We have broken the questions down into five categories to make them easier to follow. 

IMPORTANT:

Articles marked with a * have a 2024 publication date and you should assume they are accurate.

All other articles were last updated in April 2021 so please double-check any information before acting on it. Feel free to email us if you are unsure.

SECTION ONE:  British Airways seating questions

Does British Airways charge for seat selection?

How to find out what aircraft type is operating your British Airways flight

Who can book and sit in exit row seats on British Airways?

Who can book and sit in Row 1 on British Airways?

How do British Airways boarding groups work?

SECTION TWO:  British Airways Executive Club

Executive Club basics:

How do I join British Airways Executive Club?

Is there a promotional code to use when joining British Airways Executive Club?

Is it free to join British Airways Executive Club?

What are the benefits of joining British Airways Executive Club?

What is the difference between British Airways Executive Club and avios.com?

What is the difference between British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus?

How old do I have to be to join British Airways Executive Club?

Do I have to live in the UK to join British Airways Executive Club?

Do I earn Avios and tier points if I book British Airways flights via Expedia or Opodo?

Can I get British Airways priority boarding if I join the Executive Club?

Do I get free seat selection as a British Airways Executive Club member?

How do I open a British Airways Executive Club Household Account?

How do I open an Avios family account?

How do I close a British Airways Household Account? What happens to the Avios?

How does a British Airways ‘Family & Friends’ list work?

What is a British Airways Executive Club ‘third party nominee’?

What is the baggage allowance on British Airways?

What is the British Airways First Class telephone number?

SECTION THREE:  British Airways Executive Club tiers and tier points

Executive Club membership years:

How do British Airways Executive Club membership years work?

Can I get an extension to my British Airways Executive Club membership year?

Can I change my British Airways Executive Club membership year end?

British Airways status questions (general):

What are the British Airways Executive Club tiers?

How long does my British Airways status last for?

Will British Airways match my tier status with another airline?

Does British Airways Executive Club offer lifetime status?

Does British Airways Executive Club have soft landings?

British Airways tier points (general):

What are British Airways tier points?

How many British Airways tier points do I earn per flight?

Which British Airways Club Europe routes earn 160 tier points return?

Is there a downloadable list of British Airways tier points by route?

Do British Airways tier points work on a calendar year or membership year?

What happens to my British Airways tier points at the end of my membership year?

If I upgrade my British Airways flight what tier points and Avios do I earn?

Do I earn tier points on a British Airways codeshare flight?

Do I earn tier points on reward or redemption flights?

Can I swap Avios points for British Airways tier points?

Can you buy British Airways tier points?

Do I need to fly British Airways to get British Airways elite status?

What is the British Airways Executive Club telephone number for Blue members?

Executive Club Bronze status:

How do I get British Airways Executive Club Bronze status?

What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Bronze status?

Which British Airways lounges can I use with a British Airways Executive Club Bronze card?

Can you use business class check-in with a British Airways Executive Club Bronze card?

Do I drop from Bronze to Blue in British Airways Executive Club if I don’t earn enough tier points?

What is the British Airways Bronze telephone number?

What is the baggage allowance for British Airways Executive Club Bronze members?

Executive Club Silver status:

How can I get British Airways Executive Club Silver status?

What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Silver status?

Which British Airways lounges can I use with a British Airways Executive Club Silver card?

Do I drop from Silver to Bronze in British Airways Executive Club if I don’t earn enough tier points?

What is the British Airways Silver telephone number?

What is the baggage allowance for British Airways Executive Club Silver members?

Executive Club Gold status:

How can I get British Airways Executive Club Gold status?

What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Gold status?

Do I get additional Avios seat availability as a British Airways Gold member?

Which British Airways lounges can I use with a British Airways Executive Club Gold card?

Do I drop from Gold to Silver in British Airways Executive Club if I don’t earn enough tier points?

What is the British Airways Gold Priority Reward?

What is British Airways Executive Club Gold Guest List?

How do I get British Airways Gold Guest List status?

What is a British Airways Gold Upgrade For Two / For One Voucher?

What is the British Airways Gold telephone number?

What is the baggage allowance for British Airways Executive Club Gold members?

SECTION FOUR:  Avios

General Avios questions:

Is there an Avios joining bonus?

How do I book a flight using my Avios points?

How many Avios seats are there on each British Airways flight?

What is the Avios award chart?

What is the best use of Avios points?

How can I avoid Avios fees, taxes and charges?

Is there a downloadable list of the Avios needed for every British Airways route?

What is the calendar of peak and off-peak 2022 Avios redemption dates?

How far in advance can you book with Avios?

Can I use Avios points on Virgin Atlantic?

Can I use Avios for Eurostar tickets?

When does British Airways release Avios reward flights?

Which airlines can I book with Avios points?

When do my Avios points expire? How can I stop my Avios expiring?

How do I extend the expiry date of my Avios points?

Can you transfer your Avios points to someone else?

How many Avios do you need to fly in Business Class?

How many Avios do you need to fly in First Class?

How can you book hotels with Avios points?

Is it worth using Avios points for hotels?

What is the Avios distance chart?

Are Avios points useless and worthless?

What are the various British Airways fare classes?

Who are the Avios airline partners?

Can I pay for British Airways buy on board food and drink catering with Avios points?

How many Avios will I earn from my British Airways flight?

Do I earn Avios on a British Airways codeshare flight?

Do I earn Avios on reward or redemption flights?

What are the Avios cancellation fees?

How do I change an Avios booking?

Do I earn bonus Avios as a British Airways Bronze, Silver or Gold member?

Can you earn Avios if you fly with Emirates?

Do I earn extra Avios if I book with BA Holidays?

Can I book a flight for someone else using my Avios points?

Can you convert Virgin Points into Avios points?

How do I claim missing Avios points?

Can I claim Avios if I wasn’t a member when I flew?

Do I earn Avios if I book a flight for someone else?

How many Avios do I need to book a flight for an infant or baby?

How do I move Avios from Iberia Plus to British Airways Executive Club?

How does Combine My Avios work from Iberia Plus to British Airways?

What does it cost to cancel an Avios redemption flight?

How do I convert Avios into Nectar points?

How can you Avios points into cash? Can you sell Avios?

How to upgrade flights with Avios:

How do I upgrade my British Airways flight with Avios?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade my flight?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Premium Economy?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Business Class?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to First Class?

Can you upgrade a flight booked with a BA Amex companion voucher?

Earn Avios with BA partner airlines:

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Aer Lingus?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Alaska Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with American Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Cathay Pacific?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Finnair?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Iberia?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Iberia Express?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Japan Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with LATAM?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Malaysia Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Qantas?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Qatar Airways?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Royal Air Maroc?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Royal Jordanian?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with S7 Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with SriLankan Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Vueling?

Spending Avios with BA partner airlines:

Can I spend Avios on Aer Lingus?

Can I spend Avios on Alaska Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on American Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on Cathay Pacific?

Can I spend Avios on Finnair?

Can I spend Avios on Iberia?

Can I spend Avios on Japan Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on Malaysia Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on Qantas?

Can I spend Avios on Qatar Airways?

Can I spend Avios on Royal Air Maroc?

Can I spend Avios on Royal Jordanian?

Can I spend Avios on S7 Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on SriLankan Airlines?

Earn Avios with non-air partners:

Is it worth buying Avios points?

How much does it cost to buy Avios points?

Can I earn Avios buying wine?

How do I earn Avios when buying British Airways on-board duty free?

How do I earn Avios from my online internet shopping?

Is it better earning Avios or hotel points from hotel stays?

Who are British Airways hotel partners where I can earn Avios?

Can I earn Avios from Hertz / Avis / Europcar / Sixt or other car rental companies?

Can I earn Avios from Business Traveller magazine?

Can I earn Avios from Heathrow Express?

Can I earn Avios with Airbnb?

Can I earn Avios from airport parking?

How do I earn Avios at Bicester Village?

How do I convert Heathrow Rewards points into Avios?

How do I earn Avios from Hackett?

How do I earn Avios from Nutmeg?

How do I earn Avios when buying petrol?

How do I convert Nectar points into Avios?

Travelling from the UK regions:

Where can I fly from Aberdeen with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Belfast with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Birmingham with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Bristol with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Cardiff with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Edinburgh with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Glasgow with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Leeds Bradford with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Manchester with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Newcastle with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Newquay with Avios points?

