The British Airways Club is the loyalty program of British Airways. The program was updated this year, to a revenue-based system rather than the previous mileage-based system, much to the disapproval of many multiple-year British Airways elite status holders.
The British Airways Club has a comprehensive range of benefits and perks for frequent fliers, that may suit you best if you fly British Airways or oneworld partners regularly in Business or First Class, and can meet the annual spend requirements. Elite status within the new British Airways Club caters mainly to business travellers, those who travel regularly for work.
You don’t need to be UK-based to benefit from the British Airways Club, earn tier points or to earn or redeem British Airways Avios (the name British Airways’ name for miles). In fact, if you are US-based and meet the annual spend requirements, it is worth considering whether British Airways Club may be better suited to your needs over the alternative American Airlines option.
What is the British Airways Club?
The British Airways Club is British Airways’ loyalty program designed to reward their frequent flyers with perks and benefits to make their travel experience smoother and more enjoyable. As a member of the British Airways Club, you can earn Avios points by spending with British Airways or their partner airlines on flights, by using their co-branded credit cards (such as the American Express Premium Plus), or shopping through the Avios shopping portal. These Avios points can then be redeemed for flights, flight upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals, and more.
In addition to earning Avios points, when flying with British Airways or another oneworld carrier, members can also earn tier points based on the flight ticket spend and the cabin class/fare class in which they fly. Once you have enough tier points within your membership year, you move up to the next tier, with additional perks and benefits.
Below is the minimum tier points required for each tier:
| Membership Tier | Blue | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Gold Guest List |
| Tier Points Required | 0 | 3,500 | 7,500 | 20,000 | 65,000* |
*Gold Guest List requires 65,000 tier points to qualify within your membership year, including 52,000 from British Airways-marketed flights, British Airways Holiday Packages and flight extras, but only 40,000 tier points to renew in a subsequent year (32,000 from the same qualifying British Airways-only criteria).
Overall, the perks and benefits of the British Airways Club are well worth it if you fly regularly with oneworld carriers. In my opinion, the sweet spot is Silver, as the Gold and above perks just don’t warrant the extra cost of flying unless you will hit that tier threshold through normal business travel.
How do British Airways Avios work?
British Airways Avios are the British Airways Club’s version of airline miles. These points can be redeemed for a range of benefits, including flights, free upgrades, and hotel stays, although the best redemptions are overwhelmingly for flights and flight upgrades. One of the biggest advantages of earning Avios is that British Airways allows you to redeem them not only on British Airways flights, but also with its partner airlines, notably oneworld carriers, which include American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and Qantas to name a few. Check out my other article here on the oneworld alliance, and all the airlines that you can earn and redeem Avios with.
How to earn British Airways Avios
Earning Avios is super easy, as Avios can be collected by simply spending and flying with British Airways or any of its oneworld and codeshare partners. Do note, some oneworld and codeshare partners still use a percentage of distance flown calculation instead of spend, but you can find more information about that here. Additionally, you can earn Avios through credit card spending on co-branded credit cards such as the American Express Premium Plus in the UK, or credit cards with rewards schemes that partner with British Airways as a redemption partner such as American Express in the US.
There are also hotel partners such as Marriott Bonvoy, IHG, Accor and even Airbnb whereby you can earn bonus Avios just by linking your British Airways Club membership number. Additionally, another way to book hotels is through the British Airways Avios Hotels portal, which currently offers 10 Avios per £1 spent, which is a great way to earn Avios and is much higher than most Avios partners with much greater choice.
If you are booking car hire, British Airways partners with Avis, Budget and Zipcar.
For UK-based travellers, linking your Nectar account and doing your grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s will be a fast way to accumulate Avios.
For all travel and online shopping (if you are UK or US-based), you can also buy through the Avios Shopping Portal to double dip on Avios. Overall, this means that the more you travel and shop with these partners, the more Avios you will earn.
How to Buy Avios
If you are just short of the Avios required for a redemption, you can purchase Avios through Avios.com. Log into your account, click “Collect Avios” and click “Purchase Avios”. There are a range of Avios packages available, depending on your needs. Do check the Redemption Value first to ensure the flight you are intending on spending the Avios for has a greater redemption value than the cost per Avios of the top-up.
Finnair and Qatar also sometimes have bonus Avios promotions when you buy Avios from time to time, so it’s worth also checking those options out too as you can instantly transfer Avios from those programs to British Airways and vice versa.
