The Guide to British Airways Executive Club

It might seem as though a U.K.-based frequent flyer program wouldn't have much to offer travelers living in the United States. However, British Airways' membership in the Oneworld alliance — which includes American Airlines — makes it a worthwhile option for globetrotters with both international and domestic destinations in mind.

Headquartered in London’s Heathrow airport, British Airways flies to more than 200 destinations in 80 countries. Its frequent flyer program is called Executive Club, and when you fly with the airline (or its partners), you will earn Avios, which can also be used to redeem for award flights.

Avios are a travel rewards currency earned by members of British Airways Executive Club. These can be used on BA flights or transferred to other Avios-earning airlines.

Each time you fly on a paid ticket with British Airways or with certain Oneworld and partner airlines, you will earn Avios. Avios can be redeemed for future award flights.

Learn more: The guide to British Airways fees

How long do British Airways Avios points last? Avios only expire if you don't have any activity in your account at least once every 36 months.

NerdWallet values Avios points at 0.8 cent each. Use this calculator to understand the value of your Avios points:

There are many ways to earn Avios, including by flying, using a British Airways co-branded credit card, spending money with their business partners, and transferring from American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards® and various hotel programs (e.g., Marriott Bonvoy).

The Executive Club allows you to pool your Avios with up to six other people who live with you with a household account, making family vacations more rewarding.

» Learn more: 5 reasons to love the British Airways loyalty program

Earn when you fly

British Airways, Oneworld and other airline partners

British Airways is part of Oneworld, which totals 13 airlines, and also has independent relationships with four other airlines. You can use your British Airways Avios to book award flights through Oneworld and other airline partners.

In addition to allowing you to book with Avios, you can also earn Avios and Tier points with the following airlines:

The amount of Avios and Tier points earned depends on the airline flown, ticket type and fare class (award tickets don’t earn points). Avios bonus points, which are earned when you have elite status, and Tier points, which count toward elite status, are not earned with every partner airline.

The minimum number of Avios earned on any flight is 125, and you can earn Avios on all airlines with the exception of Air Italy. Interestingly, although LATAM has left Oneworld, redeeming Avios is still allowed for LATAM award tickets.

» Learn more: Your guide to the Oneworld alliance

Earn with British Airways other business partners

Avios can be earned on hotels, car rentals, vacation bookings, airport parking, Heathrow Express, by shopping on the British Airways shopping mall, at Tesco, and with many more partners. Here’s our guide to all the ways to earn British Airways Avios.

Collect Avios with a British Airways credit card

Despite its status as a foreign carrier, British Airways offers one credit card for U.S. residents, and the card issuer is Chase:

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

• Earn up to 100,000 Avios. Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

• Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL.

• Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.

• Earn 1 Avios per $1 on all other purchases.

• Receive up to $600 in flight statement credits each year to cover the cost of taxes, fees and other charges on award flights to London. Eligible amount varies based on class of ticket, maximum use of three times at $200 each.

• Annual fee: $95.

In the beginning, this is a 50,000-bonus point credit card, until you can manage to spend $20,000 on the card within a year. Introduced as a new perk in 2019, the statement credits offered on reward tickets can total $600 per year, which provides a nice offset to the high taxes and surcharges levied on British Airways award tickets.

If you travel frequently on British Airways, these credits offer compelling reasons to consider this card.

» Learn more: British Airways Visa Signature Review: Big bonus, terrible surcharges

Transfer points from American Express and Chase to British Airways

Since British Airways is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards® and American Express Membership Rewards, any points that you earn with each program’s associated credit cards can be transferred to Avios. Point transfers from Chase and AmEx programs are at a 1:1 ratio and must be done in increments of 1,000.

AmEx often runs transfer bonuses, which could really help extend the value of your points. For example, in October 2019, AmEx ran a 30% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy and a 50% bonus to Hilton in April 2020. Chase isn’t as well known for its transfer bonuses, however it did run a 30% transfer bonus to British Airways in May 2019.

Use this step-by-step guide to learn how to transfer AmEx Membership Rewards points and Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to British Airways. If you’re already familiar with the process, here’s a list of cards whose points transfer to British Airways.

» Learn more: AmEx vs. Chase points

American Express Cards

Personal cards

The Platinum Card® from American Express (annual fee: $695): Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

American Express® Gold Card (annual fee: $250): Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

American Express® Green Card (annual fee: $150): Earn 45,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $2,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months. Terms Apply.

The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express (annual fee: $95): Earn 15,000 Membership Reward® points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Terms Apply.

Amex EveryDay® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. Terms Apply.

