How to earn Avios points when your child flies

Yesterday I looked at how to use both BA and avios.com Household Accounts as part of our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series.

As we’re talking about Household Accounts, I wanted to look at an extra quirk linked to these which lets you get around the rules on children being blocked from British Airways Executive Club.

As most people know, children cannot join British Airways Executive Club in their own right.

There is, however, no need to miss out on any Avios points when your children are flying on a cash ticket. They can become a member of a Household Account and therefore earn Avios and tier points.

But, of course, there is a snag if you are a member of a Household Account – you can only redeem your Avios for members of the Household Account or the six people on your ‘Family and Friends’ list.  That was a definite ‘no-go’ for me, since I often redeem miles for different people and needed full flexibility to redeem for anyone.

How do you get around this?

I took a slightly oblique route to get around these conflicting points.

My children sit in a Household Account with two of their grandparents. My wife and I each retain our stand-alone BAEC accounts.

This gives us the best of both worlds:

• I can benefit from the Avios points when my children fly, via a Household Account with their grandparents
• I can continue to redeem my Avios for absolutely anyone as required without being restricted by the ‘Family and Friends’ rules

How do you add a child to a Household Account?

First, you need to have a Household Account, which means deciding which adult BAEC member you want to be the head. If that person is not already a BAEC member, they need to sign-up.

Inside ‘Manage My Account‘ on ba.com, when you are signed-in, is an option called ‘My Household Account‘.  Click on this to start the process. You can then issue invitations to people who you want to join your account.

Once the Household Account is formed, you can easily add a child. The head of the Household Account will see an option inside ‘Manage My Account’ called ‘My Household Account’.  Click that to be taken to a summary of your HH account.  Select ‘Manage My Household Account’.  There is a button here called ‘Add New Member’. You can add a child during this process with no problem – the application will not be rejected if they are under 18 years old, unlike a standard BAEC application.

A loophole now closed?

A couple of years ago, there was one interesting tweak if you had a child who would not be flying with BA again for some reason.

Breaking up a Household Account led to the accounts belonging to any children being closed and the miles transferred to the head of the account.  However, a reader told me last year that this no longer worked and that the Avios held by the children were now lost.  If anyone has any further recent examples of this situation do let me know.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.