British Airways Executive Club Guide

At Head for Points, we’ve spent the last 12 years educating unpacking the British Airways Executive Club and looking at how you can maximise your Avios and tier points. This guide is intended as a useful starting point for anyone – new or old! – to both British Airways and collecting Avios.

British Airways is the UK’s largest full-service airline and provides over 850 flights per day in the summer. British Airways Executive Club is the name of BA’s loyalty program.

British Airways Executive Club status

British Airways Executive Club tiers

Depending on how you view it, there are between four and six status tiers within British Airways Executive Club. The main ones are:

• Executive Club Blue – entry level, no tier points required
• Executive Club Bronze – from 300 tier points or 25 eligible flights
• Executive Club Silver – 600 tier points or 50 eligible flights
• Executive Club Gold – 1,500 tier points

There are technically two more (sub-)tiers:

• Executive Club Gold Guest List – a subtier of Gold, at 5,000 tier points (3,500 if renewing)
• Executive Club Premier – an invite-only tier with less than 500 members globally

Status tier benefits increase as you work your way up, from free seat selection from 7 days before departure with Bronze to free lounge access as Silver and access to First Class lounges as Gold. Click the links above to see the benefits for each tier level.

Earning tier points

Note: tier point collection years are changing from the 1st April 2025. This article looks at how things will be once the changes are in affect. To see how the changes affect you now, click here.

Tier points are separate to BA’s mileage currency, called Avios, which we go into more detail below.

Tier points are earned from flying and count towards your elite status. The number of tier points you earn depends on the length of flight and class you’re in. The shortest economy flights earn 5 tier points per sector, whilst the longest First Class flights (to Sydney) earn 360 tier points. You can see how many tier points you earn per flight here.

Your tier points accumulate over your membership year, which runs from the 1st April in one year to the 31st March in the next. As soon as you hit a tier threshold (for example, 600 tier points for Silver) you are upgraded. You can continue accruing tier points and moving through the tiers until the end of your membership year.

Your tier points are reset to zero on the 1st April, ready for a new year of earning. However, they will count towards lifetime status as Lifetime Tier Points. British Airways offers Lifetime Gold status to anyone who accrues 35,000 tier points over their lifetime.

How long does British Airways status last?

British Airways guarantees that you will enjoy your status for at least a year after you qualify for it.

Once you’ve achieved a status tier, you will remain at that level for the remainder of your current membership year (until 31st March) PLUS a full year thereafter, until the 30th April.

For example, if you cross Gold in June, you’ll be Gold until March the following year, plus a further 13 months.

What are Avios?

Avios is a loyalty currency shared between British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair and Qatar Airways. Think of them as air miles which you can earn and spend.

(If you’re wondering how ‘Avios’ is pronounced, think of the Spanish goodbye ‘Adios’ and substitute the ‘b’ for a ‘v’!)

You can earn Avios from a range of activities including flying, everyday spending on credit cards, supermarket shopping, refueling your car and many more. We will look at all the different ways you can earn Avios in the marked section below.

What are Avios worth?

The million-dollar question! Avios do not have an assigned worth, but depending on how you have earned them you will want to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Generally speaking, we recommend aiming to get at least 1p per point when redeeming Avios.

Non-flight redemptions are poorer value for money.  In general, you will get 0.5p per Avios of value when redeeming for non-flight items on ba.com such as seat selection, wine or ‘Part Pay With Avios’.

Since you can get 0.66p per Avios by moving them to Nectar and redeeming for Sainsbury’s or Argos shopping (see below), you should NEVER use them for any redemption which gets you less than this.

Our full length article examining in detail what an Avios is worth is here.

Do Avios expire?

Nothing lasts forever, and if you don’t use your Avios they will, eventually, be reclaimed by British Airways.

If you do not earn, spend, purchase or share at least one Avios every 36 months they will expire.

Fortunately, there are simple ways to keep your Avios balance alive, as outlined in this article. All you need to do is earn, spend or transfer just one Avios every 36 months to keep them going.

Earning Avios

…from flights

The obvious answer is that you can earn Avios from flights – and not just British Airways. It is possible to earn Avios from 34 airlines – the full list is here.

This includes all of BA’s oneworld partners – there are 13 of them – as well as other airline partners.

