I know people who fly 10+ times a year and have barely any points to show for it. And I know people who fly 3-4 times a year and somehow manage to book free business class trips to Asia. The difference isn't how much they fly. It's how deliberately they earn.

Pick One Programme and Stick With It

This is the number one thing. Seriously. Having 8,000 Avios here and 6,000 Virgin Points there and 4,000 Miles & More miles somewhere else gets you absolutely nothing. None of those balances are big enough to do anything useful with.

Pick one programme that makes sense for how you travel. If you're UK-based and fly BA a lot, the Executive Club is the obvious choice. If you mainly go to Asia, maybe look at Cathay's Asia Miles. If your flights are scattered across airlines, pick a programme within the alliance (oneworld, Star Alliance, SkyTeam) that covers most of your carriers. That way every flight feeds the same pot.

50,000 points in one account is infinitely more useful than 10,000 points spread across five accounts.

Fare Classes Make a Massive Difference

This is something most people don't realise. When you buy an economy ticket, it gets assigned a fare class (a letter like Y, B, M, H, Q, etc.) depending on the price level. The fare class determines how many points you earn.

A full-price economy ticket (class Y) on a London to Dubai BA flight earns about 5,500 Avios. A discounted fare (class Q) on the same flight? About 1,400. That's a 4x difference on the exact same route in the exact same seat.

Sometimes the price difference between these fares is only £50-100. If you're already spending £400+ on a flight, that small bump can be very worth it for the extra points. Always check the fare class earning rates before you book.

Business and first class earn even more, typically 150-300% of the flight distance. One business class trip to Asia can earn you enough points for 2-3 short-haul economy flights.

Credit Cards Are the Cheat Code

For most people, credit card spending will earn them more points than flying does. Think about it: you fly maybe 5-10 times a year. But you spend money every single day.

The BA Amex earns 1 Avios per pound on everything. Put £2,000 a month through it (mortgage, groceries, bills, subscriptions, fuel) and that's 24,000 Avios a year without leaving the ground. The sign-up bonus alone is usually 25,000-50,000 Avios depending on the offer.

Then there are transferable points cards like the Amex Gold or Platinum. These earn Membership Rewards points that transfer to loads of airlines. So you earn general points on your spending and then move them to whichever programme gives you the best deal when you're ready to book.

I'm not saying go out and get a credit card you don't need. But if you're already using one for daily spending, you might as well use one that earns points.

Specific Tricks That Actually Work

Always book direct: Flights booked through the airline website earn full points. Third-party sites like Expedia or Skyscanner sometimes earn reduced points or none at all. Always go direct if you can.

Use the shopping portals: BA has an e-store, Virgin has one too. You click through to retailers like M&S, Apple, John Lewis, etc. and earn bonus Avios on your purchase. If you're buying something anyway, it takes 10 seconds to go through the portal first. I've earned thousands of Avios from Christmas shopping alone doing this.

Credit partner flights properly: When you fly an alliance partner, make sure you credit it to your preferred programme. Sometimes crediting a Star Alliance flight to a partner programme actually earns more than crediting it to the airline you're actually flying. Check the earning charts.

Jump on promotions: Airlines run double and triple points promos fairly regularly. BA does targeted ones, Emirates runs route-specific bonuses, and transfer partners like Amex occasionally offer bonus rates when you move points over. Subscribe to the newsletters and check FlyerTalk for the latest.

Don't forget hotel stays: Most airline programmes partner with hotel chains. You can often choose to earn airline miles instead of hotel points when you stay. On a 3-night stay, that could be a decent chunk of miles.

Spending Points Without Wasting Them

Earning points is great, but spending them badly wipes out all your work. The golden rule: points give you the best value on premium cabin flights.

50,000 Avios on a business class flight worth £1,500 cash = 3p per point. Those same 50,000 Avios on economy flights worth £400 = less than 1p per point. Three times the value just by being patient and saving for a bigger redemption.

Look for off-peak award dates. BA's Avios chart has peak and off-peak pricing, and the difference is significant. Also check partner airline availability, as sometimes you can find award seats on partners that aren't available on the main airline.

Whatever you do, avoid spending points on merchandise, gift cards, or magazine subscriptions. Those redemptions are almost always terrible value, like 0.3-0.5p per point. Your points are worth way more than that.

Keep Them Alive

Most programmes expire your points after 18-36 months of inactivity. That means no earning AND no spending. Even earning 1 point through an online shopping portal resets the clock. Set a calendar reminder every 6 months to do something small with your account if you haven't flown recently.