SECTION FIVE:  British Airways and airport lounges

Can I pay to get into a British Airways airport lounge?

Can I use Avios points to get into an airport lounge?

Do I need my British Airways Executive Club membership card to get into a lounge?

Can I use American Airlines lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Cathay Pacific lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Iberia lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Malaysia Airlines lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Qantas lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Qatar Airways lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

The idea was to avoid the scrum of people hovering around the gate and streamline the process to make it more relaxing for everyone involved. That doesn’t always work, of course; often there are not enough seats at the gate to accomodate all passengers, leading to overcrowding issues regardless. It does at least mean that BA’s higher-value passengers get priority.

Not sure what group you are? Your group number should be printed in big letters on your boarding pass.

Introducing Group 0

Until recently, there were nine boarding groups, ranging from Group 1 (British Airways Gold Card holders or those travelling in First) to Group 9 (no status, travelling in economy at the rear of the cabin).

A new trial is now underway with the introduction of a tenth boarding group: Group 0. This is a new priority group reserved for British Airways Premier cardholders (we explain how you get a Premier card in this article) and those with Executive Club Gold Guest List status (explained in this article).

The Group 0 trial is only taking place on New York and Boston services for now.

How does British Airways boarding work?

BA treats boarding groups for short haul and long haul groups differently, further adding to the confusion, so we thought it was worth taking a look at the process.

Things get even more confusing when you consider ‘pre-boarding’ for customers who need assistance or have very young children, effectively increasing the number of groups even further.

British Airways short haul boarding groups

Anyone in Groups 1 to 3 are considered to be ‘Priority Groups’. Here is how British Airways ranks its boarding groups:

Pre-boarding

Families with children under 2 or pushchairs are invited to board first and should arrive 50 minutes before departure so that pushchairs can be stored in the hold.

Escorted passengers with mobility assistance will are also pre-boarded.

Priority Group 1

• Club Europe passengers (short-haul business class)
• BA Executive Club Gold members
• oneworld Emerald members

Priority Group 2

• BA Executive Club Silver members
• oneworld Sapphire members

Priority Group 3

• BA Executive Club Bronze members
• oneworld Ruby members

Groups 4 to 9

• Euro Traveller (economy) passengers

Groups 4 to 9 are numbered according to seat row number. Perhaps counter-intuitively, although it makes sense for practical reasons as long as groups are boarded in order, Group 9 is for people nearest the front.

In theory groups are meant to board in order. In reality this is rarely the case.

At the gate passengers are usually split into two lines – Groups 1-3 and 4+. In theory the gate is meant to call Group 1, followed by Group 2 etc. This either doesn’t happen (more likely on your return to Heathrow) or it is impossible to push through the crowd when your particular group is called.

In a recent novel twist in Dusseldorf, Rob recently experienced both lines – Groups 1-3 and Groups 4+ – being boarded together at the same time!

A quick note on hand baggage and boarding groups

On full short-haul flights, British Airways may insist that anyone travelling in Groups 4-9 hands over wheely cases at the gate to be placed in the hold. This has become increasingly common.

British Airways long haul boarding groups

Anyone in Groups 1 to 3 are considered to be ‘Priority Groups’. Here is how British Airways ranks its boarding groups:

Pre-boarding

Families with children under 2 or pushchairs are invited to board first and should arrive 50 minutes before departure so that pushchairs can be stored in the hold.

Escorted passengers with mobility assistance will are also pre-boarded.

Priority Group 0*

• BA Premier Card holders
• BA Executive Club Gold Guest List members

*As mentioned above, Group 0 is currently a trial programme limited to New York JFK and Boston

Priority Group 1

• First passengers
• BA Executive Club Gold members
• oneworld Emerald members

Priority Group 2

• Club World (business class) passengers
• BA Executive Club Silver members
• oneworld Sapphire members

Priority Group 3

• World Traveller Plus (premium economy) passengers
• BA Executive Club Bronze members
• oneworld Ruby members

Groups 4 to 9

• World Traveller (economy) passengers

Groups 4 to 9 are numbered according to seat row number. Group 4 is for passengers at the front of the cabin whilst Group 9 is for those sitting in the last few rows.

Boarding with friends and family

If you’re travelling with your partner, friends or family, you may find that you all have different group numbers.

As per the BA website, you will be able to board together:

“It is possible that customers travelling together may receive different group numbers. In this case, please make your way to the gate where you will be able to board together.”

You can board in any of your group numbers, and I often board in Group 1 with friends or family this way even though they have a lower group number on their boarding pass. Simply indicate to the gate staff that you are boarding together and it should be no problem.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

You know about British Airways, of course.  But there are actually 30 airlines which let you use Avios for some or all of their flights.

The list got bigger last year when Qatar Airways adopted Avios as its loyalty currency.  This means that you can now redeem via a number of Qatar Airways airline partners which were not already partners with British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus, such as Virgin Australia.

You won’t find the information in this article in one place on any of the Avios websites – iberia.com, ba.com, aerlingus.com, qatarairways.com etc – but we have pulled it all together for you.

EDIT: Added Fiji Airways which has been available since last November

What flights can you book with Avios?

I have listed all of the airlines below which accept Avios redemptions.

The ones marked ‘(BA)’ can be booked on ba.com.  This means that the process is the same as booking British Airways redemptions.

An airline marked ‘(AC)’ can be booked via the avios.com platform.  You can open an avios.com account via the Aer Lingus AerClub or Vueling Club websites and then use ‘Combine My Avios’ on ba.com or avios.com to move your points across.

An airline marked ‘(IB)’ means that you can only book it from an Iberia Plus account. To transfer to or from an Iberia Plus account, the Iberia account must have been open for 90 days and have ‘earned’ at least 1 Avios.  The easiest way to ‘earn’ an Avios in Iberia Plus is to transfer 1,000 Amex Membership Rewards points.

An airline marked ‘(QR)’ means that you can only book it from a Qatar Privilege Club account.  You can use your British Airways Avios balance on the Qatar Airways website by following the instructions here.

Which airlines can you book with Avios points?

This list is alphabetical. In brackets, I have added the programmes which let you redeem Avios for that airline:

• BA for British Airways Executive Club
• IB for Iberia Plus
• AC for avios.com / AerClub / Vueling Club
• QR for Qatar Privilege Club

Some partners can only be booked by telephone via the service centre of the relevant programme, eg Avianca. You cannot necessarily book all routes operated by a particular airline.

Aer Lingus (AC, BA)

Air Nostrum / Iberia Regional (IB, BA)

Alaska Airlines (BA, IB, QR)

American Airlines (BA, IB, QR)

Avianca (IB)

Bangkok Airways (QR)

Binter Canarias (IB)

British Airways (AC, BA, IB, QR)

Cathay Pacific (BA, IB, QR)

Fiji Airways (BA)

Finnair (BA, IB, QR)

Iberia (AC, BA, IB, QR)

Iberia Express (AC, BA, IB)

Japan Airlines (BA, IB, QR)

LATAM (BA, IB, QR)

LEVEL (IB)

Malaysia Airlines (BA, IB, QR)

Middle East Airlines (QR)

Oman Air (QR, Doha to Muscat route only)

Qantas (BA, IB, QR)

QantasLink (BA – telephone only, read here)

Qatar Airways (BA, IB, QR)

Royal Air Maroc (BA, IB, QR)

Royal Jordanian (BA, IB, QR)

RwandAir (QR)

S7 Airlines (BA, IB, QR but currently suspended)

SriLankan Airlines (BA, IB, QR)

SUN-AIR of Scandinavia (BA)

Virgin Australia (QR)

Vueling (AC, IB)

Oman Air has announced plans to join the oneworld alliance, so you will be able to redeem Avios for all of their flights – and not the existing one route via Qatar Privilege Club – from some point in 2024.

Details on British Airways Executive Club partners can be found on ba.com here.

Details of Iberia Plus partners can be found on iberia.com here.

Details of Qatar Privilege Club partners can be found on qatarairways.com here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

What is the conversion rate between Nectar and Avios?

The conversion rate is:

• 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios
• 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points

You will notice that this rate is NOT equal. If you convert Avios into Nectar points, and later move them back to Avios, you will have fewer Avios than you started with.

How to convert Nectar points into Avios points

You can convert Nectar points to Avios via the British Airways website here.

You must convert a minimum of 400 Nectar points which will get you 250 Avios. You can also set up your account to autoconvert Nectar points to Avios on a regular basis.

