British Airways Executive Club: The Ultimate Guide

British Airways is the flagship carrier of the U.K., with headquarters in London, England. The airline’s founding can be traced back to 1919, when the world’s first daily international flight, operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T), flew between London and Paris.

After a series of mergers over the next few decades, culminating with the merging of British European Airways (BEA) and state airline British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), British Airways was created in 1974. The airline was privatized in 1987.

In 1999, British Airways partnered with Qantas and American Airlines to form the Oneworld alliance, one of the big three airline alliances in the world. In 2011, British Airways and Iberia merged to form the International Airlines Group (IAG), which now comprises several other airlines—such as Aer Lingus and Vueling—that all use Avios as their rewards currency.

While, intuitively, British Airways wouldn’t have much to offer non-U.K. travelers, it actually services 110-plus countries and territories globally. BA has massive reach as it flies to every continent except for Antarctica, and its membership in the Oneworld alliance expands that reach even more.

Today, the airline operates out of three hubs in London: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW) and London City (LCY).

The first step to earning British Airways Avios is to sign up for a British Airways Executive Club account. At registration, you are assigned a frequent flyer number and automatic Blue Member level status.

Flying British Airways

The most obvious way to earn Avios is by flying with British Airways. This is where a mild layer of complication is introduced. Usually, travelers would expect that the number of miles flown would equate to the number of Avios earned. However, British Airways calculates the Avios you earn when flying on British Airways and a few partner flights based on the total eligible spend (a combination of your fare, carrier imposed charges, paid upgrades, paid seat selections and additional baggage), and for other partner flights, it uses a percentage of distance flown and class fare ticket purchased.

The status you hold with the airline plays a role in the amount of Avios you earn when you fly. The higher your status, the more Avios you will earn based on your spending, as follows:

• Blue Members: 6 Avios per qualifying pound (GBP) spent
• Bronze Members: 7 Avios per qualifying pound (GBP) spent
• Silver Members: 8 Avios per qualifying pound (GBP) spent
• Gold Members: 9 Avios per qualifying pound (GBP) spent

Earning Status With British Airways

Tier Points and eligible paid flights on British Airways (and Iberia) metal—or BA and Iberia aircraft—are the criteria needed to earn higher status.

The following requirements are needed to obtain elite status:

• Bronze: 300 Tier Points and two eligible flights
• Silver: 600 Tier Points and four eligible flights
• Gold: 1,500 Tier Points and four eligible flights

Tier Points are earned on British Airways and Oneworld partner flights, and as with Avios, earnings correspond with the flight distance and fare class.

Higher status with British Airways unlocks additional perks:

• Executive Club Bronze: priority check-in and boarding, free seat selection seven days before departure
• Executive Club Silver: all the benefits of Bronze, plus free seat selection upon booking, additional checked baggage allowance and complimentary business lounge access when flying BA or partner airlines
• Executive Club Gold: all the benefits of Silver, plus First class check in and boarding, access to First lounges, no booking or service fees on Priority Reward bookings and expanded award availability

The full benefits and comparison list of the various status levels can be found at the British Airways Executive Club website.

By reaching elite status with British Airways, you also gain elite status under Oneworld. This gets you similar benefits with other Oneworld partners, such as lounge access, priority check-in and boarding, additional baggage allowance and more.

• Executive Club Bronze = Oneworld Ruby
• Executive Club Silver = Oneworld Sapphire
• Executive Club Gold = Oneworld Emerald

Flights on Partner Airlines

When flying with a Oneworld partner, you can earn Avios in lieu of the miles from the airline you’re actually flying. This is achieved by adding your British Airways Executive Club number to your ticket when flying with a member airline. Earnings will depend on which partner you are flying, with some earnings based on a percentage of distance flown and others based on eligible spend.

The following airlines make up the Oneworld alliance: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air (future member), Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and SriLankan Airlines. British Airways has a separate codeshare partnership with China Southern Airlines that allows members to earn Avios on its flights.

