Depending on where you live, you may be able to take out a BA affiliate branded credit card and earn Avios on purchases. The list below covers personal credit card products and is ranked by country. There are other business related products available. These are not currently listed here - you can however obtain information on credit cards tailored for SMEs on BA.com.

In addition to the products we've outlined, BA has other credit card partners, such as Barclaycard in UAE, Diners Club in Switzerland. These are not listed since these cards are no longer being issued to new customers.

Most cards offer companion vouchers which can be earned each year as a result of racking up card spend. The spend thresholds do vary from product to product. Furthermore, some products offer very generous sign up bonuses, particularly those issued by North American banks. While these five figure bonuses are certainly enticing, it is recommended you analyse for yourself the value of the card against the cost of redeeming Avios for flights as a member of the Executive Club. For example, it now costs over £630 in taxes/fees/surcharges to redeem Avios for a Club World round trip between London and Tokyo.

Some products have "churn-ability" value, i.e. whereby once the cardholder has earned the welcome bonus(es), the card is cancelled and a new card is applied for. This may still work for North American products, however, in the case of European cards the welcome bonus is a one time only proposition. Brian Kelly's The Points Guy site is a fantastic resource and essential reading for US based Executive Club members.


01 Canada: RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite

• Annual fee CAN$165 (supplementary card CAN$75)
• Very generous sign up bonuses
• Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every CAN$1 spent on BA purchases, and 1 Avios for every CAN$1 spent on all other purchases.
• Travel Together companion voucher earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of $30,000. Voucher is valid for two years and can be used for a guest to accompany the cardholder on a redemption ticket. Redemptions must be round trip (open jaws accepted),on BA metal and subject to standard redemption rules
• Complimentary travel insurance

02 Germany: British Airways Barclaycard (Visa)

• No annual fee
• Welcome bonuses of 20,000 Avios (Premium) and 9,000 Avios (classic) on first purchase
• Premium cardholders earn 2 Avios for every €1 spent on BA purchases, and 1 Avios for every €1 spent on all other purchases.
• Classic cardholders earn 1 Avios for every €1 spent
• Premium card holders earn a companion voucher each year after accumulating a spend of €20,000
• Complimentary travel insurance

03 Hong Kong: Dah Sing British Airways Platinum Card (Visa)

• Annual fee HK$300 (waived for first 3 years)
• Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every HK$6 spent on BA flights (www.ba.com/dahsingbank and at BA's HK Ticket Office), 1.5 Avios for every HK$6 pent on all other purchases overseas and 1 Avios per HK6 spent in Hong Kong.

04 India: ICICI Bank British Airways Premium American Express

• Annual fee 7000 INR (supplementary card free)
• Sign up bonus
• Cardholders earn 6 Avios for every 100 INR spent on BA purchases, and 4 Avios for every 100 INR spent on all other purchases. Bonuses of 25% and 50% apply to earn rates upon qualification of 250,000 and 500,000 INR annual spends respectively

05 Russia: Russian Standard Bank British Airways American Express Premium/Classic

• Annual fee
• Welcome bonus and annual bonus of 2,500 Avios
• Premium cardholders earn 3 Avios for every 30 RUB spent on BA purchases, and 1.5 Avios for every 30 RUB spent on all other purchases.
• Classic cardholders earn 2 Avios for every 30 RUB spent on BA purchases, and 1 Avios for every 30 RUB spent on all other purchases.
• Companion voucher earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of 200,000 RUB. Premium cardholders may earn a second voucher after 400,000 RUB spend
• Complimentary travel insurance

06 South Africa: Standard Bank British Airways Mastercard

• No annual fee (Supplementary cards free)
• Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every R8.50 spent on BA and BA Holidays plus 1 Avios for every R8.50 spent on all other purchases
• Each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of R200,000, the cardholder will be issued with a companion redemption voucher; the cardholder and one guest will be given access to Comair domestic lounges when travelling with BA; and the cardholder plus a companion will receive an upgrade to Club with the purchase of a BA (Comair) domestic or regional Y, B or H class economy ticket.
• Complimentary travel insurance

07 Sweden: British Airways Visa

• Annual fee: 395 SEK (waived for the first year)
• Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every 10 SEK spent on BA and BA Holidays plus 1 Avios for every 10 SEK spent on all other purchases
  Bonus 250 Avios on Avis rental purchases
• One companion voucher earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of 200,000 SEK. Voucher is valid for one year and can be used for a guest to accompany the cardholder on a redemption ticket. Redemptions must be round trip (open jaws accepted) on BA metal, originate and return to either Denmark or Sweden, and are subject to standard redemption rules
• Receive travel accident, delay and cancellation insurance when you pay at least half of your BA ticket with your card.

08 United Kingdom: British Airways American Express Premium Plus

• Annual fee £150 (Supplementary cards free)
• Welcome bonus: sporadic, typically up to 18,000 Avios
• Cardholders earn 3 Avios for every £1 spent on BA purchases, and 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent on all other purchases
• Companion vouchers earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of £10,000 increments. Each voucher is valid for two years and can be used for a guest to accompany the cardholder on a redemption ticket. Redemptions can be one way or round trip (open jaws accepted), must be on BA metal and subject to standard redemption rules
• Complimentary travel insurance (no medical cover)

09 United Kingdom: British Airways American Express

• No annual fee (Supplementary cards free)
• Welcome bonus: sporadic, typically up to 3,000 Avios
• Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every £1 spent
• Companion voucher earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of £20,000. Voucher is valid for one year and can be used for a guest to accompany the cardholder on a redemption ticket. Redemptions can be one way or round trip (open jaws accepted), must be on BA metal and subject to standard redemption rules

10 USA: British Airways (Chase) Visa Signature®

• Annual fee US$95
• Very generous sign up bonuses
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• Cardholders earn 2.5 Avios for every US$1 spent on BA purchases, and 1.25 Avios for every US$1 spent on all other purchases.
• Travel Together companion voucher earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of US$30,000. Voucher is valid for two years and can be used for a guest to accompany the cardholder on a redemption ticket. Redemptions must be round trip (open jaws accepted) on BA metal and are subject to standard redemption rules

11 Other credit cards

There are other lucrative credit card earning opportunities out there, albeit indirect. For example, Lloyds TSB offers two products which earn Avios Points in connection with the UK based Avios consumer loyalty programme. In Spain you can collect Avios as a member of the Iberia Plus programme with one of Iberia's cards (Amex, Visa, Mastercard). These points can be transferred into an Executive Club account with relative ease using BA.com's Combine my Avios. Similarly, Member Reward points accrued through Amex spend can be transferred over to the BAEC, often with a very attractive bonus. Hotel programme affiliate credit cards are other examples that present opportunities to ripen point balances within their respective programme for later transfer into your BAEC account.

For more information, please refer to the Exchanging other points for Avios section of this guide.


Introduction and overview of the Executive Club | Avios and Tier Points explained | Membership Tiers | Earning Avios on flights | Earning Avios on hotel stays | Credit card partners | Earning through everyday spending | Exchanging other points for Avios