Avios Group
Avios Group (IAG Loyalty) operates the Avios loyalty currency platform, connecting IAG airlines and partner carriers (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, Qatar Airways, Finnair, Loganair) with financial, hotel, retail, and mobility partners via co-branded credit cards and merchant earn/spend programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersCrawley, United Kingdom
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Avios Group does
Avios Group (AGL) Ltd, trading as IAG Loyalty, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) that operates and licenses the Avios loyalty currency. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Harmondsworth, England, the company operates the technology, partner management, and commercial platform that powers Avios collection, transfer, and redemption across airline, financial, hospitality, retail, and emerging mobility ecosystems.
The core product is a multi-sided loyalty platform that connects at least seven airline loyalty programs — British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, AerClub (Aer Lingus), Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Loganair's program — with a broad partner base of co-branded credit card issuers (American Express with British Airways, Barclays, Chase, CaixaBank, Santander), hotel groups (IHG, Marriott), and non-travel merchants (Nectar, Avis Budget, Endesa, Repsol, Bilt, and bp pulse EV charging). Avios earns interchange-style economics from card co-brands and merchant relationships, plus licensing and redemption-margin economics from IAG's operating airlines and partner carriers. Recent product moves extend Avios utility into EV charging and the first Avios-Only transatlantic flight with Aer Lingus, indicating ongoing category and geographic broadening of the currency's spend surfaces.
Avios generates revenue primarily through (i) long-tenured co-branded credit card economics with financial partners, with the British Airways/American Express card reaching its 25-year anniversary in 2026, (ii) merchant/retail partnerships that pay for member acquisition, engagement and attribution, and (iii) licensing, settlement, and breakage mechanics on the Avios currency from IAG airlines and non-IAG partner carriers. As a private subsidiary, Avios Group discloses no standalone revenue, headcount, or margin figures; commercial disclosures are limited to partnership announcements and program-level milestones.
Avios Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Avios Group
- Legal name
- Avios Group (AGL) Ltd
- Website
- https://aviosgroup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Avios Group (IAG Loyalty) operates the Avios loyalty currency platform, connecting IAG airlines and partner carriers (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, Qatar Airways, Finnair, Loganair) with financial, hotel, retail, and mobility partners via co-branded credit cards and merchant earn/spend programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Avios Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Loyalty Program Management
- akta.pro primary industry
- Loyalty Technology Platforms (LMS, Wallets, APIs) (THABAKAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Co-Branded Card & Card-Linked Offers Enablement (Issuer/Network Integrations) (THALAKAI)
Keywords
Where Avios Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Crawley
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Avios Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Merchant Partnership Revenue: Revenue from commercial partnerships with retailers, hospitality brands, financial institutions, and car rental companies who offer Avios as an earn/redemption currency to their customers, creating incremental transaction value.
- Airline Loyalty Program Licensing: Revenue from operating loyalty programs for airline partners including British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Vueling Club, and others under the Avios umbrella.
- Co-branded Credit Card Partnerships: Revenue from financial institution partnerships (American Express, Barclays, Chase, CaixaBank) through co-branded credit card programs where cardholders earn Avios on spending.
- Hotels & Hospitality Partnerships: Revenue from hotel loyalty integrations including IHG Hotels & Resorts and Marriott International where guests can earn/redeem Avios during stays.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Avios Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Avios Group operates and manages the Avios rewards currency, a global loyalty currency that enables consumers to earn points through everyday spending and redeem them for travel. The company operates loyalty programs on behalf of airline partners including British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Loganair Loyalty, and enables merchants such as hotels, car rental firms, retailers, energy companies, and financial institutions to integrate Avios earning and redemption into their customer offerings.
Product overview
IAG Loyalty operates as a loyalty programme management platform centered around the Avios currency—a rewards currency that can be collected through everyday spending and redeemed on travel. The platform functions as a unified ecosystem connecting multiple airline loyalty programmes (British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Loganair Loyalty) under a single currency system. Additional offerings include Avios for Merchants, enabling businesses to offer Avios rewards, and a Partner Programme for strategic collaborations. The company provides 30 years of loyalty industry expertise, encompassing technology, currency management, and marketing know-how to build customer and employee experiences.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Avios: The global rewards currency that can be collected with everyday spending and redeemed on travel. Used by airline loyalty programs including British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, AerClub, Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Loganair Loyalty.
Products and services
- Avios Currency
- Avios for Merchants
- Partner Program
Companies that use Avios Group
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Avios Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Avios Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- bp pulsecorebp pulse and IAG Loyalty launched a partnership enabling drivers in the UK to earn up to 4 Avios per £1 on electric vehicle charging, expanding Avios into the EV charging category for everyday journeys.
- NectarcoreNectar x Avios currency exchange partnership launched in 2021, enabling Nectar members to convert points to/from Avios. Partnership has scaled to deliver significant value to joint customer base.
- British Airways Executive ClubcorePrimary airline loyalty program operated under the Avios currency umbrella. British Airways Executive Club members collect and redeem Avios for flights.
- Iberia PluscoreIberia loyalty program operated under the Avios currency, part of IAG airline group.
- Aer Lingus AerClubcoreAer Lingus loyalty program celebrating 10 years, offering transatlantic Avios-Only flights between Dublin and New York.
- Vueling ClubcoreVueling low-cost carrier loyalty program operating under the Avios currency.
- Qatar Privilege ClubcoreQatar Airways loyalty program partner operating under the Avios currency ecosystem.
- Finnair PluscoreFinnair loyalty program partner operating under the Avios currency.
