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. 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/charges to redeem Avios for a Club World round trip between London and Tokyo.
01 Bermuda: Butterfield British Airways Visa Platinum
- Earn 1 Avios per $1 spend on everyday purchases
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spend on BA purchases
- 10% discount on BA fares purchased using this card
- 25% Avios bonus on hotel bookings with Kaligo - promotion ends 28 February 2018
02 Canada: RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite
- Annual fee CAN$165 (supplementary card CAN$75)
- Sign up bonuses, currently 15,000 Avios upon approval; 25,000 with CAN$5,000 in the first two months of approval; 10,000 Avios on renewal after the first year
- 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
03 Caribbean*: CIBC FirstCaribbean British Airways Visa Platinum
- Sign up bonus, currently 7,000 Avios
- Earn 1 Avios per $1 spend on everyday purchases
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spend on BA purchases
- Inclusive travel accident insurance
- Inclusive auto rental insurance
- Inclusive International Emergency Medical Services
* Eligible residencies: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St.Vincent and Grenadines , Turks and Caicos Islands, and Trinidad,
04 Denmark: British Airways World MasterCard by Resurs Bank
- Annual fee: 295 DKK
- Cardholders earn 20 Avios for every 100 DKK spent on BA.com plus 10 Avios for every 100 DKK spent on all other purchases
- Bonus 250 Avios on Avis rental purchases
05 Hong Kong: Dah Sing British Airways Platinum Card (Visa)
- Annual fee HK$300
- Sign up bonuses, 4,000 Avios after accumulating a HK$6,000 spend plus an additional 2,000 Avios after accumulating HK$10,000 spend. This promotion ends 14 February 2018
- 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.
- 10% discount on BA fares purchased using this card
06 India: ICICI Bank British Airways Premium (American Express)
- Annual fee 7,000 INR (no supplementary card free)
- Sign up bonus: 8,000 Avios with the first use of the card
- Earn 25,000 Avios when you book and fly on a British Airways return ticket from India to London within your first three months of card membership
- Cardholders earn 9 Avios for every 100 INR spent on BA purchases using the Amex card, 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
07 Russia: Russian Standard Bank British Airways American Express Premium/Classic
- Annual fee
- Welcome bonus and annual bonus: check card issuer's website for up-to-date details
- 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
08 South Africa: British Airways Credit Card
- No annual fee (Supplementary cards free)
- Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every R5.00 spent with British Airways, Pick n Pay, and BP
- Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every R7.50 spent on all other purchases
- A 5,000 Avios bonus when you spent on your card for the first time
- A further 4,000 Avios bonus when you spend R24,000 in the first three months
- Cardholders are entitled to us BA’s priority check when travelling on domestic BA flights in South Africa
There is a series of additional benefits earned on your annual cumulative spend that the cardholder may use on BA flights operated by Comair:
- At R50,000, an upgrade voucher (valid for 12 months and on Y, B, and H fares only) and a SLOW lounge day pass (valid for 6 months)
- At R100,000, a 10% Avios rebate on one Reward Flight Saver booking (valid for 12 months)
- At R200,000, the cardholder will be issued with a companion redemption voucher plus an additional upgrade voucher (both for valid for 12 months)
09 Sweden: British Airways Visa
- Annual fee: 395 SEK (waived for the first year)
- Welcome bonus (5,000 Avios at the time of writing)
- Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every 20 SEK spent on BA and BA Holidays plus 1 Avios for every 20 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 500,000 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.
- Receive a 30% discount on Menzies business lounge access in Sweden
10 Switzerland: Diners Club British Airways Card
- Annual fee: CHF250
- Welcome bonus: 5,000 Avios on activation; 5,000 Avios with a CHF5,000 spend within the first two months
- Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every CHF1 spent online at ba.com
- Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every CHF1 spent on all other purchases
- Free travel accident insurance with Cornèrcard
- Access to Diners Club airport lounges
11 Switzerland: Cornèrcard British Airways Gold MasterCard
- Annual fee: CHF220
- Welcome bonus (10,000 Avios at the time of writing)
- Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every CHF1 spent online at ba.com
- Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every CHF1 spent on all other purchases
- Free travel accident insurance with Cornèrcard
- Access to World MasterCard Rewards travel benefits
12 Switzerland: Cornèrcard British Airways Classic MasterCard
- Annual fee: CHF140
- Welcome bonus (5,000 Avios at the time of writing)
- Cardholders earn 2 Avios for every CHF1 spent online at ba.com
- Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every CHF1 spent on all other purchases
- A 5,000 Avios welcome bonus when you spent on your card for the first time
- Free travel accident insurance with Cornèrcard
- Access to World MasterCard Rewards travel benefits
13 United Kingdom: British Airways American Express Premium Plus
- Annual fee £195 (Supplementary cards free)
- Welcome bonus: 18,000 Avios on £3,000 spend in the first three months of card membership (bonus varies periodically)
- 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)
14 United Kingdom: British Airways American Express
- No annual fee (Supplementary cards free)
- Welcome bonus: 3,000 Avios on £500 spend in the first three months of card membership (bonus varies periodically)
- 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
15 USA: British Airways (Chase) Visa Signature®
- Annual fee US$95
- Welcome bonus: 50,000 Avios on $3,000 spend in the first three months of card membership plus additional bonus of 25,000 Avios with $10,000 accumulated spend
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Cardholders earn 3 Avios for every US$1 spent on BA purchases, and 1 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
16 Other credit cards
There are other lucrative credit card earning opportunities out there, albeit indirect. 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.
17 Further reading
Raffles maintains an excellent overview on all UK airline and hotel affiliate credit cards on his
headforpoints site. It is well worth a visit.
Introduction and overview of the Executive Club | Avios and Tier Points explained | Membership Tiers | Earning Avios and Tier Points on flights | Earning Avios on hotel stays | Credit card partners | Earning through everyday spending | Exchanging other points for Avios