Chase Credit Cards

Personal credit cards

Chase Sapphire Reserve® (annual fee: $550): Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire Reserve review: A first-class premium travel card

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire Preferred Review: A must-have for travelers

Business credit cards

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 100k bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

» Learn more: Chase Ink Preferred Review: High rewards for business basics

If you already have any of the cards mentioned above, you can apply for one of the following no-fee cards with Chase. The cash-back you earn can be combined with earnings from other cards as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. Having these cards in addition to the premium travel cards is a great way to increase your Chase Ultimate Rewards® point balance.

No-fee personal credit cards

Chase Freedom Flex℠ (annual fee: $0): Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Freedom Flex review: Multiple bonus rewards wrapped in one card

Chase Freedom Unlimited® (annual fee: $0): Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

» Learn more: Chase Freedom Unlimited review: A winning combination

No-fee business credit cards

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Ink Cash review: A cash-back contender for small businesses

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Convert hotel points to Avios

British Airways has partnered with several hotel programs, which allow you to convert hotel points to Avios at a specified rate:

The ratios with ALL Rewards (2:1), Marriott (3:1) and Hyatt (5:2) are the most favorable, with the latter two hotels offering transfer bonuses when you convert a certain number of points. When you transfer 60,000 Marriott points, you will receive 25,000 Avios, which is inclusive of the 5,000 point bonus. Hyatt also includes a 5,000 point bonus when you transfer 50,000 Hyatt points, which convert into 25,000 Avios.

Although hotel points have value on their own, if you have hotel points that you have no use for, converting them to Avios could be advantageous, especially if a transfer bonus is available (e.g., Hyatt and Marriott).

Here’s a list of Hyatt and Marriott credit cards that could be used to earn points, which you could then transfer to Avios.

Hyatt Credit Card

World of Hyatt Credit Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 More Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.

» Learn more: World of Hyatt Card review: Lavish benefits, reasonable cost

Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn 60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Marriott Bonvoy Bold review: Loyalty at a lower price

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 100,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Marriott Bonvoy Boundless review: Premier perks abound

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (annual fee: $650): Earn 95,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases on the Card within the first 3 months. Terms Apply.

» Learn more: Most valuable benefits of Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (annual fee: $125): Limited Time Offer: Earn 125,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 5/3/23. Terms Apply.

» Learn more: Marriott Bonvoy Business review: Free night, rich rewards

Although British Airways doesn't operate domestic flights in the United States, you can take advantage of its Oneworld alliance membership to book flights with American Airlines directly through the British Airways site. You can use Avios to book flights on 16 airlines, providing for a multitude of redemption options.

Unlike many other rewards programs, British Airways’ Avios are shared between three other loyalty programs: Aer Lingus AerClub, Iberia Plus and Qatar Privilege Club.

If you want to book a flight on Iberia or on Aer Lingus, you could transfer Avios from British Airways to the other airlines at a 1:1 ratio. Since each of these carriers have their own award rates, a transfer would only make sense if you already have a redemption in mind.

» Learn more: How to redeem British Airways Avios for maximum value

British Airways Award chart

British Airways has a distance-based award chart, which means that short-haul flights (e.g., Washington, D.C., to Miami) within the same region will cost less Avios than long-haul flights (Boston to Seattle) in that region.

Because the chart computes the award cost based on the distance between two destinations, if you have a stopover, each flight will be priced separately, which is important to keep in mind.

British Airways’ award chart is not published anywhere and the carrier states that the cost of the flight in Avios is based on the destination, date and class of travel.

Best use of Avios for award flights

There are three elements to consider when you’d like to redeem Avios for an award flight. First, British Airways is known for charging high taxes and fuel surcharges on its award tickets, especially for seats in premium cabins, so economy flights will always require the lowest cash outlay.

Second, shorter distances will likely be cheaper on British Airways than on carriers that use a region-based award chart (e.g., American Airlines), so if you have miles with both, Avios rewards will be more affordable.

Third, promotional prices on off-peak awards and Reward Flight Savers are often available, which decreases the cost of award tickets considerably. Reward Flight Savers are discounted award tickets that are available on roundtrip British Airways flights in Europe and southern Africa.

If booking a premium cabin ticket on a British Airways flight costs too much, try using Avios to upgrade.

British Airways sweet spots will occur when you can maximize these aspects.

Off-peak economy British Airways award from east coast North America to Europe

An example of how you can leverage the distance based chart is apparent when looking at an award ticket from the Northeast U.S. to the U.K.