Redemption Value of Avios
One important thing to note with Avios redemptions is that the value of an Avios point varies depending on how it’s being redeemed. It’s always a good idea to do some research before deciding how to use them so that you get maximum value out of them, including Avios versus cash redemptions. The best way to do this is to use the following formula to confirm alternative redemption opportunities:
Cash price minus any co-payment (Fees and taxes) divided by the number of Avios required for redemption.
Forward of the Wing’s Redemption Value Calculator is here.
Use this to check the redemption value of different Avios + cash co-payment options for flight redemptions booked through British Airways.
Some additional relevant articles of interest to help maximise Avios redemption value:
- List of All British Airways Destinations by Distance Band (Updated 2025)
- British Airways Avios Reward Flights: Sweet Spots and Travel Hacks
- The Best British Airways Avios Flight Redemptions under 25K Avios
Best Ways to Earn British Airways Club Avios
There are many ways to earn British Airways Club Avios from your everyday spending. Once earned, you can use Avios for award flights, free cabin upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals, and more. One of my favourite ways to use Avios is for last-minute Rewards Flight Saver flights within Europe, which often can be very expensive. Below are some of the best ways to rack up your Avios balance.
Earning Avios by flying with British Airways or Partner Airlines
Earn Avios by spending with British Airways or its partner airlines such as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and Japan Airlines. The amount of Avios you earn depends on your British Airways elite status and cash spent. British Airways Club elite status holders earn Avios at the following rates (excluding airport charges and taxes):
- Blue – 6 Avios per £
- Bronze – 7 Avios per £
- Silver – 8 Avios per £
- Gold – 9 Avios per £
If you are based in the US or purchasing flights not in GBP, your spend is converted into GBP for Avios earning. You will earn tier points in addition to Avios at a rate of 1 tier point per £ spent excluding airport taxes and fees.
Some partners use a set Avios per euro conversion or set percentage of flight distance in miles so check out the table here for more information if you intend to fly with a oneworld or codeshare partner.
British Airways Holidays
If you book a flight and hotel or flight and car package holiday through British Airways, you can earn 2 Avios per £ spent. If you are just heading to one hotel rather than touring around, such as for a weekend city break, it is worth checking out pricing through British Airways Holidays as packages are sometimes cheaper than booking flights and accommodation separately in my experience.
Tier points are awarded at 1 tier point per £ spent, which is a great way to add to your tier point balance and get closer to upgrading your British Airways elite status.
Credit Card Signup Bonuses
In the US and UK, there are several credit card options that collect either British Airways Avios or alternative points which convert into Avios such as American Express Membership Rewards and Chase points. Depending on the time of year, you can often get sign up bonuses for a specific amount of spending on a new card.
Shopping through the British Airways Shopping Portal
Shop online through the BA Shopping Portal at hundreds of merchants including Agoda, Booking.com, Wayfair, and Argos in the UK and Apple Store, Macy’s, Sephora in the US, and earn Avios per dollar spent. You can also take advantage of special promotions offered from time to time where you can earn bonus Avios. This is my favourite way to earn Avios, and usually racks up most of my Avios.
To access the portal, go to Avios.com and sign in with your British Airways account details.
Rental Car with Avis/Budget
Rent cars with Avis/Budget using your BA membership number and get 3 Avios per $1 spent for Avis car rentals, and 1 Avios per $1 spent for Budget car rentals.
Book Hotels direct with Avios Partners
British Airways partners with Accor, Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, Hilton, Melia and Radisson, so you can earn rewards points by booking direct with these hotel partners, then you can opt to convert your points to British Airways Avios automatically.
Airbnb
If you frequently use Airbnb’s for accommodation (I definitely do), the great news is that British Airways partners with them. Simply click through the link on this page and enter your British Airways Club membership number to earn 3 Avios per $/£/€. Even better, Airbnb Experiences is also included, which is a great way to explore local cities whilst travelling.
Using a Carshare service
British Airways partners with Zipcar, so make sure you link your membership number if you use them (they operate globally including the US, Canada and UK) for 50 Avios per booking.
Taking Advantage of Sales and Promotions
Keep an eye out for British Airways sales, often in shoulder months or around the winter holiday season to earn Avios at cheaper cash fares. This is also a great strategy to accumulate tier points cheaply, and a great excuse to make mileage runs if you need to in order to reach the next membership tier.
In all, there are plenty of ways to earn British Airways Avios, both directly through flying with British Airways, or indirectly through partner airlines, hotel partners, credit card rewards programs, car rental partners and your everyday online shopping.
You too could fly Forward of the Wing with an Avios Club Europe flight redemption.