British Airways also has a relationship with Aer Lingus, even though Aer Lingus is not a member of the Oneworld alliance. Aer Lingus, along with Iberia, Vueling and Qatar Airways, share Avios as a points currency with British Airways. Each airline has a separate program, but the currency is transferable across airline loyalty accounts, so you can earn Avios with Aer Lingus and then transfer them to your BA account. It’s worth noting that to transfer Avios in or out of Iberia, your Iberia rewards account must be at least 90 days old.

Credit Cards

British Airways does have its own co-branded credit card called the British Airways Visa Signature® Card. The card has a compelling welcome offer: 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. This card also earns 3 Avios per dollar on purchases with Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL, 2 Avios per dollar on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases.

Transfer Partners

British Airways is a transfer partner of several major transferable points programs. What’s more, Avios can also be earned with the loyalty programs of Iberia, Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways and transferred between each at a rate of 1:1, which opens up even more transfer partners. Any points earned in the programs below can transfer to Avios as long as the specific card you hold allows transfers to airline partners.

• American Express Membership Rewards®: 1 Membership Rewards point to 1 British Airways Avios
• Bilt Rewards: 1 Bilt Reward point to 1 British Airways Avios
• Capital One Rewards: 1 Capital One mile to 1 British Airways Avios
• Chase Ultimate Rewards®: 1 Ultimate Rewards point to 1 British Airways Avios
• Citi ThankYou® Points: 1 Citi ThankYou Point to 1 Qatar Airways Avios

Transfer bonuses to British Airways occasionally occur with American Express, Capital One and Chase. During these promotions, you might see increased transfer ratios, such as 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards points to 1,300 British Airways Avios.

Some hotel partners allow you to transfer hotel points to Avios, but the ratios are often less favorable.

• ALL points: 4,000 ALL points to 2,000 British Airways Avios
• Hilton Honors: 10,000 Hilton Honors points to 1,000 British Airways Avios
• IHG One Rewards: 10,000 IHG One Rewards points to 2,000 British Airways Avios
• Marriott Bonvoy: 3 Bonvoy points to 1 British Airways Avios
• MeliáRewards: 100 MeliáRewards points to 30 British Airways Avios
• Radisson Rewards Americas: 2,000 Radisson Rewards Americas points to 200 British Airways Avios
• World of Hyatt: 5,000 World of Hyatt points to 2,000 British Airways Avios, 5,000-mile bonus for every 50,000 Hyatt points transferred

Some of these transfers are more worthwhile than others. For example, Hyatt points are extremely valuable, so transferring them to British Airways at this rate is not generally a good deal.

One hotel transfer that can make sense in some circumstances, however, is a transfer from Marriott. If you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points, you’ll get 25,000 Avios instead of 20,000. You get a bonus of 5,000 Avios after transferring 60,000 Bonvoy points. While this sounds like a worse deal than transfers from Hyatt numerically, remember that not all points are created equal. On average, one Hyatt point is much more valuable than one Marriott point based on redemption rates.

Hotel Partners

In addition to converting your hotel points to Avios, you can also earn Avios on your stays with certain partner hotels and other accommodations, as outlined below.

• Accor: Earn up to 2.5 Avios for every 2 euros ($2.19)
• Airbnb: Earn 3 Avios for every $1
• Avios hotels: Earn 10 Avios for every 1 pound ($2.54)
• IHG Hotels: Up to 2 Avios for every $1
• Marriott: Earn up to 2 Avios per $1

With hotel partners, you’ll need to have a hotel loyalty account, add your British Airways Executive Club number to your booking and choose Avios as your earning preference. Generally, when you opt to earn Avios, this means you won’t earn hotel points on your stay, which might not make for the best deal, depending on the Avios earn rate.

Rental Car Partners

British Airways also has several rental car partners that allow you to earn Avios on your rental car bookings.

• Avis: Earn 5 Avios per 1 pound ($2.54)
• Budget: Earn 1 Avios per $1

Shopping Portal

British Airways has its own shopping portal. By using the shopping portal, you can earn up to 40 British Airways Avios per $1 spent when you shop online with almost 600 different retailers, no matter which form of payment you use on your purchase. These Avios earned are in addition to any points you will earn from your credit card.

