Up to 25200 Avios by subscribing to The Economist – available globally.

Until the rest of this month, you can get up to 25200 Avios when you subscribe to The Economist. The offer is available globally and the page is located here. Note that you will need to sign in with your BAEC details so that British Airways can track your purchase.

There are three media types to choose from with different prices and bonus Avios being awarded depending on the length of your subscription.

For those within the EU who may be thinking about claiming this back on business expenses, the UK does not levy VAT on printed magazines but levies 20% on those which include a digital subscription. Most other EU countries levy between 5-9% for printed material and 20-25% on digital subscriptions. This is very important because the tax on subscriptions is calculated where you are resident so you will need to click offer link, and when you arrive at The Economist's site you need to change the country in the top right to get your final prices. Non-EU residents do not pay VAT though this may not alter the total price The Economist charges!

You should receive your bonus Avios within 28 days of the subscription starting, though once you receive your points and/or are outside of the statutory 14 day ‘cooling off' period and decide to cancel you will not receive a refund.

A few other caveats to note:

• The offer is only available to new subscribers to The Economist.
• 1 year subscriptions are not available to Canadian residents.
• Offer expires 31st January 2019

The prices and Avios given are below:

Print Only

• 1 year — £145, 10200 Avios — 1.422p per Avios
• 2 year — £259, 16200 Avios — 1.598p per Avios
• 3 year — £349, 22200 Avios — 1.572p per Avios

Digital Only

• 1 year — £145, 10200 Avios — 1.422p per Avios
• 2 year — £259, 16200 Avios — 1.598p per Avios
• 3 year — £349, 22200 Avios — 1.572p per Avios

Print + Digital

• 1 year — £179, 13200 Avios — 1.356p per Avios (this is the best offer in price per Avios!)
• 2 year — £315, 19200 Avios — 1.641p per Avios
• 3 year — £425, 25200 Avios — 1.687p per Avios

 

As you can see from above the optimal price per Avios is not the offer that awards the most points, but the print+digital 1 year deal. (Sorry Canadians!). If you are VAT registered and able to reclaim this expense for business then you can further factor the tax saving depending on where you live.

At 1.356p/Avios it is significantly higher than the price I would be buying solely for the Avios, but at least it can provide some interesting reading material while flying. Once again, link to the offer page here.