- Loganair LoyaltyminorRegional UK airline loyalty program partner operating under the Avios currency.
- American Expresscore25-year partnership celebrating with exclusive Cardmember Avios-Only flight to New York. Co-branded credit cards enabling Avios earning on spending.
- IHG Hotels & ResortscoreLongstanding partnership enabling IHG hotel guests to earn and redeem Avios. IHG describes IAG Loyalty as collaborative, learning-oriented, and data-driven.
- Avis Budget EMEAcoreGlobal strategic partnership enabling Avis Budget customers to earn and redeem Avios. Avis Budget describes the partnership as best-in-class proposition.
- Marriott InternationalcorePartnership enabling Marriott Bonvoy members to earn and redeem Avios during hotel stays.
- BarclayscoreUK banking partner offering co-branded credit cards enabling Avios earning.
- ChasecoreUS banking partner offering co-branded credit cards enabling Avios earning.
- CaixaBankcoreSpanish banking partner offering co-branded credit cards enabling Avios earning.
- SantandercoreSpanish banking partner offering co-branded credit cards enabling Avios earning.
- EndesaminorSpanish energy company partnership enabling customers to earn Avios on energy spending.
- RepsolminorEnergy company partnership enabling customers to earn Avios on fuel purchases.
- BiltminorReal estate rewards partnership enabling renters to earn Avios on rent payments through the Bilt platform.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Avios Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Bilt Rewards: Bilt Rewards enables rent-payment earning transferable to multiple airline/hotel currencies including Avios — a direct B2C partner illustration of the platform. Represents the emerging generation of category-defining (rent → travel) loyalty integrations.
- Marriott International (Marriott Bonvoy): Marriott Bonvoy is both an Avios redemption partner and a competing hospitality loyalty ecosystem with credit card and travel redemption integration. Represents an adjacent loyalty model at hotel-scale.
- Capital One (Capital One Rewards / Entertainment): Capital One Rewards with transfer partnerships to multiple airline/hotel currencies parallels the multi-currency interoperability at the core of the Avios platform; Capital One Entertainment extends into experiential redemption, similar in spirit to Avios's travel/experience redemptions.
Direct peers
- Points International (Points.com): Points.com is a loyalty currency exchange and management platform that enables partners to buy/sell/gift loyalty points across multiple programs — analogous to Avios's currency exchange with Nectar and the broader multi-partner currency interoperability infrastructure.
- LoyaltyOne (AIR MILES): LoyaltyOne operates the AIR MILES coalition loyalty program in Canada, a directly comparable model: a shared currency earned across retail, financial, and travel partners and redeemed for rewards. Both Avios and LoyaltyOne monetize through merchant partnerships and partner licensing.
- Aimia Inc. (Aeroplan): Aimia operates Aeroplan, the dominant airline-affiliated loyalty currency in Canada, monetized through co-branded credit cards and partner redemptions. Directly comparable to Avios's airline-currency-centric model with card-network revenue as the anchor.
Broad incumbents
- Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles): Delta SkyMiles is an in-house airline loyalty currency monetized heavily via the co-branded Amex Delta SkyMiles Reserve card. Direct alternative to Avios for consumers and partner brands evaluating competing airline-affiliated currencies.
- United Airlines (MileagePlus): MileagePlus is one of the largest U.S. airline loyalty programs with deep financial institution partnerships (e.g., Chase) — directly analogous to the BA/American Express and Chase Avios co-brand relationships.
- Booking Holdings (Genius / Wallet): Booking's Genius loyalty program and travel wallet operate as a unified currency across Booking.com, Priceline, and partner brands — a comparable cross-brand currency initiative at much larger consumer scale, though within a proprietary OTA ecosystem.
- Expedia Group (One Key): Expedia's One Key is an OTA-wide loyalty currency spanning hotels, flights, vacation rentals, and packages. Overlaps with Avios's travel-redemption positioning and broad partner ecosystem, though tied to Expedia's own marketplace rather than an open currency.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Avios Group social profiles
Digital presenceAvios Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Avios Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Avios Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Avios Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Avios Group
What does Avios Group do?
Avios Group operates and manages the Avios rewards currency, a global loyalty currency that enables consumers to earn points through everyday spending and redeem them for travel. The company operates loyalty programs on behalf of airline partners including British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Loganair Loyalty, and enables merchants such as hotels, car rental firms, retailers, energy companies, and financial institutions to integrate Avios earning and redemption into their customer offerings.
Is Avios Group a public or private company?
Avios Group is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Avios Group founded?
Avios Group was founded in 1994.
Where is Avios Group based?
Avios Group is headquartered in Crawley, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Avios Group make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Merchant Partnership Revenue is the primary driver. The others are airline Loyalty Program Licensing, co-branded Credit Card Partnerships and hotels & Hospitality Partnerships.
Who are Avios Group's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Bilt Rewards, Marriott International (Marriott Bonvoy) and Capital One (Capital One Rewards / Entertainment). Direct peers are Points International (Points.com), LoyaltyOne (AIR MILES) and Aimia Inc. (Aeroplan). Broad incumbents are Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles), United Airlines (MileagePlus), Booking Holdings (Genius / Wallet) and Expedia Group (One Key).
Does Avios Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Avios Group.
What industry is Avios Group in?
Avios Group's product category is Loyalty Program Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THABAKAH, Loyalty Technology Platforms (LMS, Wallets, APIs), with a secondary code of THALAKAI, Co-Branded Card & Card-Linked Offers Enablement (Issuer/Network Integrations).