Can I use American Airlines airport lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

A question I am often asked is whether you can use American Airlines lounges if you have a British Airways Gold, Silver or Bronze status card.

Lounge access is one of the perks that many people aspire too when the travel. Nothing beats escaping the crowds of a busy terminal and settling down with some free wine or champagne before a long flight.

Your entitlement to lounge access depends on what status you hold, even with British Airways’ own lounges.  British Airways Bronze members are not entitled to lounge access whilst Silver and Gold members are.

Do you have a British Airways Silver card?

Executive Club Silver status is the equivalent to oneworld Sapphire tier, allowing you to access the oneworld equivalent business class lounges. This includes American Airlines business class lounges, called Admirals Club, across its entire network.

A weird quirk of the oneworld rules means that Silver card holders can also access American Airline’s domestic First Class lounges. Though American Airlines does not allow its own mid-tier members into these lounges, they are open to oneworld Sapphire and above. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to their international First Class lounges.

These new international first-class lounges are a new addition to the American Airlines portfolio, with the first developed in 2017. They are subsequently only at a handful of airports though the benefit is that you know they are (almost) brand new.  You can read an article I wrote about American Airlines Flagship Lounges here.

Our most recent review of the American Airlines Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here.

Do you have a British Airways Gold card?

The same rules apply to British Airways Executive Club Gold members.  Note that you do not need to be flying with American Airlines to use its lounges – any oneworld airline will do. 

If you are flying on British Airways from Heathrow Terminal 3, for example, you can use the AA lounge instead of the BA lounge if you choose.  The smart flyer goes to the Cathay Pacific or Qantas lounges, however, which are far more impressive.

You can check out the global network of lounges which you can enter with your British Airways status on the oneworld alliance website here.

Our most recent review of the American Airlines First Class Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.6 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to sign up for our free weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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.

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.