Buying Avios

You can purchase Avios directly from British Airways. This isn’t usually a good value, although sometimes British Airways runs promotional offers that increase the value of this option. For example, during a recent 50% bonus promotion, you could buy 1,000 Avios for $53 (or 0.5 cents per point), 10,000 Avios for $300 (or 0.3 cents per point) or 50,000 Avios for $1,400 (or 0.28 cents per point). That said, be sure that you have a use for the miles before purchasing because Avios are subject to devaluation at any time.

Read more: Is Buying Frequent Flyer Miles Ever A Good Deal?

Other Ways To Earn Avios

You can also book accommodations, rental cars and vacation packages through the British Airways Holidays portal and earn 1 Avios for every $1 you spend. However, keep in mind that since you’re booking through a third-party agency, you might not get hotel points or loyalty benefits on these bookings.

The British Airways Executive Club Rewards app (iOS, Android) helps you track and find Avios offers with popular brands and retailers so you can accumulate miles faster.

Finally, British Airways has a number of other travel partners with which you can earn additional Avios, such as Lounge Pass, ParkVia, Cruise118 and valet parking at London Heathrow.

On British Airways Flights

British Airways utilizes a distance-based award chart. This means that the longer the flight, the more Avios it costs. There are distance-based calculators out there, but it is prudent to run your itinerary through the British Airways website so you can view other information, such as the associated taxes and fees.

It is also noteworthy that segments are priced separately. For example, if you book a flight from Dallas to London, connecting in New York City, British Airways will price the flight from Dallas to New York City and separately from New York City to London.

Note also that British Airways has different pricing for peak/off-peak fares. These can vary by time of year or even day of the week. Again, the best bet is to check your flight details through British Airways’ website.

The kicker with award redemptions with British Airways comes in the form of the underlying high taxes and fees the airline is known for including. These can be significant and can quickly make your Avios redemption much less valuable.

One thing to note about BA Avios award tickets: It can pay to price trips as one-way trips as opposed to round-trip tickets. For instance, a sample coach award flight from Denver to London includes $81 in taxes, but the return flight from London to Denver charges $150 in taxes and fees. This is because it is generally more expensive to fly from London. If you are taking a trip to multiple cities in Europe, it might make sense to use Avios to fly to London but to use another currency to fly home from a different country in Europe.

On Flights With Partners

Avios, through British Airways’ partner airlines, can actually be used to book flights on multiple airlines globally. The Oneworld alliance lets you use Avios to book flights on any airline within the alliance.

British Airways also has partnerships with Aer Lingus and China Southern, as mentioned, and codeshares with airBaltic, Bangkok Airways, China Eastern, Fiji Airways, Kenya Airways, Loganair, Vistara and Vueling. If there is designated award availability on alliance or partner airlines when you search ba.com, the flight can be booked with Avios.

British Airways’ partner award chart is also distance-based, but prices vary from BA-operated flights. The same logic applies: The longer the flight, the more Avios it will cost. It will also generally cost more Avios to book a comparable flight that is the same distance on a partner airline. As an offset, travelers will often pay much lower taxes and fees. Armed with this knowledge, you can get creative and find sweet spots in the program.

There is a published award chart you can refer to when combining multiple partner airlines under one itinerary. For instance, you can use Avios to book a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles on American Airlines and then continue from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Japan Airlines. With both being Oneworld alliance airlines, you can book this ticket if saver award space is available.

Sweet Spots

Like any airline program, some redemptions with British Airways Avios will be better than others. These are some of our favorite sweet spots.

Domestic Flights 1,150 Miles and Less

For just 11,000 miles one way, you can book a flight in the U.S. traveling 1,150 miles or less. A couple of examples include:

• Seattle (SEA) to San Diego (SAN) operated by Alaska Airlines—1,050 miles
• Newark (EWR) to Miami (MIA) operated by American Airlines—1,085 miles

Each one-way cost would come with low taxes and fees (about $6). Note that each segment would be priced separately if your flight requires a connection.