How long do Nectar point transfers to Avios points take?

The transfer is INSTANT if you are transferring from Nectar TO Avios.

If you are transferring TO Nectar from Avios, there is a 10 day delay. This is deliberate due to previous issues with hackers accessing British Airways accounts and emptying the Avios onto untraceable Nectar cards.

What value are you getting for your Nectar points?

Let’s look at the maths here.

400 Nectar points, if spent at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc would get you £2 off your shopping. As you are getting 250 Avios instead, you are effectively ‘paying’ 0.8p per Avios. (200p is given up in return for 250 Avios and 200/250 = 0.8.)

0.8p is a very cheap price for buying Avios. I have a spreadsheet of all the Avios I have redeemed for the last nine years, and I have got 1.2p of value per Avios based on my own valuation of the flights I took. I take a very realistic valuation, based on how cheaply I think I could have got the same trip if I’d booked in a sale or taken an indirect flight on a different airline.

Of course, if you can’t find a good value flight redemption which gets you more value than the Nectar points you transferred, you can simply transfer them back – but you will take a small loss because of different exchange rates.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In January 2021, Sainsbury’s became the official Avios supermarket partner. That means you can now convert your Nectar points into Avios and Avios into Nectar points.

If you transfer your Avios points into Nectar points, you get 0.67p per Avios to spend at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc.

This is generous and, bizarrely, gets you more value than some ‘official’ Avios redemptions. Use your Avios to book a hotel, hire a car, pay for a seat reservation or pay for excess luggage via ba.com and you only receive 0.5p per Avios!

You may also struggle to beat 0.67p per Avios if you try to spend them on Economy long haul flights on British Airways.

What is the conversion rate between Avios and Nectar points?

The conversion rate is:

• 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points
• 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios

You will see that these conversion rates are NOT equal.

If you move your Avios to Nectar and then move them back to Avios, you will have lost some value.

How to convert Avios points into Nectar points

You can convert Nectar points to Avios via the British Airways website here.

You must convert a minimum of 300 Avios which will get you 400 Nectar points.

How long does it take to transfer Avios points to Nectar points?

If you are transferring FROM Avios, there is a 10 day delay. This is deliberate due to previous issues with hackers accessing British Airways accounts and emptying the Avios onto untraceable Nectar cards.

The transfer is INSTANT if you are transferring TO Avios from Nectar.

What value do you get transferring Avios points to Nectar points?

Let’s look at the maths here.

400 Nectar points, if spent at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc would get you £2 off your shopping. As you are giving up 300 Avios, you are getting 0.67p per Avios. (300 Avios are given up in return for 200p and 200/300 = 0.67.)

0.67p is a fair deal for ‘selling’ Avios.

To be honest, I find that I do a lot better than that. I have a spreadsheet of all the Avios I have redeemed for the last nine years, and I have got 1.2p of value per Avios based on my own valuation of the flights I took.

However, for people to struggle to find the flights they want in the travel class they want, converting your Avios points into Nectar points is a good deal.

The great thing about the Avios / Nectar partnership, of course, is that you can change your mind later. If the perfect flight redemption suddenly appears on ba.com, you can simply transfer your Nectar points back – although you will take a small loss due to the unequal exchange rates.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Somewhat confusingly, the five different loyalty programmes don’t share an Avios ‘bank’. Instead, each individual account you have acts as a unique points bank. In theory, you could have a separate stash of Avios sitting with British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways and Aer Lingus / Vueling.

Moving Avios between the various programmes can be complicated because there isn’t one single way of doing it. Moving Avios from the Executive Club to Qatar Privilege Club is entirely different to moving Avios to AerClub. This guide should help.

Why should you want to move Avios between five different frequent flyer schemes?

As a Head for Points reader, you have a 90%+ chance of using British Airways Executive Club as your main Avios frequent flyer scheme. Why would you bother with the others?

The answers relate to both ‘earn’ and ‘burn’.

Each programme has its own unique partners. This is especially true with Qatar Airways, which has a huge list of partners (airline, hotel and car hire) for earning and spending Avios which are unique. The full list of ‘new’ partners Qatar Airways brings is here.

If you want to earn or spend Avios on Virgin Australia, for example, you need to do it via a Qatar Privilege Club account.

If you want to earn (but not spend) Avios from United Airlines flights, you can only do it via an Aer Lingus AerClub account.

There are plenty of other examples like this – here is an article showing all 30 airlines which you can book with Avios, and which frequent flyer scheme you need to use to do so.

By connecting your Avios accounts, you are able to transfer Avios back and forth as many times as you like between the different programmes. Each transfer is free and instantaneous.

Note that you will only be able to transfer Avios to other accounts in your name using this method. This article looks at how you can transfer Avios to another person.

How to transfer your Avios to/from Qatar Privilege Club

Before you can transfer your Avios to Qatar Airways or vice versa, you first need to link up your British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Privilege Club accounts. If you don’t already have a Qatar Privilege Club account, click here to open one.

(Make sure your personal details match on both accounts so you can link them smoothly. I am told by Qatar Airways that there must be a match of first name, surname and date of birth and I would suggest using the same email address too.)

Once you’ve opened a Privilege Club account, head to this page on the Qatar Airways website where you should see a prompt to connect your BA Executive Club account like this:

Once you’ve gone through the linking process you should be able to see your total Avios balance across both Privilege Club and Executive Club:

To initiate the transfer of Avios from Qatar Privilege Club to British Airways Executive Club or vice versa, click the ‘Combine Avios’ button under ‘More to explore’. It will take you to this page:

You can move as many or as few Avios as you like. You don’t have to transfer Avios in round numbers as the amount you transfer is a text field rather than a drop-down of options.

To transfer Avios from Qatar Airways to British Airways, just click on the reversible arrows.

Avios transfers between British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Privilege Club are instantaneous. Of course, you can always transfer them back if you change your mind.

Before you transfer Avios to Qatar Privilege Club ….

There’s one thing to note. In theory, you can book Qatar Airways redemptions on ba.com for the same number of Avios and the same taxes as you’ll find on the Qatar Airways website. You don’t need to move your Avios to Qatar Privilege Club, and there are some benefits (easier cancellation, easier changes) to booking via ba.com.

Due to IT quirks, however, you may find different availability between the two sites so it is worth checking both. Qatar Airways also releases ‘double Avios’ redemptions where those who are willing to pay 2x the standard Avios rate get access to a wider pool of reward seats.

Want to transfer Avios from Iberia, Aer Lingus or Vueling to Qatar Privilege Club?

At present, you can only link a British Airways Executive Club account to Qatar Privilege Club.

If your Avios are with Iberia, Aer Lingus or Vueling, you would need to move them into a British Airways Executive Club account via the routes explained below and then transfer them from BA to Qatar Privilege Club.

How to transfer Avios to/from Iberia Plus

The process for transferring Avios to Iberia Plus is similar, although there are a few more rules you need to be mindful of.

You can cannot move Avios into or out of an Iberia Plus account unless:

• the Iberia Plus account is 90 days old and
• the Iberia Plus has ‘earned’ at least 1 Avios

The easiest way to have the account ‘earn’ an Avios is to transfer 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards points.  You could also credit a British Airways or oneworld flight to the account, credit an Avis or Budget car rental or transfer some hotel points.

If this applies to you, you need to wait until your Iberia Plus account meets both of the criteria above before carrying on with the transfer process. For this reason, we recommend opening an Iberia Plus account now, even if you don’t need it yet. You’ll thank us later.

Once you’ve got an Iberia Plus account that is over 90 days old and has earned at least one Avios you head head to the Iberia Combine My Avios page here.

Click on the button at the bottom and you’ll be taken to this page:

Simply select which programme you’d like to transfer Avios to and log in with the details from that programme. (‘Avios Partners’ is for transfers to Aer Lingus and Vueling.)

You can select how many Avios to transfer, and in which direction (ie BA to Iberia or Iberia to BA):

That’s it. The Avios should transfer immediately.

If this process doesn’t work, it may be that there is a mismatch with your personal details on both accounts. Make sure that your date of birth, first name, second name and email address are identical.

If you want to transfer Avios to/from Qatar Privilege Club to Iberia Plus, you need to transfer them to a British Airways Executive Club account as an intermediary step. It cannot be done in a single transfer.

