your purchase exactly as you normally would. Same website, same product, same price. The Avios arrive in your account within a few weeks.

What’s actually happening here?

The Avios shopping portal is a referral system. Retailers pay Avios a small commission when you reach their site through the portal. Avios passes part of that commission to you — as points instead of cash. You pay nothing extra. The retailer’s price doesn’t change. You just started your journey from the right front door.

Hundreds of retailers are on there: Apple, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Boots, ASOS, Booking.com, Currys, and many more. The number of Avios you earn varies by retailer — typically 1 to 10 per pound spent — but even a small earn is better than nothing.

The quick version

Step 1: Open a free BA Executive Club account → Go to British Airways Club

Step 2: Open an Avios account (free) → Go to Avios.com

Step 3: Log into the Avios shopping portal, search for your retailer, click through, and buy as normal.

Same website. Same product. Same price. But now the purchase earns points.

You can learn the deeper strategy later. You can read the guides later. You can optimise later.

Right now, the only thing that matters is not letting a purchase happen with nothing coming back.

Close any window you had open that you were going to buy through.

Open your BA account. Start there.

And when you’ve made your purchase, come back here —
we’ll show you how to do it again and again.

READ MORE

Leveraging Status

Leveraging status

How to turn airline status, hotel elite benefits and credit card perks into real value for family travel — covering the benefits that actually matter when you're not travelling alone.
credit card

Credit Card Strategy

How UK credit cards turn routine spending into premium travel — covering the four card roles, practical starting setups, the household multiplier, and building a system that compounds over time.
companion tickets

Vouchers

A plain-English guide to every UK travel voucher that matters — BA companion vouchers, Barclays upgrade vouchers, Virgin Atlantic vouchers and hotel free night certificates, all in one place.

Five Star Stay

How to use hotel points for a luxury resort holiday - covering Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG, fifth-night-free strategies, transferable points, and how to book your first five-star stay.
The Potential Yield from points collection

THE POTENTIAL YIELD

How a typical £60k UK household uses cards, flying, status, portals and vouchers to build a repeatable pipeline for premium flights and stays - year after year.
Airline Miles or Hotel Points

Which do I choose, Airline Miles or Hotel Points

Airline miles or hotel points — which should you collect first? The answer depends entirely on how you travel. Here's a simple framework to help you decide.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated.