Prospero

i Preface

ii Contents

iii Acknowledgments

Prospero

images: British Airways, Genius1, and hilltopper

Introduction and overview of the Executive Club
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Airline Group (IAG). It is also a founding member of the oneworld global alliance.


01 The Executive Club

British Airways’ frequent flyer programme is called the Executive Club (BAEC). The main benefits of this loyalty programme are:

• Redemptions for flights on BA, oneworld and certain other carriers;
• Other travel offers such as hotel bookings;
• Progression of elite status, which is recognised across oneworld airlines.

Most frequent flier programmes (FFP) are open to anyone to sign up for and the BAEC is no different. Enrolling is easy and can be done online on ba.com.

If you are based in Australia or New Zealand, you will not be able to join the BAEC, unless you have an address elsewhere in the world. BA recommends you join the Qantas’ Frequent Flyer programme instead.

You also need to be 18 or over to join the BAEC. The only exception to this is the household account, which is explained in full in the Your guide to Household Accounts thread.

After successfully signing up to the BAEC, and obtaining a password, you can add a number of personal preferences into your profile, such as your contact details, default seating preference (window or aisle), your passport information and any dietary requirement you have. You will be set a membership year which initially lasts between 12 and 13 months. The actual duration is dictated by the date you join. For example, if you sign up on 12 January, your year end will be 8 February the following year. Similarly, if you join on 24 October, your year end will be 8 November the following year. After your first year has passed your membership year cycles in more regular 12 monthly intervals.
Note, the Executive Club no longer encloses plastic membership cards in its Blue welcome packs - Blue membership cards are only available in digital format, accessible either via the BA app or by download via ba.com. Bronze, Silver, and Gold members do however continue to receive plastic cards in their welcome/renewal packs.


02 Status Match from other FFPs

BA very rarely gives out complimentary elite status or matches status from other FF programmes. The exceptions to this are:

• If you’re an employee of a large corporation that has a deal with BA. Your best bet is to speak to your account manager to see what he/she can arrange.
• Complimentary status can also come through contact with your local country office, generally through a business to business liaison.
• Occasionally complementary status is offered if another airline pulls out a particular route that BA continues to serve, or goes into liquidation. FlyerTalk is a good place to monitor such developments.

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

Prospero

01 Avios Points

Avios points are the currency of the BAEC and other frequent flyer and consumer loyalty programmes that operate under the IAG umbrella. The other two IAG linked schemes are Iberia's Iberia Plus, and Avios Travel Rewards Programme, which runs a separate loyalty programme via avios.com. Avios points can be exchanged between schemes.
You collect Avios when you fly with BA, its partner airlines and other oneworld airlines. You can also collect Avios on hotel stays, holidays and car rental, and when you're shopping, through deals with a wide range of partners. You can then spend them on flights and upgrades, on holidays and car rental depending on your location.

Your Avios stay with you as long as your account remains active so make sure to collect, spend, purchase or share some Avios at least once every 36 months. This can be done either by flying, staying at a partner hotel, or even by buying a low value item from an online merchant linked to Avios.


02 Tier Points

Most airline programmes work on the principle that if you fly a certain number of miles or fly in excess of a minimum number of flights in a twelve-month period, you’ll get elite status. Whilst the BAEC doesn’t work exactly like that, the principles are very similar.

Tier points are separate and different from the Avios points.

The BAEC was traditionally a reward programme principally aimed towards customers flying in premium cabins and on flexible tickets, rather than purely from accruing miles from flying. The emphasis has changed in recent years and the BAEC now offers value to a broader range of customers than ever before.

Each flown segment, with the exception of certain non-BA flights, will earn a certain number of Tier Points. Get enough Tier Points within the span of your membership year, and you get promoted to the next tier.


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

Prospero

There are four primary membership tiers in the BAEC

Blue entry level
Bronze equivalent to oneworld Ruby
Silver equivalent to oneworld Sapphire
Gold equivalent to oneworld Emerald

In addition to these, there is a upper Gold level called Gold Guest List (Gold GL or GGL) and Premier. The latter is an invitation only level.


01 Moving between tiers

The promotion process is not as simple as it could be at first glance. First off, in addition to accruing the Tier Points required to qualify for promotion to the next tier or retain at the current tier, you also need to fly either two (for Bronze) or four (for Silver or Gold) eligible flights during your membership year.


02 What is an eligible flight?

Examples of criteria used to determine eligible flights:

BA operated + BA flight prefix
BA operated + other flight prefix
Other carrier operated + BA flight prefix
IB operated + IB flight prefix

Note, reward bookings and agency or industry discounted bookings are not eligible. BA/IB subsidiaries and franchise operated flights are included.

Your tier status will change as soon as you cross the next threshold, although there may be a few days lag for the system to reflect it. You will continue to accumulate Tier Points until your membership year end date. So for example, if your membership year ends on 8 January, a flight taken on 8 January will count towards your old year. Your Tier Point balance will be zeroed out on 9 January reflecting the beginning of a new membership year. If you fail to accrue the number of Tier Points (or meet the requisite number of eligible flights) needed to retain your current level, you will drop to the level immediately below. This is often referred to as the soft landing.
For comparison, the promotion and retention requirements and benefits of each tier are outlined below:


03 Blue



Blue is the basic level and is what you start on, for example if you register now via ba.com. Once you accrue the required number of Tier Points, you will be promoted to Bronze.


04 Bronze



Entry and retention requirements:
 300 Tier Points plus 2 eligible flights or 25 eligible flights

Bronze members enjoy a number of benefits in addition to those experienced by Blue members.

• 25% bonus Avios on BA, IB, AA, and JL coded flights.
• Allocate seats for yourself and other members in your party free of charge, up to seven days before departure (excluding exit row seats and all seats booked as Hand Baggage Only fares).
• You may use a Club World, Club Europe and equivalent oneworld business class check-in desks, irrespective of what class of ticket you have.
• Priority boarding

05 Silver



Entry and retention requirements: 
600 Tier Points plus 4 eligible flights or 50 eligible flights

Silver members enjoy a number of benefits in addition to those experienced by Bronze members.

