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The Million Mile Playbook by Carlos de Ory: 21 tricks to fly business class for almost nothing

A million miles across Qatar, British Airways and Iberia, and none of it from flying. The 21 tricks, ranked, starting with the one nobody runs.

Saldos de Avios de Carlos de Ory en Iberia Club, British Airways Executive Club y Qatar Privilege Club: 709.493 puntos en total

I have around a million miles spread across Qatar Airways, British Airways and Iberia. It means I fly my family to Japan or Australia lying flat, often for less money than we used to spend crammed into economy. None of it came from flying. It came from a system, and the system is not complicated.

Live right now: from 17 to 30 August 2026, Revolut is paying a 20% bonus on RevPoints converted into Avios, for customers in Spain, the UK and Ireland. It works with British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling. 100,000 points become 120,000 Avios.

First, the engine

Before any trick, understand what you are driving. RevPoints accumulate at completely different rates depending on your Revolut plan, and almost everyone is quietly on the slowest one.

Plan Price Points per 1,000 EUR
Standard Free 100
Premium 7.99/mo 250
Metal 14.99/mo 500
Ultra 55/mo 1,000

Same coffee, same groceries, same flights. Ten times the miles.

And here is the part nobody understands: the multipliers you see in the app (5x, 10x, 20x) are not flat numbers. They multiply your plan’s base rate. A 20x offer is 2 points per euro on a free account and 20 points per euro on Ultra. Same screen, same offer, ten times the outcome. That single mechanic is why people who say they «tried points and it was not worth it» gave up. They were running the right tricks on the wrong engine.

Trick number one, and it is worth more than the other twenty combined

Think about where the biggest online transactions in a normal life actually happen. Not electronics. Not clothes. Flights and hotels. A family holiday is 3,000, 5,000 or 8,000 euros in a single afternoon of booking.

And here is the key: it does not have to be your holiday.

You tell your parents, your brother, your cousins, your friends: do not book it yourselves, send me the dates and I will book everything. Their flights and their hotel go on your card. They transfer you the money the same day. Your balance ends exactly where it started. But the points do not go back. The points are yours.

Send me the dates and I will sort the whole thing, flights, hotel, everything. You pay me back, same price, zero markup. I just keep the card points. And you are buying dinner when you get home.

A 4,000 euro hotel booked through the app at up to 10 points per euro is 40,000 points. Your net cash spent: zero. The dinner you bought to say thanks: about 20 euros. Convert during a 20% bonus and you have 48,000 Avios, which is a long haul business class seat. From a transaction where your actual outlay was a plate of food.

Now scale it. Parents, siblings, in laws, three or four close friends, a best friend who needs a honeymoon booked. Run it five or six times a year and you are looking at more than 200,000 points from holidays that were never yours.

The six rules that keep this clean

  1. Zero markup, always. You charge exactly what it cost. The moment you take a cut it stops being a favour.
  2. Only people who will definitely pay you back. You are fronting real money. Family and close friends only.
  3. Get paid before the trip, not after.
  4. Book it in their name. You are the payer, not the passenger. That is normal.
  5. Do not move the points until the trip has happened. A cancellation claws them back.
  6. Never for strangers and never for a fee. That is running an unlicensed travel agency.

The other twenty

2. Never transfer points the moment you earn them. Airlines run transfer bonuses several times a year: 20%, 30%, sometimes 40% extra miles for moving points you were going to move anyway. Points sitting in RevPoints are a currency in reserve. Points inside an airline are trapped.

3. Do not spend the miles the moment you have them either. Flying Blue runs Promo Rewards every single month, around 25% off selected routes. Earn on Ultra, hold, transfer during a bonus, book during a promo. Four discounts on one seat.

4. Route your entire life through one card. Rent, insurance, groceries, fuel, subscriptions, the dentist, the dog. On Ultra, 5,000 a month of ordinary living is 60,000 points a year.

5. Learn how Shops actually works. Activate the offer in the app first, pay within 30 minutes, leave cookies on, no outside promo codes, do not mix online and in store. Points usually post within an hour but the terms allow seven days.

6. Time big purchases around the multiplier. Two thousand euros at base rate is 2,000 points. At 20x it is 40,000. That is the difference between a discount and a flight.

7. Book accommodation inside the app. Up to 10 points per euro instead of 1. Same hotel, same price, ten times the points.

8. Pick the programme for the route, not the logo. RevPoints move mostly at 1:1 to British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, Flying Blue, Qatar, Turkish, Avianca LifeMiles, Aegean, SAS, Etihad, Emirates and China Southern. One balance, three alliances.

9. Find the seat before you transfer. Transfers are irreversible. Every single one.

10. Exploit the Avios pool. Avios is a family, not a currency. Move them between programmes and book with whichever prices your route best. Iberia is often cheaper than BA on the same plane.

11. Understand surcharges. Two programmes can price the same seat at 60,000 miles and charge 80 euros or 650. Always quote a redemption as miles plus cash.

12. Fly the partner, not the airline. Miles in one programme book seats across an entire alliance.

13. Put the business through it too. Suppliers, ads, software, travel. The largest untapped source of miles most founders own.

14. Never let a point die of old age. RevPoints expire three years after they are earned, not three years after your last activity.

15. Know what does not earn. Cash withdrawals, transfers to people, crypto and financial services are excluded.

16. Refunds claw points back. Do not transfer the points from a big purchase until the return window closes.

17. Screenshots are not quotes. Offers are personalised by plan, country and spending history.

18. Redeem in premium cabins, never economy. Economy is what money is for. Business is what miles are for.

19. Two accounts, one household. Pooling gets a family to a premium cabin roughly twice as fast.

20. Use every perk that is not points. Lounges, fast track, the eSIM data, the subscriptions, the currency exchange.

21. Keep a one page log. Balance, earn date, expiry. Ten minutes a month. This is the least exciting item on the list and the reason I have a million miles.

The four mistakes that cost the most

  1. Transferring immediately. You gave away the bonus.
  2. Redeeming immediately. You gave away the promo.
  3. Letting points expire. You gave away everything.
  4. Being on the wrong plan. Every multiplier in the app is quietly ten times smaller.

The honest part

Ultra costs 55 a month. It only makes sense if you travel enough to use the unlimited lounges and spend enough to feel one point per euro. If you fly twice a year and never leave the eurozone, stay on Metal and be happy.

Transfers to airlines are irreversible, multipliers are personalised and change constantly, and the Avios bonus described here runs from 17 to 30 August 2026 for residents of Spain, the UK and Ireland. Check the app before acting on any of this.

Get Revolut Ultra

Disclosure: the Revolut links in this article are invitation links. If you open an account through them I may receive a reward. It costs you nothing extra and changes nothing about your terms. None of this is financial advice.

I am looking for entrepreneurs to work with me, remotely, in marketing

Not employees. People who think like founders, work from wherever they want and want to build something instead of filling in a timesheet. Flexible hours, flexible location, judged on results and nothing else.

  • Airport lounges, free
  • Free accommodation at Eco Beach City, Sumba
  • Free use of all the facilities: coworking, gym, padel, tennis, restaurant
  • Top events, on me
  • Work from anywhere, on your own hours
  • And more, which we talk about in person

Who I am not looking for: people who need to be chased. I want energy, a positive head, initiative and efficiency. If you have to be told twice, this is not for you. If you read this and already have three ideas of what you would do, write to me.

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