How to maximise your Avios when flying British Airways partners – by crediting to Iberia or Qatar

It seems strange, but British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club do not have the same earning rates for oneworld partner flights.  This means that, in some cases, it is preferable to credit a cash flight on a some airlines to Iberia Plus or Qatar Airways Privilege Club rather than to British Airways.

This article provides a full list of these cases, and it is worth referring back to it when you find yourself booked on a oneworld airline partner.

You need to be clear about two caveats, however:

• If you credit a flight to Iberia Plus / Qatar Airways Privilege Club and not British Airways Executive Club, you obviously will not earn BA tier points.  If tier points are important, credit to BA irrespective of miles earned.

• If you have British Airways status, the status bonus you receive when flying American Airlines, Finnair or Japan Airlines may influence your decision.  You do not get a status bonus on the other carriers listed below.

Remember that it is easy (when it is working …..) to transfer Avios from Iberia Plus to British Airways, using the ‘Combine My Avios’ function on either website.  An Iberia account must be 90 days old before you can transfer in or out.

If ‘Combine My Avios’ is not working properly from Iberia to BA, it WILL work if you use avios.com as an intermediary.  Open yourself an Aer Lingus AerClub account here, log in at avios.com with those details and use ‘Combine My Avios’ to pull from Iberia and then push to British Airways.

You can move Avios from Qatar Airways to British Airways by following our guide here.

What does the list below show?

The % figure in the list below refers to the proportion of the miles flown which will be earned for that particular flight. For the airlines:

• QR means Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• IB means Iberia Plus
• BA means British Airways Executive Club

You can find full details of all the British Airways partner airlines on this page of ba.com.

For oneworld partner airlines not listed, such as Cathay Pacific, all ticket types earn equally across Iberia Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club.

What ticket classes are not treated equally by Iberia Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club?

Options highlighted in bold are beneficial to you when you credit the flight AWAY from British Airways.

I strongly recommend double-checking the numbers below with the relevant airline websites before changing the airline scheme for your flight as changes can be made and mistakes can creep in.

Alaska Airlines

Business – J, C, D, I earn 125% in BA (100% in QR)

Economy – B, H earn 100% in BA (50% in QR), Q, O earn 50% in QR (25% in BA)

American Airlines

First – A earns 300% in QR (250% in BA)

Premium Economy – W earns 150% in BA (125% in QR), P earns 125% in QR (100% in BA)

Economy – K earns 100% in QR (50% in BA), M, L, V earn 75% in QR (50% in BA), N earns 75% in QR (25% in BA), B earns 25% in BA (0% in QR)

Cathay Pacific

Business – P earns 125% in QR (0% in BA) – this is the most important thing to note in this article, especially as BA doesn’t give tier points on ‘P’ either

Premium Economy – R, E earn 110% in QR (100% in BA)

Economy – H earns 100% in BA (50% in QR), K, L, M, V earn 50% in QR (25% in BA), S, N, Q earn 25% in BA (0% in QR)

Finnair

Business – J, C, D earn 250% in BA (125% in QR), R, I earn 150% in BA (75% in QR)

Premium Economy – W earns 150% in BA (100% in QR)

Economy – S, N earn 50% in BA (25% in QR)

Iberia

Business – J, C, D earn 250% in BA (125% in QR), I, R earn 150% in BA (125% in QR)

Premium Economy – W earns 150% in BA (110% in QR)

Japan Air Lines (international)

Economy – K, M earn 70% in QR (50% in BA)

Malaysia Airlines

Economy – M earns 50% in BA (25% in IB), N earns 25% in BA (0% in QR)

Qantas

Economy – K, L, M, S, V earn 50% in IB (25% in BA), B, H earn 100% in BA (25% in QR)

Qatar Airways

First – F, A earn 300% in QR (150% in BA)

Business – C, J earn 200% in QR (125% in BA), D, I earn 170% in QR (125% in BA)

Economy – T earns 50% in IB and QR (25% in BA), K, L, M, S, V earn 75% in QR (50% in BA), O, G earn 50% in QR (25% in BA)

Royal Air Maroc

Business – J, C earn 175% in QR (125% in BA), D earns 150% in QR (125% in BA)

Economy – H earns 100% in BA (75% in QR), K, M earn 75% in QR (50% in BA), Q, O, T, R earn 50% in BA (25% in QR)

Royal Jordanian

Business – J earns 150% in QR (125% in BA)

Economy – K, M, V earn 50% in IB (25% in BA), P, R earn 50% in IB (0% in BA), H earns 100% in IB (25% in BA), K, H earn 75% in QR (25% in BA), S, V, L, M earn 50% in QR (25% in BA)

SriLankan Airlines

Business – J earns 150% in IB and QR (125% BA)

Economy – Y, B, P, H earn 100% in BA (80% IB and QR), K earns 100% in BA (70% IB and QR), W, M, E earn 70% in IB and QR (50% BA), R, S earn 50% in IB and QR (25% BA)

In addition, remember that you earn Avios in British Airways Executive Club with:

• Aer Lingus
• China Southern
• Fiji Airways
• LATAM

and you can earn Avios in Iberia Plus with:

• Air Nostrum
• Avianca (restrictions apply)
• Binter (Canaries)
• Interjet (Mexico)
• LATAM
• LEVEL
• Vueling

and you can earn Avios in Aer Lingus AerClub with:

• United Airlines

and you can earn Avios in Qatar Airways Privilege Club with:

• Bangkok Airways
• JetBlue
• LATAM (for flights which operate wholly within Peru, Chile, Ecuador or Argentina, which do not earn with British Airways Executive Club)
• Middle East Airlines
• Oman Air (Doha route only)
• RwandAir
• Virgin Australia

You can learn more about the exclusive Qatar Airways airline partnerships in this article.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

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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:

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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