• 50% bonus Avios on BA, IB, AA, and JL coded flights.
• Allocate seats for yourself and other members in your party free of charge, at the time of booking (excluding exit row seats in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus and all seats booked as Hand Baggage Only fares).
• You may use a Club World, Club Europe and equivalent oneworld business class check-in desks, irrespective of what class of ticket you have.
• Check in 2 bags each weighing up to 32kg in all cabins, on all routes, unless the cabin allowance is greater. This applies to all passengers travelling on the same booking.
• You and one guest may relax in a BA Galleries Club/Terraces/Executive Club and oneworld business class departure lounge. The guest must be travelling on BA or a flight operated by and prefixed with a oneworld carrier.
• Reservation Assurance on full fare economy tickets, ensuring a seat even where the flight is full.
• Priority boarding.

06 Gold



Entry and retention requirements:
1,500 Tier Points and 4 eligible flights

Gold members enjoy a number of benefits in addition to those experienced by Silver members.

• 100% bonus Avios on BA, IB, AA, and JL coded flights.
• Allocate seats for yourself and other members in your party free of charge, at the time of booking, including exit row seats (this benefit is prohibited when travelling on a HBO ticket)
• Allocate seat for a companion travelling on your flight, on their own booking. This cannot be done online. A "To Complete Party" request must made to your BAEC service centre.
• You may use a First, Club World, Club Europe and equivalent oneworld first or business class check-in desks, irrespective of what class of ticket you have.
• You and one guest may relax in a BA Galleries First and Club/Terraces/Executive Club or oneworld first and business class departure lounge.
• You may use a BA Elemis Spa before travelling on a long haul flight, irrespective of class of travel.
• You may use a BA Arrivals lounge after travelling on a long haul flight, irrespective of class of travel.
• Reservation Assurance on full fare economy tickets, ensuring a seat even where the flight is full.
• Priority over Blue, Bronze and Silver Members on waitlists.
• Additional reward availability in economy (V class)
• Gold Priority Reward. This allows a redemption for double Avios points if revenue seats are on sale but no redemptions are otherwise available. Gold Priority Rewards can only be booked offline and 30 days notice is required.
• No booking fee for reward flights using Avios. Fees apply when changing or cancelling redemption bookings (fees waived on Gold Priority Rewards)
• At 2,500 Tier Points, you will be awarded with one Gold Upgrade For Two (GUF2) voucher that you and a companion can use towards an upgrade to the next cabin on a flight of your choice, subject to availability. This voucher is valid for one year. Voucher validity can be extended by 6 months upon request.
• At 3,500 Tier Points, you will be awarded two Gold Upgrade for One vouchers, valid for one year
• At 5,000 Tier Points, you will receive a Concorde Room Card and invitation to the Gold Guest List. The Concorde Room Card allows you to use the LHR and JFK Concorde Room lounges when you are not travelling First.

07 Gold GL



While strictly speaking Gold Guest List (GGL) is not a tier in its own right, it is in essence an upper subset of Gold. GGL offers the usual benefits that come with oneworld Emerald plus several exclusive, value added baubles when flying on British Airways.

Entry requirement: 
5,000 Tier Points

To remain part of the list you need to continue to earn 3,000 Tier Points in each membership year going forward. There are several exclusive perks over and above the standard Gold membership benefits:

• No booking, change or cancellation fees on reward flights
• A twice per membership year redemption for up to 5 people (i.e. member and up to 4 others) booked into revenue classes (A, D, T, B) rather than award classes. Such GGL redemptions are known in some quarters as Jokers.
• A dedicated priority service phone number with dedicated 24-7 support desk.
• Gold GL members may invite two guests into a BA departure lounge and may invite one guest into a BA Arrivals lounge.
• At the beginning of your membership year, you can share your membership benefits by giving someone else an Executive Club Gold Partner Card plus two Silver Partner Cards to other persons of your choosing. Hard landing applies to Partner Cards
• Complimentary Hilton HHonors Diamond status
• At 5,000 Tier Points, you will receive a Concorde Room card
• At 6,000 Tier Points, you will receive an additional Gold GL redemption "joker"

GGL benefits don't stop there. When you cross the 7,000, 8,000, and 9,000 Tier Point thresholds during your membership year, you will be invited to choose one of the following benefits:

• An additional GGL Redemption Award, or
• An additional two Gold Upgrade for One vouchers, or
• 50,000 Avios

To obtain further information about the Gold Guest List, please visit the Gold Guest List beginner's guide thread.


08 Premier



Premier is an invitation only level. You can’t get to it by just flying a lot. The card is generally given to people that BA consider as being of commercial importance, and each new Premier has to be approved by the board.


09 Overview of tier benefits



See section 07 for GGL benefits that are renewed when tier level is retained at 3,000 TPs (Jokers, HHonors Diamond card, and EC Partner cards) versus benefits that are renewed at 5,000 TPs (Concorde Room card)


10 Two illustrative examples of how a member moves between tiers

The graphs below provide illustrative examples of how a member may move up (and also down) the elite tier ladder as his/her membership year rolls forward. It may appear scary at first glance but don't worry, the important steps are explained beneath.



Who travels religiously in BA Club World once every 36.5 days? Anyone you know? It really doesn’t matter - this graph provides an abstract example of how one might progress from Blue to Silver throughout the course of a single membership year. Assume all flights count for status and each accrues 140 Tier Points.

Flight 2 takes the Tier Point balance just 20 points shy of Bronze. With two eligible flights already in the bag, it is the third flight that triggers promotion, which will last for the remainder of the current membership year plus the entire year that follows.

But there is no stopping this guy. The fifth flight edges over the Silver threshold, the four eligible flights requirement is passed. As with the Bronze promotion that preceded the move to Silver, the new tier status will last for the remainder of the current membership year plus the entire year that follows.

At the beginning of the new membership year, Silver status is carried forward and all tier points accrued during the last year are reset to zero. The task ahead is to retain Silver for the next membership year, which as we can see is accomplished within the first six months. Well done you, Sir!



Lifestyles do change and often without warning. The graph above shows a flying pattern that flatlines four months into the membership year. As the member fails to accrue enough Tier Points to retain Gold status, or even enough to meet the Silver threshold, he drops to Silver at the beginning of the new membership year. With some airline FFPs the member will meet the ground with an unceremonious thump. Fortunately, with the Executive Club you’ll never be demoted more than one tier at the end of a membership year. This is commonly referred to as a soft landing. The Gold benefits are also retained for 7-8 weeks until the Gold card expires and the new Silver card lands on the doorstep.

With no flight activity at all during the second membership year, this member drops to Bronze at the beginning of the subsequent year, again landing softly. Silver benefits are retained until the card expires.

For more information and discussion, see A brief guide to moving between Tiers in the BAEC


11 Lifetime status

Lifetime Tier Points
Following the lifetime elite status concept adopted by other airlines, the Executive Club introduced Lifetime Tier Points in 2013. Lifetime Tier Points are simply the accumulation of the total number of Tier Points you’ve accrued since joining the Executive Club or for veteran members the calculation goes back to the date Tier Points were introduced to the Executive Club. All members irrespective of tier status (including Premiers) accrue Lifetime Tier Points whenever they fly and earn Tier Points for that flight. There are no conversions or transfers to worry about - one Lifetime Tier Point is added to your lifetime balance for every Tier Point you earn.

You can view your current lifetime balance by logging into your account on ba.com or on the BA mobile app.

What is the purpose of Lifetime Tier Points?
Simple. Once you amass 35,000 Lifetime Tier Points you will automatically earn a Gold membership for life. This entitles you to the usual Gold benefits without having to accrue 1,500 Tier Points each year to earn them. You will still need to accrue Tier Points to unlock the additional Gold benefits, such as Gold Upgrade for Two vouchers, partner cards, and also Gold Guest List benefits.

Once you reach 100,000 Lifetime Tier Points, you will automatically earn Gold Guest List membership for life. This comes with a Concorde Room Card and two annual GGL redemptions. Like the Gold membership for life, you still need to accrue Tier Points annually to unlock those additional GGL jokers etc.

Even as a Gold or Gold Guest List member for life, if you have not earned, redeemed, purchased or transferred Avios for 36 consecutive months, all Avios Points you have accrued to that date will expire.


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

Prospero

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 NRT or that of a codesharing airline who sell seats on the BA005 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 that, 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. Meridian, some flyBe flights. 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 HA. 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)

Look at the examples below illustrating two sample boarding passes. One for a BA prefix, BA operated flight, the other for an AA prefix, BA operated flight. In fact they both relate to the same flight, Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow.

As a Gold Card holder, Mr Wilkinson will earn a tier bonus for these flights at 100% of the sector distance, which in this case is 3,950 miles. Tier bonuses only apply to BA, AA, IB, and QF coded flights.

In addition to the tier bonus, as Mr Wilkinson travelled in Club World he will earn a cabin bonus. The multiplier does vary dependent on flight code.

The cabin bonus for the BA coded flight is 150%, but is only 25% for the AA coded equivalent. Even if the flight is operated by BA, the cabin bonus calculation follows the flight prefix. Here, Mr Wilkinson will earn a cabin bonus of 5,925 Avios Points by flying Chicago to London on a BA coded ticket but only 988 Avios Points on an AA coded ticket.

The distinction can be summarised as follows:
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.



04 Earning Avios on oneworld partner flights


At the beginning of 2018 there are thirteen active oneworld member airlines: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, SriLankan Airlines, and S7 Airlines.




























05 Earning Avios on EC partner flights







Globaliser kindly listed out the current earning categories for each airline partner, here


06 Earning Tier Points

Unlike Avios points which can be earned through a multitude of activities, Tier Points can only be earned through the pursuit of flying and are earned on all commercial BA and oneworld fares (subject to a few exceptions). In very general terms, the longer the flight and higher the fare class the greater number of Tier Points you earn on each flight. When crediting Tier Points to your account, the Executive Club tracks the flight prefix and booking code.

Refer to Section 02 for examples of ticket scenarios and to Section 03 partner tables for specific exceptions.



† This table now reflects our understanding that the TP earn rates for economy is applicable to non-BA flights as well as BA flights. The August 2015 update to the ba.com calculator has given us a clear indication that the Tier Point earning percentage now correlates with the Avios earning percentage for each economy selling class.

From April 2017, earnings on UK internal flights fall in line with standard ET and CE rates

Tier Points earned on flights operated by American Airlines within the United States are calculated per fare class rather than cabin. This means the Tier Points you earn for domestic First on AA two class services will be based on business class rates.


07 Earning Avios and Tier Points with upgrades

If you are travelling in a cabin higher than the original ticketed class, the number of Avios and Tier Points awarded for that flight does vary, depending on the circumstances of the upgrade. Here are some common upgrade examples and what you should expect to earn for each category:

• If you upgrade your ticket using Avios (UuA / MFU) then you get the Tier Points and Avios of the purchased ticket, so if you upgrade a World Traveller Plus ticket to Club World, you get the World Traveller Plus Tier Points and Avios.
• If you purchase an upgrade - either through Manage My Booking or at the airport, you will get the higher level of Tier Points. So going from World Traveller Plus to Club World, you would get the Club World Avios and Tier Points.
• If you receive an operational upgrade, you don't get the extra Tier Points and Avios of the upgraded sector, just those in accordance with the paid class of service.
• If you pay for an upgrade, and then get a further operational upgrade (e.g. World Traveller Plus to Club World to FIRST), you should receive the paid for Tier Points and Avios (here Club World).
• If you receive an operational upgrade and then pay for a further upgrade, you should only get the initial ticket level, in the above example World Traveller Plus Avios and Tier Points, but there are reports of passengers actually getting First Tier Points and Avios.
• If the upgrade is with a oneworld airline the same principles apply, however there are reports of AA not always granting these upgrades.

It is important to check your account afterwards since you may not be automatically awarded the correct amount, and you may need to make a claim for the missing Avios and Tier Points. Depending on where your BAEC account is based, there may be an online webform for submitting these claims. There is a separate webform for BA partner airlines. Alternatively, erroneous credits or credits that normally post automatically but have not may be corrected on request by contacting your local Executive Club service centre.

There is a known issue affecting flights Upgraded using Avios where the Avios and Tier Points do not post automatically. This issue is known to occur with bookings made through offline channels and/or when the booking has been changed after the booking has been upgraded. This can range from date and time changes to purchasing a seat number or adding/amending a special meal request. The problem here is with the booking system as it renders the keyword BA uses to track the flight booking unrecognisable. This is easily resolved post travel by contacting your local Executive Club service centre. After reporting this issue to the Executive Club, the correct Avios and Tier Points usually follow within ten working days.


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

Prospero

Avios points can be earned directly on qualifying hotel stays through BAEC’s network of hotel partners. However, there are many other ways to reap reward out of your hotel loyalty. As each chain has its own reward programme, and they do differ significantly from programme to programme, it is worth investigating the pros and cons before handing over your BAEC card at check in. It is worth remembering points earned as a member of a hotel programme can in many cases be transferred to the BAEC, and for the last 3-4 years BA has promoted such transfers with an annual 25% bonus.

Generally, taking the Avios will normally be a sub-optimal use of the hotel programme's potential although it may still be a useful option to some, particularly those who have a healthy network of friends and family spread across the globe, and only need to book hotel accommodation a few times per annum.


01 Accor Hotels


Image: Sofitel LHR T5 (flickr: David at Redshift Photography)

Participating brands and earning rates:
Earn 2.5 Avios per €2 spent at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, The Sebel, Novotel, Suite Novotel, and Mercure properties
Earn 2.5 Avios per €4 spent at Ibis, Ibis Styles, and Thalassa Sea & Spa properties
Earn 2 Avios per €4 spent at Adagio properties
Earn 1 Avios per €4 spent at Adagio Access properties

You must also be a member of the Le Club Accorhotels programme to be able to collect Avios with this hotel group

Le Club Accorhotels points can be transferred into a BAEC account at the rate of 4,000 Le Club Accorhotels points to 2,000 Avios. Conversions can only be made in increments of 4,000 points

Click here for more information on Accor Hotels and Le Club Accorhotels programme.


02 Agoda.com

Earn up to 10,000 Avios per night with hotel, villa, and apartment bookings made via the agoda.com/britishairways portal.


03 Best Western Hotels and Resorts


Image: Best Western Hotel Ceballos (flickr: Ted McGrath)

Earn 500 Avios every time you book via bestwestern.com.


04 Carlson Rezidor Hotels


Image: Radisson Blu Royal, Copenhagen (flickr: rieggi)

Earn 500 Avios per stay at Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Blu, Radisson Blu Edwardian, Park Inn by Radisson, and Park Plaza properties

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.

Transfers into Avios can be done in increments of 100,000, 50,000 or 2,000 Gold Points.

2,000 points into 200 Avios (10:1)
50,000 points into 5,000 Avios (10:1)
100,000 points into 10,000 Avios (10:1)

Transfers are promised to take 4-6 weeks to credit to your BAEC account

Click here for more information on Carlson Hotels and the Club Carlson programme.


05 Fiesta Rewards


Image: Live Aqua Cancun (flickr: Shuttle Runner)

Earn 2,000 Avios for every stay at the following hotels when staying for a minimum of two nights at Live Aqua Hotels, Grand Fiesta Americana Hotels, Fiesta Americana Hotels, and Fiesta Inn Hotels properties.

Transfer Fiesta Rewards Points points into Avios in increments of 3,000 points at the rate of 3:1 (1,000 Avios for every 3,000 Fiesta Rewards points converted)

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.


06 FRHI Hotels and Resorts


Image: Raffles Hotel, Singapore (flickr: mgrenner57)

Earn 500 Avios per stay at Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel properties.

Fairmont President’s Club Premier Members will receive 750 Avios per stay at a Fairmont Hotel or Resort property.
Fairmont President’s Club Platinum Members will receive 1000 Avios per stay at a Fairmont Hotel or Resort property.

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.


07 Hilton


Image: Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona (flickr: bruce.bequette)

You will need to join Hilton Honors in order to credit your stays to your BAEC account. Depending on your Honors preference Avios can be earned on stays booked directly via Hilton in addition to Honors points at the following rates:

• Honors Points & Miles
  Earn 1 Avios and 10 Honors Points per US$
  
  Update:
  From 02 April 2018, Hilton stays will stop earning Avios (final check-out date to earn Avios is 02 April)
• Honors Points & Points
  Earn 10 Base Points, plus applicable Honors Silver/Gold/Platinum Bonus Points per eligible US dollar spent. Note, if you select this option as your Honors My Way earning style, you will not earn Avios directly on your hotel stays. You can still transfer those Honors points you do collect into Avios

You can alter your My Way earning style at any time via your online Hilton account.

Transfer Honors points into Avios in increments of 10,000 points at the rate of 10:1


08 Hyatt Hotels and Resorts


Park Hyatt Tokyo (flickr: Travel Intelligence)

Earn 500 Avios per stay at the Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Zilara, and Hyatt Ziva properties.

You will need to join World of Hyatt in order to credit your stays to your BAEC account

World of Hyatt points can be transferred into Avios in increments of 1,250 points into 500 Avios (5,000 HGP points minimum conversion). When you convert 50,000 points, you will earn a 5,000 Avios bonus.

Click here for more information on the World of Hyatt programme.