This off-peak award ticket in economy class from New York to London costs only 13,000 Avios + $64 in taxes. Comparatively, fellow Oneworld partner American Airlines charges 22,500 miles for an off-peak award (30,000 miles for a peak award) from the continental U.S. to Europe (regardless of the distance flown). Avios presents the more affordable option, and if you can take advantage of an AmEx Membership Rewards points transfer bonus, you will need even less Avios to book that award ticket.

Note that if you were flying from Los Angeles to Athens, that flight on British Airways would be considerably more expensive (because of distance), while Americans' awards would remain at the same price (because it is region based).

West coast U.S. to Hawaii

Another redemption where British Airways’ distance based chart is better than American’s region based chart is demonstrated on a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii, which is only 13,000 Avios compared to 20,000 American Airlines miles.

Cost in British Airways Avios:

Cost in American Airlines miles:

Although at over five hours this is not a short flight, the opportunity provided by British Airways’ distance based award chart is obvious.

Watch for award ticket taxes and surcharges

Some British Airways premium economy, business and first class awards on British Airways include high taxes and fuel surcharges, which result in much less appealing redemptions.

If you book a flight from New York to London in British Airways business class, you would pay 50,000 Avios + $679 in taxes on British Airways. In comparison, American Airlines would only charge 57,500 miles + $5.60 for a similar award, which is much cheaper. If you’re looking for a premium cabin experience, instead of using your Avios, consider a redemption from a carrier that has a region based award chart (like American Airlines).

How to avoid fuel surcharges on awards booked with Avios

So how can you avoid high fuel surcharges while using Avios, especially on premium cabin awards? Book with Oneworld airlines that do not include fuel surcharges, or depart from specific regions. Two examples include intra-Australia flights on Qantas and some flights from Asia to Europe.

Sydney to Adelaide: Economy and business class

An economy award flight from Sydney to Adelaide is 9,000 Avios + $27 in taxes, while a business class award is 16,500 Avios + $27 in taxes. Despite the switch from economy to business class, the tax and fuel surcharges remain unchanged.

Hong Kong to Dublin: economy and business class

An economy award flight from Hong Kong to Dublin is 28,500 Avios + $90 in taxes. In business class, that ticket is 90,500 Avios + $98 in taxes which represents a miniscule $8 increase in cash spend. Despite the switch from economy to business class, the tax and fee surcharge changes remain minimal.

Avios + cash

If you don't have enough points for a full fare, the Executive Club allows you to pay part of your ticket with Avios. Using Avios to cover a portion of a paid flight does not count as an award redemption. Because this is a regular cash ticket, you will earn Avios and Tier points.

The Avios + cash option is available on all British Airways and American Airlines flights between the U.K. and North America and British Airways codeshare flights with 17 partner airlines.

Although this option earns Avios and Tier points, which help you attain status, the Avios + cash choice offers very poor uses of your Avios and should be avoided.

There are four levels in the British Airways status program: Blue (entry), Bronze, Silver and Gold.

To earn BA status, you need to collect a minimum number of Tier points and paid flights or paid flights only.

Here's how to earn elite status on BA:

You become a Blue member as soon as you join the Executive Club, and at this level, you can select a seat 24 hours before departure (but not on basic fare tickets) and access to member-only offers on travel and shopping. Bronze, Silver and Gold offer many more perks.

British Airways Bronze

British Airways Bronze members get:

• 25% bonus Avios on flights.

• Priority check-in and boarding, plus priority at the baggage service desk.

• Free seat selection 7 days before the flight.

• The ability to keep status while are on maternity, paternity and/or adoption leave.

• Oneworld Ruby status match.

British Airways Silver

British Airways Silver members get:

• BA Bronze perks, though free seat selection is now available at booking and bonus Avios are earned at a 50% rate.

• Business lounge access.

• Extra baggage allowance.

• More award availability.

• Business class lounge access (except on codeshare flights), and first class lounge access with a first-class ticket.

• Elemis spa access.

• Oneworld Sapphire status match.

British Airways Gold

BA Gold members get:

• BA Silver perks, with a 100% Avios bonus on flights.

• First class lounge access, regardless of ticket type.

• Business class lounge access on all flights.

• Oneworld Emerald status match.

Tier points

Tier Points reset at the end of each membership year. Once you reach a certain tier, you will remain on that tier for the remainder of the current membership year and the following membership year.

Although Tier Points expire each year, they are added to your Lifetime Tier Points. Once you've earned 35,000 Lifetime Tier Points, you receive Gold membership for life.

We've covered all the basic details of the British Airways Executive Club program. But if you still aren't sure whether a frequent flyer program is worth the effort, see our beginner's guide to frequent flyer programs.

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Photo courtesy of British Airways.

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