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

In this article we’ll look at how you can earn Avios and British Airways tier points by flying with S7 Airlines and whether it’s worth it compared to flying British Airways.

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.)

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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:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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