09 InterContinental Hotels Group


Image: InterContinental Hong Kong (flickr: LAXFlyer)

Earn 2 Avios per US$1 spent at InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, and Hotel Indigo properties
Earn 1 Avios per US$1 spent at Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites properties

Members must join IHG® Rewards Club, IHG’s loyalty programme in order to earn Avios.

Transfer IHG® Rewards Club points into Avios in increments of 10,000 points at the rate of 5:1

Click here for more information on IHG's Rewards Club programme.


10 Kaligo.com

Kaligo is an online hotel booking service. When you book with Kaligo.com you can collect between 5 and 20 Avios for every Ł1 you spend


11 Kerzner International Resorts


Image: Atlantis The Palm, Dubai (flickr: Daniel Cheong)

Earn 2 Avios per US$1 spent at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, One&One Resorts, and Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, Morocco
Earn 1 Avios per US$1 spent at Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites properties

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.


12 Langham Hospitality Group


Image: The Langham Hotel London (flickr: Ting-Kai Chang)

Earn 500 Avios per night (max 1,500 Avios) at The Langham Hotels and Resorts and Cordis Hotel & Resorts properties
Earn 250 Avios per night (max 750 Avios) at Eaton Hotel properties

Executive Club Gold members are currently getting comp matched to the Voyager tier of Langham's 1865 programme. For more information, click here

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.


13 Mandarin Oriental


Image: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London (flickr: carlosmelia)

Earn 800 Avios per stay at Mandarin Oriental. In addition to Avios for the stay you enjoy the following benefits during your stay

Silver, and Gold members

• Upgrade to the next room category (subject to availability) at check-in stage for Silver and Gold members

Premier members

• Upgrade to the next room category (subject to availability) at reservation stage

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.


14 Marriott


JW Marriott Camelback Inn Scottsdale (flickr: marriottwestresorts)

Earn 2 Avios for every US$1 spent at JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Marriott Vacation Club, Gaylord Hotels, and Edition brand properties

Earn 1 Avios for every US$1 spent at AC Hotels, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, Moxy Hotels, and Protea Hotels properties

You must be a member of the Marriott Rewards® programme to collect Avios with this hotel group.

Marriott Reward Points can be transferred into Avios, as follows:
2,000 Avios per 10,000 MRP (quote code 788)
5,000 Avios per 20,000 MRP (quote code 789)
10,000 Avios per 30,000 MRP (quote code 790)
25,000 Avios per 70,000 MRP (quote code 565)
50,000 Avios per 140,000 MRP (quote code 566)

Click here for more information on Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels and the Marriott Rewards programme.


15 Preferred Hotel Group


Image: Trump SoHo™, New York (flickr: Tyrannosaurus_Rex)

Earn 500 Avios per eligible Connect, Legend, LVX, Lifestyle, Preferred Hotels and Resorts, and Preferred Residences properties

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.


16 Rocketmiles

Rocketmiles is an online hotel booking service. Book your hotel stay with Rocketmiles and collect between 1,000 and 10,000 Avios per night


17 Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts


Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai (flickr: luxorium)

Earn 500 Avios per non discounted or non corporate rate stay at Shangri-La Hotels, Shangri-La Resorts, Traders, and Kerry Hotels.

You do not need to be a member of the hotel loyalty programme to collect Avios.

Click here for more information on Shangri-La and its Golden Circle programme


18 Starwood Hotels and Resorts


Image: Sheraton Stockholm (flickr: s_p_o_c)

Sheraton, St Regis, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, The Luxury Collection, Element, Le Méridien, Aloft, Westin, and W brands

SPG Preferred Guest members earn 2 Avios per US$1 spent
SPG Gold/Platinum members earn 3 Avios per US$1 spent

To earn Avios, you will need to join Starwood Preferred Guest, Starwood’s own loyalty programme, and select British Airways Executive Club as your earning preference

SPG members can transfer Starpoints into Avios at the rate of 1:1, with a 5,000 Avios bonus with each transfer of 20,000 Starpoints. There is no minimum transfer for SPG Platinum members. SPG Gold members have a minimum point transfer of 1,500 Starpoints. SPG Preferred members have a minimum point transfer of 2,500 Starpoints.

Click here for more information on Starwood and the SPG programme.


19 Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces


Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, Maldives (flickr: luxorium)

Earn 500 Avios per eligible stay at Taj Luxury Hotels
Earn 250 Avios per eligible stay at Vivanta by Taj and The Gateway Hotels

There is no separate hotel loyalty programme for you to join so all you need to do is present your BAEC card to collect Avios.


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

Prospero

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 Ł630 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 Cornčrcard
• Access to Diners Club airport lounges

11 Switzerland: Cornčrcard 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 Cornčrcard
• Access to World MasterCard Rewards travel benefits

12 Switzerland: Cornčrcard 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 Cornčrcard
• Access to World MasterCard Rewards travel benefits

13 United Kingdom: British Airways American Express Premium Plus

• Annual fee Ł195 (Supplementary cards free)
• Welcome bonus: 18,000 Avios on Ł3,000 spend in the first three months of card membership (bonus varies periodically)
• Cardholders earn 3 Avios for every Ł1 spent on BA purchases, and 1.5 Avios for every Ł1 spent on all other purchases
• Companion vouchers earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of Ł10,000 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 Ł500 spend in the first three months of card membership (bonus varies periodically)
• Cardholders earn 1 Avios for every Ł1 spent
• Companion voucher earned each year upon reaching a cumulative spend of Ł20,000. 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

Prospero

Here is a summary of the Avios earning opportunities available via everyday spending. Note, many of these category descriptions were shamelessly lifted from BA.com. The vendors do change from time to time, so it's worth visiting BA.com for periodic updates.


01 British Airways Avios eStore

The BA Avios eStore is an online shopping portal that allows BAEC members to collect Avios when shopping at a large number of online retailers, including John Lewis, Marks and Spencer and Argos. The typical collection rate is 2 Avios for every pound sterling spent, though it can be as high as 12 Avios per pound sterling.