How to transfer Avios to Aer Lingus AerClub or Vueling Club

Due to the size of the airlines and their redemption opportunities you’re less likely to need to transfer Avios to Aer Lingus AerClub or Vueling Club, but we’ve included them for completeness.

Here are a few reasons why you may need an Aer Lingus or Vueling account:

• you are booking a cash flight on Aer Lingus or Vueling and want to part-pay the flight using Avios (you can pay 100% of the cost using Avios, including taxes and charges – your flight can be genuinely ‘free’)

• you are flying a heavily discounted Aer Lingus flight, which is likely to earn zero Avios if credited to British Airways Executive Club but will earn in Aer Lingus AerClub

• you are flying on Vueling, which only earns Avios when credited to Vueling Club

Here’s an important point to note: Aer Lingus AerClub accounts are the same as Vueling Club accounts. Only the branding is different – both have account numbers starting 3081xxxxxxxxxxx. You can log in with either at aerlingus.com or vueling.com and it will pull up your Avios balance. There is no reason why you would need a separate AerClub and Vueling Club account.

Unlike British Airways, Iberia or Qatar Airways, neither Aer Lingus nor Vueling manage their own Avios redemption infrastructure. Instead, it is centralised on avios.com.

If you don’t already have an Aer Lingus AerClub account, open one here. Alternatively, you can open a Vueling Club account here. Make sure to use the same date of birth, name, address and email address as your other Avios accounts.

Once that’s set up you can head to avios.com and log in using the same credentials.

After logging in, click on ‘Manage my account’ to bring up the following menu:

Once again, you’ll want to click on ‘Combine my Avios’. You’ll then get the option to transfer Avios from either your BA Executive Club account or Iberia Plus:

The process is the same as for Iberia Plus: you simply log into your Iberia or British Airways account, select how many Avios you want to transfer and in which direction and click through to the confirmation page. The transfer is free and instant.

Conclusion

Moving your Avios between the five different frequent flyer schemes which use it is – by far – not as simple as it could be.

On the upside, because each programme has a high degree of independence, it is able to cut its own partnership deals and have its own flight redemption structure. This allows the switched-on flyer to benefit from the sweet spots that each programme offers.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

• Can you turn Avios points into money?

• Can you sell Avios points?

• Can you turn Avios points into pounds?

Surprisingly, the answer is (sort of) ‘Yes’.

Even more surprisingly, the conversion rate if you turn your Avios into cash is very good.

How do you turn your Avios points into cash?

You can cash in your Avios for (sort of) money if you transfer your points into the Nectar loyalty scheme. This only works if you live in the UK.

In January 2021, Sainsbury’s became the official Avios supermarket partner. That means you can now convert your Nectar points into Avios and Avios into Nectar points.

What is interesting about converting Nectar and Avios points is that you can transfer them back and forth, as often as you like, with no loss of value.

If you transfer your Avios points into Nectar points, you get 0.8p per Avios to spend at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc.

This is very generous and, bizarrely, gets you far more value than many ‘official’ Avios redemptions. Use your Avios to book a hotel, hire a car, pay for a seat reservation or pay for excess luggage via ba.com and you only receive 0.5p per Avios.

You will also struggle to beat 0.8p per Avios if you try to spend them on Economy long haul flights on British Airways.

Whilst Nectar points are, obviously, not the same as cash, they are pretty close to it. There isn’t much that you can’t buy at Sainsburys, Argos or eBay.co.uk.

What is the conversion rate between Avios and Nectar points?

The conversion rate is:

• 250 Avios = 400 Nectar points
• 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios

Here is the key thing: there is no value loss in either direction. You can transfer your points as often as you want and you will still have the same amount you started with.

In theory, you could now keep your entire Avios balance with Nectar and just move the points across to Avios as you need them. There is no benefit to doing this, but you won’t lose out either.

How to convert Avios points into Nectar points

You can convert Nectar points to Avios via the British Airways website here.

You must convert a minimum of 250 Avios which will get you 400 Nectar points.

If you are transferring FROM Avios, there is a 10 day delay. This is deliberate due to previous issues with hackers accessing British Airways accounts and emptying the Avios onto untraceable Nectar cards.

The transfer is INSTANT if you are transferring TO Avios from Nectar.

How do you spend your Nectar points?

Once your points are in your Nectar account, it is very easy to spend them.

• Sainsburys – you can scan your Nectar card at the till and choose to pay with points. The only ‘catch’ is that, for security reasons, you must previously have earned Nectar points for shopping in the same branch of Sainsburys.

• Argos – we wrote this article about how to spend Nectar points at Argos. You can redeem up to £500 (62,500 Nectar points) per transaction.

• eBay.co.uk – you need to convert your Nectar points into eBay vouchers online, and then pay with these vouchers when you make your next purchase. This article explains how to spend Nectar points at eBay.

What value do you get for ‘selling’ your Avios like this?

Let’s look at the maths here.

400 Nectar points, if spent at Sainsburys, eBay.co.uk, Argos etc would get you £2 off your shopping. As you are giving up 250 Avios, you are getting 0.8p per Avios. (250 Avios are given up in return for 200p and 200/250 = 0.8.)

0.8p is a decent deal for ‘selling’ Avios.

To be honest, I find that I do a lot better than that. I have a spreadsheet of all the Avios I have redeemed for the last nine years, and I have got 1.2p of value per Avios based on my own valuation of the flights I took.

However, if you would prefer to turn your Avios into cash, converting your Avios points into Nectar points is a good deal.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

We have broken the questions down into categories to make them easier to follow.  If your question still isn’t answered below, please email us at hello [at] headforpoints.com and we will try to answer it.   We can then add your question to our database.

These articles were last updated in April 2021 so please double-check any information before acting on it. Feel free to email us if you are unsure.

SECTION ONE:  British Airways seating questions

Does British Airways charge for seat selection?

How to find out what aircraft type is operating your British Airways flight

Who can book and sit in exit row seats on British Airways?

Who can book and sit in Row 1 on British Airways?

How do British Airways boarding groups work?

SECTION TWO:  British Airways Executive Club

Executive Club basics:

How do I join British Airways Executive Club?

Is there a promotional code to use when joining British Airways Executive Club?

Is it free to join British Airways Executive Club?

What are the benefits of joining British Airways Executive Club?

What is the difference between British Airways Executive Club and avios.com?

What is the difference between British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus?

How old do I have to be to join British Airways Executive Club?

Do I have to live in the UK to join British Airways Executive Club?

Do I earn Avios and tier points if I book British Airways flights via Expedia or Opodo?

Can I get British Airways priority boarding if I join the Executive Club?

Do I get free seat selection as a British Airways Executive Club member?

How do I open a British Airways Executive Club Household Account?

How do I open an Avios family account?

How do I close a British Airways Household Account? What happens to the Avios?

How does a British Airways ‘Family & Friends’ list work?

What is a British Airways Executive Club ‘third party nominee’?

What is the baggage allowance on British Airways?

What is the British Airways First Class telephone number?

SECTION THREE:  British Airways Executive Club tiers and tier points

Executive Club membership years:

How do British Airways Executive Club membership years work?

Can I get an extension to my British Airways Executive Club membership year?

Can I change my British Airways Executive Club membership year end?

British Airways status questions (general):

What are the British Airways Executive Club tiers?

How long does my British Airways status last for?

Will British Airways match my tier status with another airline?

Does British Airways Executive Club offer lifetime status?

Does British Airways Executive Club have soft landings?

British Airways tier points (general):

What are British Airways tier points?

How many British Airways tier points do I earn per flight?

Which British Airways Club Europe routes earn 160 tier points return?

Is there a downloadable list of British Airways tier points by route?

Do British Airways tier points work on a calendar year or membership year?

What happens to my British Airways tier points at the end of my membership year?

If I upgrade my British Airways flight what tier points and Avios do I earn?

Do I earn tier points on a British Airways codeshare flight?

Do I earn tier points on reward or redemption flights?

Can I swap Avios points for British Airways tier points?

Can you buy British Airways tier points?

Do I need to fly British Airways to get British Airways elite status?

What is the British Airways Executive Club telephone number for Blue members?

Executive Club Bronze status:

How do I get British Airways Executive Club Bronze status?

What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Bronze status?

Which British Airways lounges can I use with a British Airways Executive Club Bronze card?

Can you use business class check-in with a British Airways Executive Club Bronze card?