How to use British Airways Avios
Flight Redemptions
Booking a reward flight through the British Airways Club is super easy. Simply log in to your British Airways Club account on the British Airways website, select “Book” then “Book with Avios”. Here, you can search for available redemptions on a variety of routes, cabins and oneworld partners including availability in the highly-regarded Qsuites on Qatar Airways. You can then proceed to book online or if you prefer, via the contact centre.
Can I use British Airways Avios on Qatar?
Yes, you can use British Airways Avios on Qatar Airways. There are two ways to book flight redemptions with Avios. Firstly, you can book through the British Airways “Book with Avios” tool, and available seats will show. Alternatively, if you sign up and link your Qatar and British Airways account, you can instantly transfer Avios between the two accounts and book directly with Qatar as “Award Flights” whilst logged in. Note that in some cases cash co-payment/taxes may be different so it’s worth running a search through both platforms.
Qatar Qsuite is one of my favourite Business Classes in the sky, but tends to have limited Avios redemption availability on most routes.
Payment Options
Once you find the flight you want to book on the British Airways website through the “Book with Avios” tool, select the flight and proceed to the payment page. British Airways has a unique co-payment system for airport fees and taxes, whereby you can select to pay with more cash or more Avios.
Note, the value of the points redemption is not fixed and will change depending on how much cash you are willing to pay, so it is worth finding the sweet spot to maximise your points redemption value.
You also have to option to pay with a combination of Avios and cash when booking a cash fare through the standard British Airways flight search tool, but this isn’t usually a great use of Avios as the points redemption value is often low. Booking through the “Book with Avios” function usually has the best redemption rates. Use our Redemption Value Calculator to check the redemption value of each option.
Sweet Spot British Airways Avios Flight Redemptions
I have another article here exploring sweet spot flight redemptions with British Airways, as well as the best Avios redemptions under 25,000 Avios, so check those out. I think Avios are great for last minute flights within Europe and especially over Summer and public holidays when cash fares can be high. Avios is also great for expensive short-haul European trips to Western Europe, including between London and Ireland, France and Germany.
Availability and Flexibility
When redeeming rewards flights with British Airways, keep in mind that availability is not always guaranteed, especially during peak travel seasons, school holidays and on some long-haul routes due to high demand. It’s best to book early and be flexible with your travel dates if possible.
On long-haul routes, there has been a lot of demand for redemption flights to Asia and Australia with few flights and so there are very few seats available on these routes currently. With British Airways flying hundreds of trans-Atlantic flights everyday, there is generally much greater reward availability to and from the USA to London and onto Europe. You can use this handy tool to search for British Airways reward flight availability on different routes, times of year and cabins, but unfortunately it does not show availability for partner airlines.
Overall, British Airways Avios are a great way to score cheap flights with co-payments starting at just $1/£1 and comprehensive availability across the British Airways and oneworld network. Redemption rates versus other airline programs are fairly reasonable, and taking advantage of the many sweet spot redemption opportunities is a great way to maximise your travel experience for less.
British Airways Rewards Flights: Sweet Spots and Travel Hacks
There are so many great British Airways Avios redemptions that it’s too hard to write within this article without summarising, which just wouldn’t give you the full picture on what to look for and how to book these sweet spot redemptions. In some cases, you must book over the phone and thoroughly plan your redemption route, cabins and dates around current availability before calling so it is better to cover this in a separate article. Please see my other article here for a detailed guide on sweet spot British Airways Avios redemptions and travel hacks.
Also, to see sweet spots within each distance band to fit your Avios balance, check out the full list here.
Transferring Avios between British Airways and Finnair, Qatar Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling
Amongst oneworld carriers, many are also adopting Avios as their airline mile currency. Currently, this list includes Finnair, Qatar Airways and Iberia. British Airways has a “Combine my Avios” tool on their website where you can link your Avios account from the airlines listed above and transfer Avios instantly between airline loyalty programmes. Once linked, all you need to do is enter the program you are transferring from, number of Avios, and the program you are transferring to. Your Avios are then transferred automatically and instantly.
Flight Redemption Availability and Cheaper Cash Co-payments
This is especially helpful as different airlines have different flight redemption availability and different taxes, even for the same flight and same route. There may be more flight times available on the day you are looking to travel on say, Finnair’s website, than when you search through British Airways, or the cash co-payment might be cheaper on a specific route (this is especially handy for long-haul flights including flights to and from Japan). You can simply transfer the Avios you need and book the flight on the Finnair website instead.