A separate eStore exists for BAEC members in the United States, but eStore is not available elsewhere.

To use the eStore need to enter the portal via your BAEC login, go to the relevant store from within the portal - it will start in a separate window - and shop online within that window. It is important to complete the transaction from within the window launched by eStore, you should not login directly to the retailer if you want your Avios points. Avios points will be awarded automatically within 40 days of purchase.

Note that many retailers exclude certain items such as gift vouchers from the reward scheme. To check on your eStore transactions, click on My Transaction History on the top right of the BA eStore screen.


02 Magazine subscriptions

The Economist
Current subscriptions purchased through the BA.com portal earn between 3,400 and 4,400 Avios Points.

• Collect 3,400 Avios on a digital subscription
• Collect 3,400 Avios on a print subscription
• Collect 4,400 Avios on a combined digital/print subscription

Alternatively, you can pick up a copy in the lounge for free and forgo the Avios


03 Wine Clubs

The Wine Explorer
The Wine Explorer is run by Laithwaites Wine, and operates in a similar way to the BA eStore. It is open to UK residents, who need to log in via BAEC and then select the shopping option under the Collecting Avios menu. There is an additional registration stage for The Wine Explorer.

You can collect Avios on purchases of wine, champagne, spirits, and beer. 250 Avios are awarded for every case of 12 bottles purchased. 1000 bonus Avios points are awarded with the first order.

Quintessentially Wine
US residents earn 1 Avios per US$ spent with Quintessentially Wine.


04 Car Rental

Avis
BAEC members are offered competitive rental rates with excellent benefits in most markets such all inclusive insurance and a free additional driver with every rental.

The Avis and British Airways Partnership also features an "Avis Priority Rental Service" at London Heathrow. This exclusively allows Gold card holders to pick up their rental car right outside the Arrivals hall at Terminal 5, instead of catching the shuttle bus to Avis Heathrow. GCHs are issued with a 4 digit security code by Avis via SMS and email which is used to unlock a security box on the wall to release their rental vehicle keys.

BAEC members earn 3 Avios per Ł1 spent, with a minimum of 500 Avios per rental
Rent with Avis four times or more in one year and collect 750 bonus Avios

Budget
Collect 100 Avios per day when you rent with Budget

Avis Zipcar
Earn 2,000 Avios when joining Zipcar. Earn 50 Avios per reservation.

Maggiore
Collect two Avios per €1 spent, with a minimum of 500 Avios per rental

Other car rental agencies
Don’t forget that it is still possible to earn Avios indirectly with other car rental companies. For example, Sixt and HHonors are in a partnership and it is possible to transfer HHonors points into Avios. Note however, HHonors partnership with Sixt will end on 31 July 2018.


05 BA Holidays

Earn 2 bonus Avios for every Ł1 you spend on holidays. That's on top of the Avios you'll collect for the flight and car rental elements of your package.

You may also earn Avios on inclusive travel deals through BA. Typical bonuses include:

• Avios bonus on European holidays
  
Euro Traveller/UK Domestic: 1,000 Avios

  Club Europe: 5,000 Avios
• Avios bonus on worldwide holidays

  World Traveller: 5,000 Avios

  World Traveller Plus: 5,000 Avios

  Club World: 10,000 Avios

  First: 10,000 Avios

06 Foreign currency

Executive Club Multi-currency Cash Passport


A reloadable, pre-paid currency card from MasterCard. Collect one Avios for every Ł1 loaded or reloaded onto the card (minimum Ł50 spend). Holds up to seven global currencies and can be topped up anywhere in the world online, over the phone or at a bank.

For more information on how it works and fees, please visit the Executive Club Multi-currency Cash Passport site

Travelex UK Limited
Collect 1 Avios for every Ł1 when exchanging over Ł300
Collect 1 Avios for every Ł2 when exchanging under Ł300
Order online at https://checkout.travelex.co.uk/avios/Basket


07 Airport parking

Holiday Extras
You can earn up to 5 Avios per Ł1 spent with Holiday Extras airport parking or airport hotel booking with parking (UK properties only)

Valet parking
Earn up to 250 Avios when you pre-book valet parking at London Heathrow airport (Terminals 3 and 5)
Earn 5 Avios per Ł1 spent when you pre-book a meet-and-greet parking service at a UK airport other than Heathrow.


08 Rail transfers

Heathrow Express
Collect 100 Avios per standard one-way journey, and 200 Avios for first class. You can buy tickets and get the Avios via their App (which is super convenient).

For more information, please visit https://www.heathrowexpress.com/avios

Trenitalia
BAEC members with accounts registered in Italy can earn Avios by converting their CartaFreccia points to Avios

• Convert 1,000 CartaFreccia to 500 Avios
• Convert 6,000 CartaFreccia to 3,000 Avios
• Convert 10,000 CartaFreccia to 5,000 Avios

09 Taxi transfers

ProntoTaxi
Earn 1 Avios per €1 on all taxi journeys excluding airport trips
Earn 2 Avios per €1 for every trip to/from Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa and Milan Bergamo airports

Auto Radio Taxi
Earn 1 Avios per €1 on all taxi journeys excluding airport trips
Earn 2 Avios per €1 for every trip to/from Rome Fiumicino and Rome Ciampino airports


10 Other retail

Chic Outlet Shopping Villages
Collect five Avios for every Ł4 or €4 you spend in any one of the Chic Outlet Shopping Villages, including Bicester Village just an hour from London. Just present your Executive Club card (or proof of membership) and shopping receipts at the Village Welcome or Tourist Information Centre on the day of your visit to collect your Avios.
Rolling Luggage
Collect 5 Avios for every Ł1 spent in store or online at https://www.rollingluggage.com
Collect 1,000 bonus Avios with your first purchase, online or in store (minimum spend Ł100)
Collect 750 bonus Avios if you make a second purchase within 12 months of your first purchase (minimum spend Ł50)

Charles Tyrwhitt
Collect up to 4 Avios for every Ł1 you spend in-store, online at http://www.ctshirts.com/uk/, by phone and also by mail order.