Do I drop from Bronze to Blue in British Airways Executive Club if I don’t earn enough tier points?

What is the British Airways Bronze telephone number?

What is the baggage allowance for British Airways Executive Club Bronze members?

Executive Club Silver status:

How can I get British Airways Executive Club Silver status?

What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Silver status?

Which British Airways lounges can I use with a British Airways Executive Club Silver card?

Do I drop from Silver to Bronze in British Airways Executive Club if I don’t earn enough tier points?

What is the British Airways Silver telephone number?

What is the baggage allowance for British Airways Executive Club Silver members?

Executive Club Gold status:

How can I get British Airways Executive Club Gold status?

What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Gold status?

Do I get additional Avios seat availability as a British Airways Gold member?

Which British Airways lounges can I use with a British Airways Executive Club Gold card?

Do I drop from Gold to Silver in British Airways Executive Club if I don’t earn enough tier points?

What is the British Airways Gold Priority Reward?

What is British Airways Executive Club Gold Guest List?

How do I get British Airways Gold Guest List status?

What is a British Airways Gold Upgrade For Two / For One Voucher?

What is the British Airways Gold telephone number?

What is the baggage allowance for British Airways Executive Club Gold members?

SECTION FOUR:  Avios

General Avios questions:

Is there an Avios joining bonus?

How do I book a flight using my Avios points?

How many Avios seats are there on each British Airways flight?

What is the Avios award chart?

What is the best use of Avios points?

How can I avoid Avios fees, taxes and charges?

Is there a downloadable list of the Avios needed for every British Airways route?

What is the calendar of peak and off-peak 2022 Avios redemption dates?

How far in advance can you book with Avios?

Can I use Avios points on Virgin Atlantic?

Can I use Avios for Eurostar tickets?

When does British Airways release Avios reward flights?

Which airlines can I book with Avios points?

When do my Avios points expire? How can I stop my Avios expiring?

How do I extend the expiry date of my Avios points?

Can you transfer your Avios points to someone else?

How many Avios do you need to fly in Business Class?

How many Avios do you need to fly in First Class?

How can you book hotels with Avios points?

Is it worth using Avios points for hotels?

What is the Avios distance chart?

Are Avios points useless and worthless?

What are the various British Airways fare classes?

Who are the Avios airline partners?

Can I pay for British Airways buy on board food and drink catering with Avios points?

How many Avios will I earn from my British Airways flight?

Do I earn Avios on a British Airways codeshare flight?

Do I earn Avios on reward or redemption flights?

What are the Avios cancellation fees?

How do I change an Avios booking?

Do I earn bonus Avios as a British Airways Bronze, Silver or Gold member?

Can you earn Avios if you fly with Emirates?

Do I earn extra Avios if I book with BA Holidays?

Can I book a flight for someone else using my Avios points?

Can you convert Virgin Points into Avios points?

How do I claim missing Avios points?

Can I claim Avios if I wasn’t a member when I flew?

Do I earn Avios if I book a flight for someone else?

How many Avios do I need to book a flight for an infant or baby?

How do I move Avios from Iberia Plus to British Airways Executive Club?

How does Combine My Avios work from Iberia Plus to British Airways?

What does it cost to cancel an Avios redemption flight?

How do I convert Avios into Nectar points?

How can you Avios points into cash? Can you sell Avios?

How to upgrade flights with Avios:

How do I upgrade my British Airways flight with Avios?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade my flight?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Premium Economy?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Business Class?

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to First Class?

Can you upgrade a flight booked with a BA Amex companion voucher?

Earn Avios with BA partner airlines:

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Aer Lingus?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Alaska Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with American Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Cathay Pacific?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Finnair?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Iberia?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Iberia Express?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Japan Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with LATAM?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Malaysia Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Qantas?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Qatar Airways?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Royal Air Maroc?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Royal Jordanian?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with S7 Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with SriLankan Airlines?

Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Vueling?

Spending Avios with BA partner airlines:

Can I spend Avios on Aer Lingus?

Can I spend Avios on Alaska Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on American Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on Cathay Pacific?

Can I spend Avios on Finnair?

Can I spend Avios on Iberia?

Can I spend Avios on Japan Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on Malaysia Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on Qantas?

Can I spend Avios on Qatar Airways?

Can I spend Avios on Royal Air Maroc?

Can I spend Avios on Royal Jordanian?

Can I spend Avios on S7 Airlines?

Can I spend Avios on SriLankan Airlines?

Earn Avios with non-air partners:

Is it worth buying Avios points?

How much does it cost to buy Avios points?

Can I earn Avios buying wine?

How do I earn Avios when buying British Airways on-board duty free?

How do I earn Avios from my online internet shopping?

Is it better earning Avios or hotel points from hotel stays?

Who are British Airways hotel partners where I can earn Avios?

Can I earn Avios from Hertz / Avis / Europcar / Sixt or other car rental companies?

Can I earn Avios from Business Traveller magazine?

Can I earn Avios from Heathrow Express?

Can I earn Avios with Airbnb?

Can I earn Avios from airport parking?

How do I earn Avios at Bicester Village?

How do I convert Heathrow Rewards points into Avios?

How do I earn Avios from Hackett?

How do I earn Avios from Nutmeg?

How do I earn Avios when buying petrol?

How do I convert Nectar points into Avios?

Travelling from the UK regions:

Where can I fly from Aberdeen with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Belfast with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Birmingham with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Bristol with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Cardiff with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Edinburgh with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Glasgow with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Leeds Bradford with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Manchester with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Newcastle with Avios points?

Where can I fly from Newquay with Avios points?

SECTION FIVE:  British Airways and airport lounges

Can I pay to get into a British Airways airport lounge?

Can I use Avios points to get into an airport lounge?

Do I need my British Airways Executive Club membership card to get into a lounge?

Can I use American Airlines lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Cathay Pacific lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Iberia lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Malaysia Airlines lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Qantas lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

Can I use Qatar Airways lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

It is possible to earn Avios and BA tier points on SriLankan Airlines instead of their own mileage reward currency.  This is because both airlines belong to the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with SriLankan Airlines, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct number of Avios.

In business class, you will earn a different amount of Avios on SriLankan Airlines compared to if you fly a similar distance on British Airways. This is because both airlines have different earning rates. On SriLankan Airlines, you will earn Avios at a maximum of 125% of miles flown if you fly business class. On British Airways flights, however, business class fares can come with up to 250% of miles flown.

How many Avios do you earn flying with SriLankan Airlines?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from the partner page of the British Airways website.

We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on SriLankan Airlines compared to taking a flight of a similar distance on British Airways.

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – not available on SriLankan vs 100%-150% on British Airways

Business – 100%-125% vs 150%-250% on British Airways

First – not available on SriLankan vs 250%-300% on British Airways

As you can see, economy earning rates are the same for both airlines.  For flights in business class you will suffer some severe losses – it is impossible to earn even the lowest Avios rates on SriLankan Airlines as you would on British Airways. You earn at least 25%-125% fewer Avios than you would on a similar length British Airways flight.

You will NOT get an Avios status tier bonus when you fly with SriLankan Airlines.  This means that Bronze, Silver and Gold members of BA Executive Club will do even worse compared to flying BA.  That said, as British Airways does not currently fly to Colombo, this is more of a theoretical issue.

You WILL earn British Airways Executive Club tier points when you fly with SriLankan Airlines as both airlines are members of the oneworld alliance.

If both British Airways and SriLankan Airlines fly to your destination, you are better off flying with SriLankan Airlines than British Airways if your SriLankan flight involves a connection.  This is because tier points are earned per leg, so connecting in Colombo to your final destination will earn more tier points than taking a direct flight on British Airways from London.

You can work out how many tier points you will earn on the BA tier point calculator here.  Remember to search leg by leg if you are connecting.  London – Colombo – Male on SriLankan, for example, is more lucrative than a direct London – Male flight on British Airways.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is possible to earn Avios and BA tier points on S7 Airlines instead of their own mileage reward currency. This is because both airlines belong to the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with S7 Airlines, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct amount of Avios.

However, you will earn a different amount of Avios on S7 Airlines compared to if you fly British Airways on a flight of similar distance. This is because they have different earning rates. On S7, you will earn Avios at a maximum of 125% of miles flown if you fly business class. On British Airways flights, however, business class fares can come with up to 250% of miles flown.