Earning Avios with airlines who don’t partner with British Airways
The other reason the “Combine my Avios tool” is handy is because oneworld airlines have individual airline codeshare agreements and partnerships beyond oneworld which allow you to earn Avios on non-oneworld carriers, but you can’t just enter your British Airways Club number and have your Avios credited. Examples of this include Vueling and Air Lingus, where you can Avios within their own loyalty programmes, then use the Combine my Avios tool to move these into your British Airways Club account. The same goes for non-oneworld partners of oneworld airlines that have an Avios loyalty program. I recently used this trick to earn Avios with Qatar on Bangkok Airways and a specific fare class of Cathay Pacific Business Class excluded from Avios earning with British Airways, then transferred the earned Avios from Qatar to British Airways.
British Airways Club Status Tiers
Once you earn enough tier points through spending with British Airways and oneworld partners, your British Airways Club elite status tier will automatically upgrade to the next level. Each tier unlocks additional perks and benefits, making every travel journey smoother and easier.
There are five frequent flyer tiers in the British Airways Club frequent flyer program: Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold Guest List. It is important you evaluate the different perks and benefits available against how much you fly and your individual travel budget, as some of the top tiers may not be worth striving to achieve if you don’t frequently fly long-haul or to destinations with oneworld Emerald (first-class) lounges (there’s only 26 in the world).
British Airways Club Blue
Blue is the entry-level tier of the British Airways Club loyalty program. You will get this status as soon as you join, and will have this until you have enough tier points to move up to the next tier, Bronze.
Blue essentially enables you the ability to earn Avios and tier points.
British Airways Club Bronze
British Airways Club Bronze is the second tier in the rewards program, requiring a minimum of 3,500 tier points to be earned within your membership year, or take 25 “eligible flights”. Under the new rules, the eligible flight threshold is possibly cheaper than the £3500 net of taxes threshold, but it depends on your individual travel patterns. Once you achieve Bronze status, you get access to the following benefits:
- Seat Selection (7 days prior to flight departure)
- 7 Avios per £ spent
- Priority check-in (London City not available)
- Priority Boarding (London City not available)
British Airways Club Silver
British Airways Club Silver is the third tier of the loyalty program, and where perks and benefits start to get interesting. In my opinion, this is the best value British Airways Club tier, and if you fly frequently, the British Airways status tier you should aim for. To qualify, you must earn a minimum of 7500 Tier Points or take 50 eligible flights within your membership year. Once you achieve Silver status, you get access to the following perks and benefits:
- Seat Selection (At booking, no exit row on long-haul)
- 8 Avios per £ spent
- Priority check-in
- Priority Boarding
- Additional baggage allowance
- Fast-track when flying British Airways or oneworld partners
- Access to British Airways Business Class/Club Lounges worldwide when flying British Airways or oneworld Partners + 1 guest
- Access to over 600 oneworld Sapphire Lounges worldwide when flying British Airways or oneworld Partners + 1 guest
- Dedicated British Airways Support Line
This is essentially the same ground experience as Club Europe or Club World, which makes travel so smooth when you fly Economy or Premium Economy.
British Airways Club Gold
British Airways Gold is the ultimate tier status in the British Airways Club Loyalty Program. This is for the highest-spending British Airways frequent flyers, which generally travel for work in Club or First, or on fully flexible tickets. You must achieve 20,000 tier points within your membership year (that is a spend of £20,000 with British Airways or oneworld partners, excluding airport fees and taxes). This is a fairly tall-ask for most people, so will likely need to include several long-haul trips per year in Club World or First to achieve.
Perks and Benefits of British Airways Gold
- Seat Selection (At booking) including 1A and 1K in First, and for multiple bookings when travelling on one of the bookings in the same class and on the same flight
- 9 Avios per £ spent
- First Class check-in
- Priority Boarding
- Additional baggage allowance – weight and additional checked bag (for everyone in your booking except on hand baggage fares)
- Fast-track when flying British Airways or oneworld partners
- Dedicated Security Channel at London Heathrow Terminal 5
- Access to British Airways First Lounges worldwide when flying British Airways or oneworld Partners (Concorde Room is excluded) + 1 guest
- Access to British Airways Arrivals lounge after long-haul flights (no guest access)
- Access to over 600 oneworld Sapphire Lounges worldwide when flying British Airways or oneworld Partners + 1 guest
- Access to 26 oneworld Emerald First Class Lounges worldwide when flying British Airways or oneworld Partners
- Dedicated British Airways Gold Support Line
- Waived booking and service fees
- Extra Avios flight redemption availability
- Ability to Transfer Avios to other British Airways Club members for free
British Airways Gold frequent flyer status is a frequent flyer’s dream, and is often a collector’s item amongst globetrotters. In addition, there are two milestone gifts at 35,000 tier points and 50,000 tier points, which are a companion cabin upgrade voucher and two single cabin upgrade vouchers, respectively. Whilst the perks are great, as there are only 26 oneworld Emerald lounges in the world, it’s not generally worth striving for this tier unless you travel long-haul regularly in Club or First for work to hit the spend threshold.