11 High Life Shop

You can collect Avios on board British Airways flights when you buy items from the High Life Shop, including perfumes, electronics, travel essentials and a lot more. Collect two Avios for every Ł1 you spend, rounded up to the nearest pound.

Remember to ask your Cabin Crew member to swipe your Executive Club card when you pay.

Avios are not available on purchases from the High Life Shop website or mail order service.


12 Online surveys

Rewards for Thoughts
Rewards for Thoughts is a free online community exclusive to the members of Avios Travel Rewards Programme and British Airways Executive Club that allows you to collect Avios by taking online surveys

There is currently a 600 Avios sign up bonus on offer which posts within a week of completing your first survey. Thereafter, you will receive emails offering you to participate in lifestyle surveys whereby you can will collect 25 Avios for short surveys (9 minutes and under) and 50 Avios for long surveys (10 minutes or longer).

e-Rewards
Earn 750 bonus Avios when you complete your first survey within 2 months of registering.


13 Dining and entertainment

Restaurant Circle
Collect 250 Avios every time you dine at one of the many restaurants listed through Restaurant Circle

LOVEtheatre.com
Join LOVEthreatre.com and collect 3 Avios for every Ł1 spent on musical, play, concert, museum, and exhibition tickets


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

Prospero

01 Collecting Avios with Tesco (UK residents only)


Tesco is the UK’s largest supermarket chain. It operates a loyalty card scheme called Tesco Clubcard which awards 1 point for every Ł1 spent. Points can be spent in-store or with partners, including BA. Every Ł2.50 you receive in Clubcard vouchers can be converted into 500 Avios and every additional 50p worth of vouchers gives you 100 Avios.

As with the BA AmEx, you can only convert points to Executive Club accounts that are UK domiciled.

How do I join Clubcard?
Pick up a free card at any Tesco, and then register it online or by posting back the form attached to the card. Alternatively, apply for the Tesco Credit Card. This doubles as a Clubcard and, in addition, earns you 1 point for every Ł4 (equal to 0.5 Avios per Ł1) you spend on the card anywhere, not just at Tesco. This is nowhere near as good as the BA Premium Plus AmEx (1.5 Avios per Ł1) but it can be used at places that refuse AmEx e.g. council tax and other utility bills. It can also be useful if you normally use your BA AmEx but want to delay the issuance of your next '2 for 1' redemption voucher.

Can I have multiple Clubcards?
Yes. However, Tesco does appear to be getting cleverer at spotting multiple mailings to the same address, and you may find that you can only qualify for a promotion on one of your accounts. To avoid duplicated mailings, ring the Clubcard Helpline and have the accounts merged. You will then only get one statement with one points total. However, if you receive multiple statements then you will also receive multiple bonus points coupons, of course!

Do other businesses award Clubcard points?
Tesco has a range of partners that award Clubcard points. See tesco.com for the current list. These include Avis, E.On, and Esso.

How can I earn bonus points?
We have seen a gradual reduction in in-store promotions in the last few years, and you are now more likely to earn extra points from using special bonus codes for your online shopping. These usually give you an extra 200 / 500 / 1000 points when spending Łx in specific areas of the Tesco website. These promotions, when available, are listed in Post 1 of the current ‘Tesco and BA’ thread. Post 1 also explains how to join the various Tesco clubs (lots of opportunities to receive bonus points coupons!) and how to recycle old mobile phones and inkjet cartridges for points.

How do I convert Clubcard points to Avios?
You can check your points balance at any time by going to tesco.com and clicking 'My Account'.

Once every quarter, you will receive a statement with vouchers for points earned (minimum 250). Quarters run from Aug-Oct, Nov-Jan, Feb-Apr and May-July and you will receive your statement 2-3 weeks later. Each statement comes with a number of bonus points coupons to use in-store.

Historically Tesco would automatically convert your points to Avios. This is no longer available to new cardholders but is still being done for those of us who signed up when it was possible. Today, you convert your points by going to the Tesco website and inputting the numerical code from your clubcard voucher. Ensure that your BAEC account address is the same as your Clubcard address.

Can I do anything else travel-related with my Tesco points?
There are a number of tour operators who offer discounts on holidays for Tesco points. You can get a Ł10 reduction for every Ł2.50 on Tesco vouchers you use. The more upmarket operators in the scheme include Cadogan Holidays and P&O Cruises. You can also redeem for Hilton, Marriott, Novotel and Mercure hotel stays, although there are often restrictions on minimum stay or weekend stays. See tesco.com/clubcard for details.


02 Shell Driver’s Club (UK residents only)


Join Shell Driver's Club by picking up a card at a Shell Service Station, and register the card online. If you do not register your card within six months of first use and do not have any activity on the account in that period, the account may be closed, and points may be lost. If there has been no activity in a 12-month period for any card, Shell may close the account.

There may be sign-up promotions where you can earn bonus points or Avios. Please see this master thread for up-to-date information.

Log in to your membership account on the Shell website (if you just registered online, allow 48 hours after receiving your password) and select the option you want to redeem your points to. Shell will automatically redeem your points every quarter, in multiples of 20 points (10 Avios). So, fill up in Jan/Feb/Mar, and get Avios in May (it takes 28 days from statement date).

If you want to change which redemption scheme to send your points to, make sure you do this four weeks before the end of a calendar quarter for it to take affect at the end of that quarter.

If you do not select any redemption choices, then Shell will give you Shell Fuel Vouchers each quarter, 500 points gives you Ł2.50 fuel vouchers.

If you buy more 150 or more litres of V-Power fuel in a quarter, you are invited to join the top tier level; the Shell V-Power Club, in the following quarter.

The card is UK only, you cannot use it at Shell stations worldwide and can only be credited to UK based BAEC accounts.