How many Avios do you earn flying with S7 Airlines?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from the partner page of the British Airways website.

We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on S7 compared to taking a flight on British Airways.

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – not available on S7 vs 100%-150% on British Airways

Business – 125% vs 150%-250% on British Airways

First – not available on S7 vs 250%-300% on British Airways

As you can see, economy earning rates are the same for both airlines.  For flights in business class you will suffer some severe losses – it is impossible to earn even the lowest Avios rates on S7 Airlines as you would on British Airways. You earn at least 25%-125% fewer Avios than you would on British Airways for a similar length of flight.

You will NOT get a status tier bonus when you fly with S7 Airlines. This means that Bronze, Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club will do even worse compared to flying BA on routes where the two carriers compete.

You WILL earn British Airways Executive Club tier points when you fly with S7 as both airlines are members of the oneworld alliance.

If you are flying a route served by both airlines, you are better off flying with S7 Airlines than British Airways if your S7 trip involves a connection.  This is because tier points are earned per flight.  If you connect in Moscow to your final destination, you will earn more tier points than taking a direct flight on British Airways from London.

You can work out how many tier points you will earn on the BA tier point calculator here.  Remember to search leg by leg if you are connecting.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is possible to earn Avios and BA tier points when you fly with Alaska Airlines instead of their own mileage reward currency. This is because the airlines are both members of the oneworld airline alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with Alaska Airlines, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

(This also works in reverse.  Passengers on British Airways can choose to earn miles in the Alaska Airlines frequent flyer scheme instead.)

However, you will earn a different amount of Avios on Alaska Airlines compared to similar flights on British Airways. On Alaska Airlines, you will earn Avios at a maximum of 150% of miles flown if you fly in First Class. On British Airways flights, First Class fares can earn up to 300% of miles flown if you are on a flexible ticket.

How many Avios do I earn on Alaska Airlines?

Here is the full chart of earning rates on Alaska Airlines, sourced from the British Airways website here.  This includes flights on subsidiaries Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines.

We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on Alaska Airlines compared to taking a flight on British Airways.

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy low – 50% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – not available on Alaska vs 100%-150% on British Airways

Business – not available on AS vs 150%-250% on British Airways

First – 150% vs 250%-300% on British Airways (to be fair, Alaska Airlines does not fly long haul; their ‘First’ product is the equivalent to short haul business class, or Club Europe on British Airways.)

As you can see, economy earning rates are the same for both airlines.  For flights in business class you will suffer some severe losses – up to 100% less when comparing Alaska Airlines’ short-haul First product with British Airway’s business class (Alaska Airlines First is not true first class.)

You will NOT get a status bonus when you fly with Alaska Airlines.  This means that Bronze, Silver and Gold members of British Airways Executive Club will do even worse compared to a similar length of flight on British Airways.

It is now possible to earn tier points with Alaska Airlines following their entry into the oneworld alliance in 2021.  Whilst the airline had a long standing partnership with British Airways before this, it only allowed you to earn Avios and not tier points.  Your flights with them will now count towards earning status in British Airways Executive Club.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is possible to earn Avios and BA tier points on Royal Air Maroc instead of their own mileage reward currency. This is because both airlines belong to the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with Royal Air Maroc, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

However, you will earn a different amount of Avios on Royal Air Maroc compared to if you fly British Airways. This is because they have different earning rates. On Royal Air Maroc, you will earn Avios at a maximum of 125% of miles flown if you fly business class. On British Airways flights, however, business class fares can come with up to 250% of miles flown.

How many Avios will I earn flying with Royal Air Maroc?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from the partner page of the British Airways website.

We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on Royal Air Maroc compared to taking a flight on British Airways.

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy lowest – 50% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – not available on RAM vs 100%-150% on British Airways

Business – 125% vs 150%-250% on British Airways

First – not available on RAM vs 250%-300% on British Airways

As you can see, economy earning rates are the same for both airlines.  For flights in business class you will suffer some severe losses, earning up to 50% less on Royal Air Maroc than you would on a British Airways flight.

You will NOT get a status tier bonus when you fly with Royal Air Maroc.  This means that Bronze, Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club will do even worse compared to flying BA.  For direct flights to Casablanca, status members would be substantially better off flying with BA.

When it comes to tier points, however, you are better off flying with Royal Air Maroc than British Airways if your trip involves a connection.  This is because tier points are earned per flight, so a connecting in Casablanca to your final destination will earn more tier points than taking a direct flight on British Airways from London.

You can work out how many tier points you will earn on the BA tier point calculator here.  Remember to search leg by leg if you are connecting.  For example, London – Casablanca – Gran Canaria is more lucrative than the direct British Airways London to Gran Canaria service.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is possible to earn Avios and BA tier points on Royal Jordanian instead of their own mileage reward currency. This is because both airlines belong to the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with Royal Jordanian, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

However, you will earn a different amount of Avios on Royal Jordanian compared to if you fly British Airways. This is because they have different earning rates. On Royal Jordanian, you will earn Avios at a maximum of 125% of miles flown if you fly business class. On British Airways flights, however, business class fares can come with up to 250% of miles flown.

How many Avios will I earn flying with Royal Jordanian?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from the partner page of the British Airways website.

We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on Royal Jordanian compared to taking a flight on British Airways.

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – not available on RJ vs 100%-150% on British Airways

Business – 125% vs 150%-250% on British Airways

First – not available on RJ vs 250%-300% on British Airways

As you can see, economy earning rates are the same for both airlines.  For flights in business class you will suffer some severe losses, earning up to 50% less on Royal Jordanian than you would on a British Airways flight.

You will NOT get a status tier bonus when you fly with Royal Jordanian.  This means that Bronze, Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club will do even worse compared to flying BA.  For direct flights to Amman, status members would be substantially better off flying with BA.

When it comes to tier points, however, you are better off flying with Royal Jordanian than British Airways if your trip involves a connection.  This is because tier points are earned per flight, so a connecting in Amman to your final destination will earn more tier points than taking a direct flight on British Airways from London.

You can work out how many tier points you will earn on the BA tier point calculator here.  Remember to search leg by leg if you are connecting.  For example, London – Amman – Larnaca is more lucrative than the direct British Airways London to Larnaca service.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is no longer possible to earn BA tier points on LATAM instead of their own mileage reward currency. This is because LATAM has left the oneworld alliance.

However, you can still earn Avios on LATAM flights. You can Avios with flights on  the following LATAM airlines: LATAM Chile (LA), LATAM Argentina (4M), LATAM Colombia (4C), LATAM Ecuador (XL), LATAM Peru (LP) and LATAM Brasil Airlines (JJ).

When you book or manage your flights with LATAM, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

However, you will earn a different amount of Avios on LATAM compared to if you fly British Airways. This is because they have different earning rates. On LATAM, you will earn Avios at a maximum of 125% of miles flown if you fly business class. On British Airways flights, however, business class fares can come with 150% of miles flown.

How many Avios do you earn flying with LATAM?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from the partner page of the British Airways website. 

We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on LATAM compared to taking a flight on British Airways:

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy low – 50% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – 100%-110% vs 100%-150% on British Airways

Business – 125% vs 150%-250% on British Airways

First – LATAM does not have first class – 250%-300% on British Airways

Note that you will not earn Avios on domestic flights within Peru, Chile, Argentina or Ecuador.

As you can see, economy earning rates are the same for both airlines.  For flights in LATAM business class you will suffer some severe losses, earning up to a third fewer on LATAM than you would on a typical British Airways flight.

You will NOT get a status tier bonus when you fly with LATAM.  This means that Bronze, Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club will do even worse compared to flying BA.

You can no longer earn British Airways tier points on LATAM flights now that it has left the oneworld alliance.

It is worth noting that LATAM is launching a partnership with Virgin Atlantic in 2022.  This may allow you to earn Virgin Points and Virgin Flying Club tier points from your trip.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

The answer is the ‘Combine My Avios’ function.

However, there is a problem.  ‘Combine My Avios’ is very buggy.  You are likely to get an error message when you try to use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move your points from Iberia to British Airways.  You may be told that only one-way transfers are possible.  This is rubbish.

How to use ‘Combine My Avios’ with Iberia Plus

Before I show you how to fix the ‘Combine My Avios’ problem, we need to clarify one thing.  You can cannot move Avios into or out of an Iberia Plus account unless:

the Iberia Plus account is 90 days old and

the Iberia Plus has ‘earned’ at least 1 Avios

The easiest way to have the account ‘earn’ an Avios is to transfer 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards points.  You could also credit a BA or oneworld flight to the account or transfer some hotel points.