International Flights 1,150 Miles and Less

British Airways doesn’t discriminate on the basis of where your flight starts or ends. When traveling outside the U.S., flight distance also sets the base on the number of Avios required. Flights can be booked for as little as 4,500 Avios with minimal taxes and fees for short flights, such as routes between Madrid and Barcelona (301 miles).

West Coast to Hawaii

Most of the major West Coast cities (Seattle, Portland, OR; San Francisco, San Jose, CA; Los Angeles and San Diego) offer nonstop flights on either American Airlines or Alaska Airlines to Hawaii, namely Oahu and Maui, though other Hawaiian islands are available.

Assuming there is award ticket availability, a family of four would be able to fly round-trip to Hawaii in economy class for just 128,000 Avios plus taxes and fees (about $6 each way, per person).

International Long Haul

Avios can also get you to your destination in style. For 92,750 Avios plus taxes and fees (about $334), you can book a one-way flight from Chicago to Tokyo in business class on Japan Airlines. This flight at approximately 14 hours can cost around $5,000-plus in cash, so even with the taxes and fees this award flight can offer excellent value at over 4 cents per point.

Bad Buys
Generally speaking, using Avios to book flights on British Airways metal presents poor value due to the high taxes and fees required to transit through the U.K. As mentioned earlier, a Denver to London flight on British Airways comes with very high taxes and fees—$189.80 for this specific example.

The exception to this is intra-European flights, which have a fixed tax scheme that can help the ticket price more fairly. Booking partner flights, whether it’s on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines or one of the many Oneworld partners, is the best route.

Fees
Like most airline programs, BA has varying fees for booking. See the table below.

Infant Fees

Infants traveling as a lap child are charged a percentage of an adult fare plus taxes and fees, but this can vary based on the route. To have their own seat requires being at least six months old (or with proper restraints if younger).

British Airways does charge a child fare price, which is a discount on an adult fare, but you must call directly to book either a lap child or discounted child fare.

Family Pooling

Household accounts for up to six people can be made on the British Airways website, allowing family and friends to pool Avios together. This is especially useful for families that fly together once or twice a year. By pooling, a family might earn enough Avios for a free ticket, instead of letting the Avios sit dormant because they’re split amongst the members individually.

Note that Tier Points and Executive Club status are individually earned and maintained. If you’re in a household account, redeeming Avios can only be done for individuals within that household. Household members do not need to be related. Changes to the household can only be made once every six months. Finally, you must be at least 18 years old to spend Avios.

Other Ways To Redeem Avios

Avios can be used to pay for seat reservations and baggage fees. Avios can also be used to upgrade your class of service on British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines cash tickets when available. This can be completed at the time of booking for existing tickets and is allowed on one-way or round-trip tickets.

You can also pay for hotel stays, car rentals and various experiences with Avios when booked through British Airways. Remember that most of these redemptions won’t offer the best value compared to booking a flight award ticket, but if you have no intention of using your Avios for air travel, you do have options.

Expiration Dates

British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. As long as you spend, collect, purchase, transfer in or share at least one Avios, your expiration clock resets. If you need to reset the clock and don’t plan on flying soon, you can always earn Avios on an eligible hotel stay or rental car booking, shop through the BA portal or transfer points in from an eligible points program.

Unlike other loyalty programs, British Airways’ distance-based pricing isn’t the norm. U.S. programs are more likely to have either a region-based award chart or points tied to the value of a cash ticket. More recently, some have moved to a dynamic pricing model, which accounts for demand, season and other factors. The distance-based approach with British Airways can potentially create favorable redemption options.

Despite intuitively thinking this program is best for our friends across the pond, the ability to leverage partner award tickets makes Avios shine. The appeal is enhanced with a co-branded credit card and several credit card transfer partners to accelerate Avios earnings. Short-haul flyers can likely obtain the highest value. It’s safe to say if American Airlines or Alaska Airlines has a presence near you, you will find Avios worth collecting.