I get the occasional reader email asking if you can convert Club Eurostar points into British Airways Avios points.
The answer is yes, you can, but there are two snags:
it is a bit fiddly, and more importantly …..
you will lose a lot of value
How do you convert Eurostar points to Avios?
You won’t find anything on the Eurostar website about converting points to Avios. This is because you need to move your points via an intermediary.
Eurostar only has one points partnership which allows direct transfers. This is with Accor Live Limitless, the loyalty scheme for the Accor hotel group. Accor owns Ibis, Novotel, Sofitel, Fairmont, Mercure and various other brands.
Full details are on the Accor website here.
Accor Live Limitless is a partner with British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus, so you can move points from Club Eurostar to Accor Live Limitless to Avios.
What are the transfer rates between Accor Live Limitless and Club Eurostar?
The snag with these transfer deals is that they are never generous. Accor Live Limitless is a revenue based loyalty scheme, with 1 Accor point worth 2 Eurocents off a hotel room. There is no redemption chart – the number of points needed for a free night is based on the cash cost of the room you want.
Because it is revenue based, it is hard for the Accor scheme to be too generous on transfers because it needs to make a profit on transfers in.
The transfer rate between Eurostar and Accor is:
500 Club Eurostar points gets you 1,500 Accor Live Limitless points
You need a minimum of 1,000 Club Eurostar points to convert them to Avios because of the Accor rules we explain below.
What are the transfer rates between Accor Live Limitless and Avios?
Here’s the interesting thing.
For weird historical reasons, Accor has a different deal with Iberia Plus and British Airways.
Accor Live Limitless points transfer at 1:1 into Iberia Plus (3,000 point minimum) – see the Accor website here
Accor Live Limitless points transfer at 2:1 into British Airways Executive Club (4,000 point minimum) – see the Accor website here
Only an idiot would transfer from Accor to British Airways instead of using Iberia Plus.
The smart thing to do is to open an Iberia Plus account, transfer your Accor points into Iberia Plus, and then use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move your Avios from Iberia Plus to British Airways Executive Club.
This HFP article explains how ‘Combine My Avios’ works.
Is it worth moving Club Eurostar points to Avios?
On the face of it, no.
I value a Club Eurostar point at 10p-12p as this article explains.
I value an Avios point at 1p, although you can often do better as this article explains.
So …. this is how it goes:
1,000 Eurostar points (value £100) gets you 3,000 Accor points (worth €60 of hotel rooms) gets you 3,000 Avios in Iberia Plus (worth £30)
The value gets worse at each level:
You get more value for your Eurostar points using them for train tickets than for Accor hotel rooms
You get more value for your Accor points using them for hotel rooms than for Avios points in Iberia Plus
Of course, life isn’t always that simple.
Perhaps you have Club Eurostar points you won’t use and will expire? In this case, 3,000 Accor or Avios points is better than nothing. You can always stop Club Eurostar points expiring by transfering a small number of American Express Membership Rewards points though.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it is always good to have more redemption options. This one involves a noticeable loss of value, on my valuations, but you may have a different view than me on what your Eurostar points are worth.
You can find out more about the Accor / Eurostar partnership on the Accor Live Limitless website here.
How to earn Club Eurostar points via UK credit cards
As a reminder, Club Eurostar does not have its own UK credit card. However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. These are:
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold – 10,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus
The Platinum Card from American Express – 30,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus
American Express Rewards credit card – 5,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus
Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points. The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you earn the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.
American Express Platinum also comes with a great Eurostar benefit – lounge access! You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, simply by showing The Platinum Card at the desk. No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a FREE supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.