If this applies to you, you need to wait until your Iberia Plus account meets both of the criteria above before carrying on with this article.

“Combine My Avios” gives me an error message ….

Historically, ‘Combine My Avios’ has not worked well due to IT issues.

However, after a new IT system was introduced in November 2021, it DOES now work most of the time.  This article explains the change.

If you are still having problems, there is another solution.

You need to use the avios.com website as an intermediary.  As BA closed the Avios Travel Rewards Programme in 2018, you need to use a different approach.

In order to open an Avios account which can still be operated at avios.com, you need to visit the Aer Lingus website and sign up for AerClub.  Membership is free and you will be given an 18-digit account number.

Once you have signed up for AerClub, this is what you do:

Log in at avios.com using your new AerClub account details

Find ‘Combine My Avios’ in the menus

Use ‘Combine My Avios’ to PULL your Avios from iberia.com to avios.com

Repeat the process to PUSH your Avios from avios.com to ba.com

This process should work – most people are surprised how effective it is.

Moving points between accounts is instant and extremely easy – you can choose how many you would like to shift and complete the transaction. However, ‘Combine My Avios’ does not let you transfer Avios to another person – you must hold both accounts and they must have the same registered address.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

There is, after all, a box marked ‘Promo Code’ when you sign up.

However, in the nine years I have been running Head for Points, I have only ever seen it used once.  This was when British Airways launched flights from Leeds Bradford Airport and wanted to sign up local flyers.

To to all intents and purposes, the ‘Promo Code’ box is never used and you shouldn’t waste your time looking for any British Airways Executive Club promotional codes.

Let’s look at how you join British Airways Executive Club and earn Avios

As well as earning Avios, joining the Executive Club also allow you to earn elite status with British Airways.

Elite status come with benefits including lounge access, free seat selection, bonus Avios earning rates and many more. You can read a brief explanation of the different British Airways Executive Club tiers here.

Joining the Executive Club to earn Avios is very easy.  It’s free to join on the British Airways website and there are no minimum requirements for eligibility, although you do have to be 18 or older.

Can children join British Airways Executive Club and earn Avios?

Yes.  If you are under 18, there is still a way to join British Airways Executive Club and earn Avios – see this article for details.

After you’ve joined ….

Once you’re signed up, you can start collecting Avios both from British Airways and oneworld flights. Executive Club also has a large network of commercial partners including retailers and restaurants where you can conveniently earn on your daily spending. As a member you’ll also receive exclusive offers and competitions from both British Airways and their partners.

When you first join Executive Club you will have Blue membership. Your first milestone, in addition to collecting Avios, should be to achieve Bronze status – the first of the elite levels – which has several benefits including priority boarding and free earlier seat selection. We’ve written here about what you need to do to become a British Airways Executive Club Bronze member.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

There is, after all, a box marked ‘Promo Code’ when you sign up.

However, in the nine years I have been running Head for Points, I have only ever seen it used once.  This was when British Airways launched flights from Leeds Bradford Airport and wanted to sign up local flyers.

To to all intents and purposes, the ‘Promo Code’ box is never used and you shouldn’t waste your time looking for any British Airways Executive Club promotional codes.

Let’s look at how you join British Airways Executive Club

Joining the Executive Club also allow you to earn elite status with British Airways, which come with benefits including lounge access, free seat selection, bonus Avios earning rates and many more. You can read a brief explanation of the different British Airways Executive Club tiers here.

Joining the Executive Club is very easy.  It’s free to join on the British Airways website and there are no minimum requirements for eligibility, although you do have to be 18 or older.

Can children join British Airways Executive Club?

Yes.  If you are under 18, there is still a way to join British Airways Executive Club and earn Avios – see this article for details.

After you’ve joined ….

Once you’re signed up, you can start collecting Avios both from British Airways and oneworld flights. Executive Club also has a large network of commercial partners including retailers and restaurants where you can conveniently earn on your daily spending. As a member you’ll also receive exclusive offers and competitions from both British Airways and their partners.

When you first join Executive Club you will have Blue membership. Your first milestone, in addition to collecting Avios, should be to achieve Bronze status – the first of the elite levels – which has several benefits including priority boarding and free earlier seat selection. We’ve written here about what you need to do to become a British Airways Executive Club Bronze member.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

One of the most common questions I receive via email from new readers is how can you swap your Virgin Points into Avios points.  I thought it was worth looking at this topic today.

The first thing to say is that you can transfer Virgin Points to Avios points, but the exchange rate is poor.  I will explain how later in the article.

Before that, though, you should think about WHY you want to move your Virgin miles to Avios.

Is it because you don’t have enough Virgin Points for a free flight?

Are you sure about that?  Remember, Virgin Atlantic allows one-way redemptions (as does Avios).  You could book a one-way ticket to where you want to go on Virgin Points, and then come back with Avios points.  A one-way in economy to New York is only 10,000 miles off-peak.  This actually gives you more flexibility than just using Avios because you have more chances of finding available seats.

Virgin Atlantic also offers ‘miles plus money‘ redemptions which reduces the amount of miles you need even further.

Is it because Virgin Atlantic does not fly to where you want to go?

OK, fair point.  Ever since Delta Air Lines bought 49% of Virgin Atlantic a few years ago, the airline has been dropping its non-North American routes in favour of more destinations which drive connecting traffic from Delta.

However, have you considered flying somewhere else in the same region and buying (or using Avios on a oneworld airline) a cheap connecting flight?

Virgin Atlantic doesn’t fly to Kuala Lumpur, for example.  You can fly to Hong Kong, however, and connecting flights to Kuala Lumpur are easy to find.

Do you know that you can top-up your Virgin miles via Tesco Clubcard voucher conversions, Heathrow Rewards points transfers or American Express Membership Rewards transfers?

Tesco Clubcard and Heathrow Rewards both offer you an easy way of topping up your Virgin account.

Remember that the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year and comes with 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards points for signing-up.  See my review of American Express Gold here.  Those convert to 20,000 Virgin Points.  That should be enough to turn your existing Virgin Points collection into something useful.

Virgin Atlantic also has its own credit cards, run by Virgin Money – click for details.  The paid card comes with a generous sign-up bonus and one of the two cards is FREE.

If you really DO want to convert Virgin Points to Avios points ….

Moving Virgin Flying Club miles to Avios points is a two stage process.  You will need at least 10,000 Virgin Points to do it.

Stage 1:  Open an IHG Rewards account

Stage 2:  Transfer your Virgin Points to IHG Rewards points at the rate of 1 to 1

Stage 3:  Transfer your IHG Rewards points to Avios at the rate of 5 to 1

20,000 Virgin Points would get you 20,000 IHG Rewards points which gets you 4,000 Avios points.  The rate is effectively 5 : 1 which is pretty terrible.

There is a second route which is no better:

Stage 1:  Open a Hilton Honors account

Stage 2:  Transfer your Virgin Points to Hilton Honors points at the rate of 1 to 1.5

Stage 3:  Transfer your Hilton Honors points to Avios at the rate of 10 to 1

The net conversion rate is awful, of course.  20,000 Virgin Points gets you 30,000 Hilton Honors points which gets you 3,000 Avios points.  The rate is effectively 7 : 1 which is even worse than the IHG Rewards route.

You would be far better off using the IHG Rewards or Hilton Honors points to book yourself a free hotel room rather than converting them to Avios.

Virgin Red may be a better solution

Fortunately, it is now a lot easier to spend small numbers of Virgin Points.

In 2021, Virgin Red was launched.  Virgin Red is a new rewards app which lets you spend small amounts of Virgin Points, from as few as 200 points for a Greggs sausage roll!  There are also more enticing options, such as seats in Virgin Red’s private suite at the AO Arena in Manchester for top concerts.  Sign up now and try it out.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like SriLankan Airlines.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book SriLankan Airlines flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

Here’s a tip – remember that you don’t need to start your flight in the UK.  You might find more seats by searching from a different departure city elsewhere in Europe and buying a cash flight to connect with it.

What are the cancellation rules on SriLankan Airways flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on SriLankan Airlines?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book SriLankan Airlines flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like S7 Airlines.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book S7 Airlines flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

Here’s a tip – remember that you don’t need to start your flight in the UK.  You might find more seats by searching from a different departure city elsewhere in Europe and buying a cash flight to connect with it.