What is British Airways Club Gold Guest List?
British Airways Gold Guest List is a secret tier within Gold, for the top, top, top spending British Airways frequent flyers. To achieve Gold Guest List status, you must earn over 65,000 tier points within your membership year with a minimum of 52,000 from British Airways and British Airways Holidays. To renew your status, only 40,000 tier points is needed with 32,000 from British Airways, however this is still a very tall ask for most flyers and even business travellers. So for >£65,000 of British Airways and oneworld partners (net of airport taxes and fees), how does British Airways reward you?
In addition to the Gold perks above:
- Twice per year, you can request BA open up Avios flight redemption availability on any flight (with cash availability) in any cabin, for up to five reward seats
- Dedicated Gold Guest List 24-hour British Airways Support Line
- Access to British Airways Business Class/Galleries/First Lounges + 5 Guests
- Access to British Airways Arrivals Lounge + 1 guest
- Concorde Room Access at London Heathrow Terminal 5 + 1 guest (when flying any class on British Airways or any other oneworld carrier)
- Ability to gift British Airways Club Gold Partner status to one person, and British Airways Silver status to two more people
- Free Hilton Honors Diamond Status
- Complimentary upgrade to 1st class on the Heathrow Express
My Thoughts on Gold Guest List
65,000 tier points is a tall-ask for even the most frequent of frequent business travellers. If you fly very frequently long-haul for work in First or Club and these perks are worthwhile to you, a strategic British Airways Holiday may be worthwhile to obtain Gold Guest List status. Gold Guest List is the ultimate British Airways’ fan collector’s item. Additionally, the lower renewal requirements of 40,000 tier points make it easier to renew in subsequent years. Bear in mind that once you reach a total of 550,000 lifetime tier points, British Airways will gift you Lifetime Gold status.
British Airways Club Partner Airlines
One major advantage of being a member of the British Airways Club is the ability to earn and redeem Avios on partner airlines. British Airways is part of the oneworld alliance, giving you access to earn Avios and tier points, redeem Avios and receive frequent flyer benefits based on your elite status on 15 airlines that fly to over 900 destinations worldwide. British Airways also partners (codeshares) with Aer Lingus, Bangkok Airways, China Southern, airBaltic, Kenya Airways, Airlink, Loganair, Vueling and Vistara. Earning and redemption opportunities, as well as frequent flyer status benefits vary from airline to airline, so best to check before you book.
More Avios Redemption Flight Availability
Partner airlines are also super helpful for Avios redemption flights. There is a greater chance that there is reward flight availability on the date and route you are after if there are multiple flights per day flown by multiple partner airlines.
In all, British Airways’ Partner Airlines provide you access to more flights, more destinations and more routes than British Airways’ own flight network to get you where you need to go faster.
How to join the British Airways Club
Not a British Airways Club member yet? Signing up is easy.
If you are based in the UK, click on the registration form on the British Airways website here.
If you are based in the USA, simply click on the registration form on the British Airways website here and enter your details.
Once you have signed up, you will receive your British Airways Club membership number. Adding this membership number to any upcoming oneworld flights or British Airways flights you are either about to book or have booked, means you will start earning Avios and Tier Points right away.
Conclusion
In conclusion, British Airways Club is a great frequent flyer program for those of you based in the UK, Europe or US with regular business travel on oneworld carriers in premium cabins or on fully flexible tickets. To make the most of the program, you realistically need to be spending more than the £3500 – £7500 thresholds (net of airport fees and taxes) per year to hit Bronze or Silver respectively. For most, there are better programs out there that will allow you to hit oneworld Ruby or Sapphire status at a lower price point or by distance. Check out my article here for some of these other programs.
For US-based oneworld frequent flyers who fly regularly and have the occasional trip across the Atlantic (at least once a year), it can be a great option that will give you American Airlines Admiral Club access if you hold British Airways Silver or above. This contrasts to American Airlines’ own frequent flyer program, in which you don’t get domestic lounge access until the very, very top tiers of the program.
If you haven’t already, join the British Airways Club today.