The scheme enables you to earn points which can be converted to Avios through purchasing Shell's products. 1 point is equal to 0.5 Avios (or 0.5 pence Shell vouchers).

Fuel
1 point per litre on all fuel types (maximum 125 litres per transaction), unless:

You buy more than 200 litres of fuel in any month:
2 points per litre up to and including 400 litres in a month.

For each litre after 400, the normal rate of 1 point per litre applies. This means you get a maximum of 800 points at the 2 points rate, and any additional litres is added to that balance at 1 point.

You hold a V-Power Club Card,
2 points per litre on V-Power fuel, no limit on earnings.
Standard 1 point per litre rate apply to regular fuels.

Other Shell Products
Shell card members can also earn

• 1 point per Ł on selected Shell Helix (oil) products.
• 25 points for a Shell Gold car wash.
• 15 points for a Shell Gold jet wash.

Shell Shopping
Shell has a cashback shopping website at www.shellonlineshopping.co.uk where each whole Ł10 spent will earn you 10 points. However, if you spend Ł19.99, you will only get 10 points, not 19 or 20 points. Occasionally promotions are on offer, for example, Ł2 spending on a particular brand will net you 10 points.

It can take up to 35 days for points to be credited from the shopping website.

It is generally regarded better value using the BA's own Gate 365 to collect Avios.

Miscellaneous and Promotions
At time of writing, there is a 50 points bonus for downloading the iPhone Shell Motorist app and purchase xx litres of fuel within xx weeks, and other offers pushed through the app along the same vein.


03 Heathrow Rewards (No domicile restriction)


Receive 1 point for every Ł1 you spend in shops, bars, cafes and restaurants, at car parks and on pre-booked Heathrow Express tickets, and 1 point for every Ł10 exchanged at Bureaux de change. (Excludes tobacco and certain other products and outlets. Read the Heathrow Rewards terms and conditions for details.)

As an Executive Club Member you can then convert your points for Avios in increments of 250 points. 250 points will give you 250 Avios.

If you're not currently a member and wish to join Heathrow Rewards, an initial visit to ba.com for available sign-up bonuses.


04 American Express Membership Reward points (No domicile restriction)


Certain American Express cards offer Membership Reward points for purchases. The amount of points varies considerably between the different cards offered by Amex. The Reward points can then be transmitted to BAEC (and a long list of other loyalty programmes) via an online menu. There is an initial registration process to link your BAEC card number to Membership Rewards - this can take 2 weeks to be completed - but thereafter any transferred Reward points will arrive in your BAEC account within a few days.

The conversion rate may vary depending on the country. In the UK, 1 Membership Reward Point will transfer over as 1 Avios point, there is a minimum transfer of 1,000 Reward Points / Avios. In Hong Kong it is 15 MR to 1 Avios. There are sometimes promotions with bonus Avios points awarded above the normal 1 to 1 exchange rate. Reward Points can also be transfered into Iberia Plus' frequent flyer programme at the same rate.


05 Transfer from (and to) other IAG programmes

Iberia Plus (No domicile restriction)


Avios collected in your existing Iberia Plus account can also be transferred into your existing BAEC account using the "Combine My Avios" tool on ba.com. Note, Combine My Avios does not apply to accounts that are less than three months old.


AerClub


Transferring your Avios points between your AerClub account is possible but in order to do this you need to be enrolled in the Avios Travel Rewards Programme. Go to Avios.com and log in. Select 'Your account' and 'Combine/Transfer Avios to/from your AerClub, British Airways or Iberia accounts'.


Avios Travel Rewards Programme (UK/ROI/ZA domicile restrictions)


IAG also own a standalone Avios Travel Rewards Programme which is not directly connected to its airlines. Avios Group Ltd have an online presence via avios.com. The company was previously known as Airmiles.
Points earned in avios.com can be used to redeem flights and other travel related services, including Eurostar train tickets. Sometimes the availability of flights on avios.com is better than via BAEC. Avios can be collected either from flying BA or IB (in which case the avios.com operates in a similar way to BAEC, minus the Tier Points), or as a loyalty scheme for retailers such as Tesco, Shell and Lloyds TSB. Sometimes avios.com has promotions and collection opportunities which are not available via BAEC. Avios can be freely transferred between the Executive Club and Avios Travel Rewards Programme using the "Combine My Avios" tool on ba.com.


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

jcelio

Hello all... Have seen discussions on extending a month or so the earning calendar year. Mi situation is that we have had BAEC accounts but never used them. Was mostly to search availability on reward flights (that later were redeemed with AA or IB). Now planning to change to BAEC given that with the planned flights will attain GOLD by July/August but not before my calendar year ends MAY 8. Just got off the phone with CS (from Spain). Do any of the gurus out here have any email or any ways to contact CS or if this has happen to anybody and if there is really any chance of changing that (short of cancelling account and open another account). Hope it is clear what I am looking for. Thanks in advance for your help.

Best, JC

KARFA

Once your anniversary date is set there is no ability to change it unless you close your account and then open a new one as you noted.

squawk

It's my first flight as Silver tomorrow, flying a two-leg itinerary within Europe, and I've noticed one oddity on the paper boarding pass: the international leg has a "-> Fast Track ->" logo underneath the barcode, but the domestic one does not. Is there a particular reason for this inconsistency?

A linked question: I'm also travelling with a non-status companion. They're correctly labelled as BA/BLUE on the frequent flier section as opposed to SAPPHIRE/BA/SILVER for me. I naively assumed that priority boarding and security would apply to them too, as they're on the same PNR - but can't see this on the BA website, whereas it is otherwise explicit (in relation to lounge access/seat selection). On the domestic, there is no "group" for either of us… but on the international flight, I'm in Group 2, and they're in Group 4, which suggests that it doesn't apply to them.

Have I totally misunderstood how this works?

memesweeper

Sadly not all airports have a fast track which BA uses. Are you starting your journey from one of them?

squawk

Very happy to give it a shot and report back.

Tocsin