The amount you collect depends on which airline you fly, the cabin you fly in, the type of ticket you hold and your Executive Club tier.

On British Airways flights, you now earn Avios based on how much your flights cost. The Avios you earn are based on your BA status tier:

• Executive Club Blue earns 6 Avios per £1 spent
• Executive Club Bronze earns 7 Avios per £1 spent
• Executive Club Silver earns 8 Avios per £1 spent
• Executive Club gold earns 9 Avios per £1 spent

The amount you earn is NOT based on the total amount you pay. British Airways is basing your earnings on the overall ‘fare’, after taxes and external surcharges have been deducted.

…from credit cards

Another lucrative way of earning more Avios is with credit cards. A number of UK card issuers, including American Express and Barclaycard, now offer a range of Avios-earning cards to help you boost your Avios balance. We have compared the top Avios earning credit cards here. This includes:

Rob add more about cards here

…from banking

In addition to credit card partnerships, you can also earn Avios from your current account banking via a new partnership with Barclays Premier Banking.

By signing up to Barclays Premier with Barclays Avios Rewards, you can get a 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus, a monthly bonus of 1,500 Avios and an annual Barclays British Airways Upgrade Voucher. You can read more about the Avios partnership with Barclays Premier here.

…from supermarket shopping

Fancy earning Avios on your weekly shop? Since 2021, British Airways and Nectar – the rewards scheme for supermarket Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat etc – have maintained a partnership in which you can convert Nectar Points into Avios or vice versa.

The conversion rate isn’t 1:1 because a Nectar Point is worth less than an Avios.

• 400 Nectar points = 250 Avios
• 300 Avios = 400 Nectar points

You will notice that this rate is NOT equal. If you convert Avios into Nectar points, and later move them back to Avios, you will have fewer Avios than you started with.

…from car rentals

British Airways has a long-standing partnership with car rental company Avis Budget Group which lets you earn Avios on car hire.

You earn 5 Avios per £1 spent at Avis and 2 Avios per £1 spent at Budget.

There are also special Avis discount codes for British Airways Executive Club members. Make sure to include them in your booking when you search.

It is also possible to earn Avios with Hertz, Europcar, Sixt and other car rental companies via Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and then transfer them to your British Airways Executive Club account.

Redeeming Avios

Which airlines can I redeem Avios on?

https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/07/15/which-29-airlines-can-you-book-with-avios-points/

Redemption seat availability

Not all seats on a flight are made available for Avios redemptions. In fact, you can only book a tiny handful on every single flight. Just because BA is selling tickets for cash doesn’t mean you’ll be able to book on the flight you want.

The good news is that British Airways offers a fairly generous (compared to other airlines at least) minimum reward seat availability guarantee. On every flight it operates, you will find at least:

• 8 economy seats
• 2 premium economy seats (long haul only)
• 4 business class seats

First Class seats are not guaranteed for redemption, although you can occasionally find them. This article looks at how you can redeem Avios for First Class tickets.

British Airways releases Avios reward seats 355 days in advance, at midnight GMT. You can read more about when British Airways releases award availability here.

On popular routes, such as Sydney, Cape Town and the Maldives, you will find that seats are snapped up quickly (often within minutes of going on sale). Other routes, such as New York, Amsterdam etc, will almost always have seats available given the volume of flights.

How many Avios do I need for a British Airways flight?

As this ba.com page explains, flight redemptions start at just 18,500 Avios + £1.  This will get you a return ticket in Economy to Amsterdam, Paris etc on an off-peak date. It is possible to use fewer Avios if you are willing to pay a cash supplement.

Long-haul Economy redemptions start at 25,000 Avios + £50, which will get you a one-way seat in Economy on BA to the Middle East or India. Here is an example from the cheapest long haul routes, including New York and Dubai:

One-way Avios prices	Economy	Economy	Premium Economy	Premium Economy	Business	Business
	Off-peak	Peak	Off-peak	Peak	Off-peak	Peak
New York or Dubai	25,000 +£50	30,000 +£50	42,500 +£140	60,000 +£140	80,000 +£175	90,000 +£175

If you want to find out the Avios redemption pricing for a particular route, we recommend referring to our guide to British Airways Avios redemption pricing by route where we have a created a searchable table with every single British Airways route.