What are the cancellation rules on S7 Airways flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on S7 Airlines?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book S7 Airlines flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Royal Air Maroc.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Royal Air Maroc flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

Here’s a tip – remember that you don’t need to start your flight in the UK.  You might find more seats by searching from a different departure city elsewhere in Europe and buying a cash flight to connect with it.

What are the cancellation rules on Royal Air Maroc flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Royal Air Maroc?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Royal Air Maroc flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Royal Jordanian.

(I have done this myself.  Here is my review of Royal Jordanian business class from Amman to Heathrow.)

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Royal Jordanian flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

Here’s a tip – remember that you don’t need to start your flight in the UK.  You might find more seats by searching from a different departure city elsewhere in Europe and buying a cash flight to connect with it.

What are the cancellation rules on Royal Jordanian flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Royal Jordanian?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Royal Jordanian flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Qatar Airways.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Qatar Airways flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

Here’s a tip – remember that you don’t need to start your flight in the UK.  You might find more seats by searching from a different departure city elsewhere in Europe and buying a cash flight to connect with it.

What are the cancellation rules on Qatar Airways flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Qatar Airways?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Qatar Airways flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Qantas.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Qantas flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

What are the cancellation rules on Qantas flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Qantas?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Qantas flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

One of the key benefits of bookings flights using Avios points instead of cash is that your flight is cancellable and refundable.

You need to follow a couple of rules though, as I will explain.

How do I cancel a flight booked with Avios?

Log in to your British Airways account and go to ‘Manage My Booking’.  Bring up your Avios redemption flight details.  In the options at the bottom of the page is one for cancellation.

Sometimes this does not work properly for reasons no-one understands.  If this happens you need to call British Airways Executive Club.

Note that, during the pandemic, British Airways suspended the abilty to cancel flights online for a full refund.  The only option available, unless you call the airline, is a refund for a Future Travel Voucher.

How late can I cancel a flight booked with Avios?

An Avios redemption flight can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the outbound departure.

Once you have flown the outbound flight, you cannot cancel your return.  More precisely, you can cancel it but you won’t get anything back!  You can change the date and time of your return Avios flight, however, as long as Avios seats are available and you are willing to pay the £35 change fee.

Are there different rules if I booked on a partner airline instead of BA?

No

What does it cost to cancel a flight booked with Avios?

The cost is £35 per person OR the taxes and charges, whichever is lowest.

In 95% of cases, you will pay £35.  The only occasion when your taxes are likely to be lower than £35 would be if:

• you were cancelling a one-way European flight, where the taxes will be just £17.50 in Economy or £25 in Business
• you were cancelling a flight on some partner airlines where taxes are very low – domestic flights in Japan on JAL have virtually no taxes, for example

Note that it is ‘per person’, so the cost of cancelling a flight for a family of four will be £140.

If your outbound and return flights were booked separately (ie you have different booking references and separate tickets) then you will need to pay two lots of cancellation fees.

The fee is deducted from the taxes and charges before it is sent back to you.  The refund will go to the credit card used for the original payment.

Do I get all of my Avios points back when I cancel a flight?

Yes, you get 100% of the Avios points returned to your British Airways Executive Club account immediately.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Malaysia Airlines.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Malaysia Airlines flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

What are the cancellation rules on Malaysia Airways flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Malaysia Airlines?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Malaysia Airlines flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

You can find out more about Malaysia Airlines on their website here.  There is a special section on the A350, which is used for Heathrow flights, here.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airline Japan Airlines.

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Japan Airlines flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

Here’s a tip – remember that you don’t need to start your flight in the UK.  You might find more seats by searching from a different departure city elsewhere in Europe and buying a cash flight to connect with it.

What are the cancellation rules on Japan Airlines flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Japan Airlines?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Japan Airlines flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

There used to be three ways of earning Avios when buying petrol.  You could earn at Shell, at Esso and at Tesco filling stations.

When Tesco Clubcard and Avios split, the ability to earn at Tesco garages and Tesco Express-branded Esso stations went away. Avios started to regroup …..

Today (this article was updated in January 2022, ignore the original publication date) there are three different ways of earning Avios from fuel purchases.

Earning Avios at Sainsbury’s garages

Following the tie-up between Nectar and Avios, you can indirectly earn Avios at petrol stations based at Sainsbury’s supermarket.

You earn 1 Nectar point for every £1 you spend on fuel or in a shop attached to a Sainsbury’s petrol station. This converts into 0.625 Avios per £1 you spend.

You can convert Nectar points into Avios via ba.com here.

Earning Avios at BP garages

The earning rate for BPme Rewards points at BP garages is:

• 1 BPme point for every litre of regular fuel purchased
• 2 BPme points for every litre of Ultimate fuel purchased
• 1 BPme point for every £1 spent in a BP forecourt shop

If we convert these to Avios, you get:

• 0.625 Avios for every litre of regular fuel purchase
• 1.25 Avios for every litre of Ultimate fuel purchased
• 0.625 Avios for every £1 spent in a BP forecourt shop

Earning Avios at Esso garages

The earning rate for Nectar points at Esso garages is:

• 1 Nectar point per litre spent on Esso Synergy fuel
• 2 Nectar points per £1 spent on other items, including in the store

If we convert these to Avios, you get:

• 0.625 Avios per litre spent on fuel
• 1.25 Avios per £1 spent on other items, including in the store

Remember that you do not earn Nectar points at Esso garages which have a Tesco store attached. You can earn Tesco Clubcard points at these garages, which can be converted to Virgin Points if you wish.

Which is better?

It’s not difficult to analyse these two earning rates.

The deals are identical for fuel.

The only exception is if you pay for premium fuel, in which case BP is the better choice due to double points on Ultimate.

On the other hand, if you tend to buy something in the shop alongside your fuel, Esso is the better deal due to the higher rate on in-store earning – unless it is an Esso with a Tesco store, in which case you can’t earn Nectar points at all!

Coupons and bonuses may make the difference

Both Esso, via the Nectar app, and BP, via the BPme Rewards app, offer bonus points from time to time.

Given the relatively small number of Avios earned from filling your tank at standard rates, a bonus is likely to make the difference as to which is more rewarding.

Perhaps more realistically, the fairest thing to say is that buying petrol is unlikely to earn you a huge amount of Avios irrespective of whether you shop at Esso, Sainsbury’s or BP.

You will probably earn more Avios from the credit card you use to pay for your fuel than from the fuel itself.

It might be worth settling for an easy life and filling up at the garage most convenient for your home or office, irrespective of what you earn. You are also likely to find fuel cheaper at your local supermarket with a saving that would outweigh the Avios you would get from Esso or BP.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Iberia.

(I have done this myself – here is my review of Iberia’s new A350 business class.)

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Iberia flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

What are the cancellation rules on Iberia flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Iberia?

It is the same chart that is used for booking Avios flights on BA.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Iberia flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

In this article I want to look at how you can use your Avios to fly with partner airlines like Finnair.

(I have done this myself – here is my review of Finnair A350 business class.)

The good news is that you are not restricted to spending Avios points on British Airways.  BA is part of a global airline alliance called oneworld, and this allows you to redeem Avios for flights with all of the member airlines.

This means that you can book Avios flights on:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines (Russia)
• SriLankan Airlines

British Airways also has additional partnerships with Aer Lingus.

How do you book Finnair flights with Avios?

It’s easy.  You do it exactly the same way that you would when booking Avios redemption flights on British Airways.

Go to ba.com, log in to the British Airways Executive Club section and then go to the Avios booking page.

The process is identical to booking a BA flight with points.

What are the cancellation rules on Finnair flights booked with Avios?

The cancellation and change fee rules are the same as if you had booked a BA flight.  You can cancel your flight up to 24 hours before departure, either online or by calling BA.

100% of your Avios will be refunded.

Your taxes and charges payment will also be refunded, less a £35 cancellation fee per person.  If the taxes and charges were less than £35 per person, you do not need to pay any extra.

How many Avios will I need to book on Finnair?

British Airways has a separate pricing chart for reward flights on partner airlines.  Here is the table:

As you can see, it is very easy to book Finnair flights with Avios points and it opens up a large number of new travel destinations for you.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.