FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Your guide to the Executive Club, attaining status and earning Avios | 2022 edition
Old Jan 2, 2022, 9:37 am
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Prospero
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,200
Earning Avios on flights

Well, we finally get down to the business of actually earning Avios!


01 Calculated the base mileage your flight(s) will generate

First off, you need to actually work out how long a trip you’re travelling on. Karl Wartz’s Great Circle Mapper is great online tool for determining the distances between two points in general.

The distances aren’t exactly what BA use, but they are pretty accurate for the purpose of calculated the base mileage. For BA earning specifically, you can use BA's very handy Avios and Tier Point Calculator. Another useful tool is orudge's excellent Unofficial Executive Club Calculator.


02 Guide to earning Avios and Tier Points on partners, codeshares and partner codeshares

This is a little complex, so all the combinations are outlined as follows. There are two key concepts:
  • The flight number/prefix. This can be the airline operating the aircraft, e.g. the BA005 from LHR to HND or that of a codesharing airline that sell seats on the same flight, such as Japan Airlines as the JL7080. As far as earning goes, it is the flight prefix in your booking that determines the number of Avios you will earn.
  • The operating carrier (or metal). That is the airline who actually operate the aircraft. In the example above, that is BA.

Applying this, the following scenarios are possible:
  • BA prefix, BA operated flight
    You earn Avios and Tier Points for a BA flight as per ba.com
  • BA prefix, oneworld partner operated flight
    You earn Avios and Tier Points for a BA flight as per ba.com
  • BA prefix, BA codeshare partner operated flight
    Where the partner in this case means a non-oneworld member e.g. China Southern. You earn as per a BA flight.
  • BA partner airline prefix, BA partner operated flight
    
You earn as per BA flight but typically would receive Avios only and no Tier Points.
  • BA partner airline prefix, BA operated flight
    
You earn in accordance with the relevant partner table. However the flight does count towards a BA metal flight needed to obtain status.
  • BA partner airline prefix, non-BA partner operated flight
    As a general rule, these flights do not earn Avios or Tier Points. See QF prefix/EK operated exception below
  • oneworld partner prefix

    You earn Avios and Tier Points in accordance to the relevant partner table. As an example, a Cathay Pacific (CX) flight will not earn you any status bonus and the class of service bonus is lower (25% for J, 50% for F). However, one exception to this rule exists with Finnair marketed, BA operated transatlantic services which earn Avios and Tier Points accordance with the BA earning table
  • oneworld partner prefix, oneworld partner operated flight
    You earn Avios and Tier Points as per the flight number you have bought. So if you bought a CX flight number on AA metal, you'd earn as per a CX flight.
  • oneworld partner prefix, non-oneworld operated flight
    For example, an AA flight number on JetBlue. You earn nothing. The rule is that both the flight number and the operating carrier have to be in oneworld to earn. Some have successfully had Avios and Tier Points awarded in this instance but that is the exception and very much not the rule.
  • BA prefix, Vueling operated flight
    You earn Avios and Tier Points
  • QF prefix, non-oneworld operated flight
    Flights booked under the Qantas code (QF) operated by a non-oneworld airline will earn Avios and Tier Points in all applicable QF selling classes (see below) unless operated by Jetstar in a class other than L class.

Some selling fare classes do not earn Avios and/or Tier Points. The tables below indicate the fare classes that do earn so if your fare code is not listed then it probably will not earn Avios or Tier Points. Also, award fares do not earn Avios or Tier Points at all. With BA, these are tickets booked into X, P, U and Z.

The actual number of Avios Points you earn on a flight is dependent on three factors:
  • Sector distance
  • Status
  • Class of service (or more importantly the booking class, also referred to as selling class)



03 Earning Avios on BA flights

Pay particular attention to the fare class, as this determines how many Avios points you will earn on each flight. Note the earning rates factor in the appropriate Cabin Bonuses. The minimum number of Avios collected will be pro-rated (calculated using the base distance x earning percentage) depending on the purchased fare class. The tier bonus is calculated as a straight forward percentage of the base distance.

For example, for a Silver member the short flight between LHR to AMS in Euro Traveller booked into O class will earn 125 Avios plus a 250 Avios Tier Bonus. In this case and for other short flights where the baseline figure of 500 mi is higher than actual flight distance (231 mi) the baseline is used to calculate both the number of Avios earned and the tier bonus.




04 Earning Avios on oneworld partner flights

At the beginning of 2022 there are fourteen active oneworld member airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, SriLankan Airlines, and S7 Airlines. In December 2018, Fiji Airways joined as a oneworld Connect member but at the time of writing BAEC collect and spend rates have yet to be finalised. LATAM exited oneworld on 30 April 2020 but from the perspective of the Executive Club transitioned into a partner airline.































05 Earning Avios on EC partner flights






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

Last edited by Prospero; Aug 3, 2023 at 5:46 am
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