Watch out for peak / off-peak pricing

As you can see in the table above, British Airways Avios redemption charges depend on whether you are travelling on a peak or off-peak date. This is fairly common in the industry and most airlines have variable pricing depending on demand, with school holidays and bank holidays typically in ‘peak’ brackets.

The British Airways Avios peak / off-peak calendar changes every year. Whilst it is visible during booking, British Airways does not publish a full 12-month calendar of peak pricing, so we have created on ourselves.

Note that the peak dates between British Airways, Aer Ligus, Iberia and Qatar Airways. It is often worth comparing their calendars to see if you can travel more cheaply using your Avios on another airline.

Watch for Avios ticket taxes and surcharges

As you saw in the examples above, using Avios for flights is not a completely ‘free’ option. You still need to pay a cash element as part of your ticket.

Taxes and fees vary depending on where you are flying and in what class, but British Airways has now introduced something it calls ‘Reward Flight Saver’ to offer fixed fees on all flights. This varies from:

• 50p for the shortest economy flights, for example Amsterdam (one-way)
• £375 for the longest first class flights, for example Sydney (one-way)

When booking a redemption, British Airways allows you to choose from a number of options ranging from ‘more Avios & less cash’ to ‘more cash & fewer Avios’. Generally speaking, the Reward Flight Saver amount is the best value.

Reward Flight Saver does not exist for partner airlines, where the taxes and fees reflect the actual costs incurred by the airline for airport taxes, fuel duty etc. Some airlines (and countries) have much lower fees and can often be fantastic value for redeeming Avios, including:

• Low tax Avios redemptions on Aer Lingus
• Low tax Avios redemptions on Cathay Pacific
• Low tax Avios redemptions on Iberia
• Low tax redemptions on US domestic flights

How many Avios do I need for British Airways partner airlines?

The number of Avios required for redemptions on other airlines varies. Qatar Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Finnair all operate their own redemption charts.

For oneworld airline partners, British Airways operates a different pricing scheme based on the BA partner chart. This is based on distance flown, with all prices charged at peak rates.

If you are combining multiple oneworld airline flights under a single booking then there is another, different chart called the Avios multi-partner chart. This lets you create a single itinerary combining, for example, flights on BA, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and more. You can read more about the British Airways Avios multi-partner chart here.

Transferring Avios

Avios is a shared loyalty currency, and you can transfer Avios between different airline mileage programs including:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• British Airways Executive Club
• Iberia Plus
• Finnair Plus
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Somewhat confusingly, the five different loyalty programmes don’t share an Avios ‘bank’. Instead, each individual account you have acts as a unique points bank. In theory, you could have a separate stash of Avios sitting with British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways and Aer Lingus.

Fortunately, you can transfer your Avios between programs using the ‘Combine My Avios’ tools.

Converting other points to Avios

It’s also possible to get Avios from other points-based programs such as hotel loyalty schemes, shopping programs and credit card currencies.

Duty free, Nectar and petrol

British Airways maintains partnerships with a number of different retailers and brands, all of which allow you to convert their points into Avios. This includes:

• BPme, the petrol station loyalty scheme
• Heathrow Rewards, the duty free shopping scheme
• Nectar, the Sainsbury’s, Habitat and Argos supermarket programme

You can read more about whether it’s worth it and how to do so in each of the articles above.

Converting credit card points into Avios

A lot of credit card companies and banks issue their own points currency which you can convert into a variety of schemes including Avios. This includes:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Capital On Tap
• HSBC Premier

Because of the flexibility of these schemes (with multiple redemption partners) it’s often best to leave your points where they are until you need them. We look into the benefits of why convertible points are more useful here.

Converting hotel points into Avios

Virtually all the major hotel loyalty programs let you convert their points into Avios, although it’s usually a poor deal. You can convert points into Avios from the following:

• Accor Live Limitless
• Hilton Honors
• IHG One Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Melia Rewards
• Radisson Rewards
• World of Hyatt

Transferring from Marriott Bonvoy is the only one that makes sense on a ‘value per point’ basis, but it is a good way of converting orphaned points into something useful should you not have enough points for a hotel redemption. For a more in-depth look at converting hotel points to Avios, click here.