British Airways cuts Moscow, Amman and Cairo to 80 tier points each way in Business

As we covered a few weeks ago, British Airways has retired the ex-BMI Airbus A321 fleet which flew many mid-haul routes. These were short-haul aircraft which still had flat beds in business class and so justified higher ticket prices.

Moscow had it even better, being served by a long-haul aircraft with First and Club World on selected services. Cairo has also had long-haul aircraft in the past – I remember flying back from there in First Class many years ago.

Going forward, these routes will be served exclusively by standard short-haul British Airways aircraft. A five hour flight now gets you the same cramped seating as the hop to Amsterdam.

To tie in with the reduced service, British Airways has cut the tier points you receive for flying three routes in business class. Routes which used to be treated as long-haul are now treated as short-haul.

As you can see from the BA tier point calculator here, Amman now shows as just 80 tier points each way in Club Europe – the same as Heathrow to Athens.

Weirdly, the Royal Jordanian flight between Heathrow and Amman still earns you 140 tier points each way as it is over 2,000 miles. This is the cut-off for partner flights.

Oh, and on Royal Jordanian you’ll get, at least in normal times, a flat bed seat on a Boeing 787 too as I reviewed here.

The same applies to Moscow and Cairo. Both now only earn 80 tier points each way in Club.

Beirut and Tel Aviv, the other routes historically served by the ex-BMI A321 fleet, still show as 140 tier points each way. Beirut is not expected to return, however, and Tel Aviv faces direct competition from Virgin Atlantic.

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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

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Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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British Airways American Express

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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

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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

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

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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.

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