How to get FREE British Airways Bronze status equivalent for four months

airberlin is a partner with British Airways in the oneworld alliance.  This means that anyone who has status with airberlin will receive reciprocal status benefits with BA, and vice versa.

Why does this matter?  Because airberlin is currently offering four months of free Silver status if you sign up for topbonus, their frequent flyer programme.

Silver on airberlin does NOT match Silver on British Airways.  It matches British Airways Bronze status instead because these are both ‘Ruby’ tiers in the oneworld hierarchy.

The benefits of British Airways Bronze status, or any other oneworld Ruby status, are not huge but are certainly better than nothing.

As per this page of ba.com you will get:

Business Class check-in desk use

Priority Boarding

Free seat selection from seven days prior to departure

This (click) is the page of the airberlin website you need to access.

If your German isn’t up to much you can use Chrome to open the page and it will offer to translate it.  However, here are the key points (thank you Anika!):

• sign up for topbonus by 30th November 2016
• make sure to add a company email address
• verify your email address once registered
• enjoy 4 months of silver status (this may take a few days to update)

Existing topbonus members can also take advantage of this offer by clicking the button in the bottom right hand corner.

If you earn 8,500 topbonus status miles or take 8 airberlin or NIKI flights during your first 4 months, your Silver status will be extended for another 12 months. In comparison you usually need 24 flights or 25,000 topbonus status miles to gain silver status.

When signing up you can also get 500 bonus miles when opting in for email offers and news.

Using your new airberlin status with British Airways

In order to get free seat selection, you will need to physically put your airberlin topbonus number into your booking.  If it isn’t a redemption, you will need to swap it over to your BA number at a ticket desk in the airport – and have your boarding pass reissued – if you don’t want the miles to be credited to topbonus.

For the purposes of priority boarding and business class check-in, simply flashing your airberlin card (if they send you one – hopefully it is available via their app if not) should do the trick.

PS.  It is possible that airberlin will not be too keen on lots of UK residents taking advantage of this deal and may not honour it.  If not, don’t complain.

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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.