Avios changes 9: what will happen to partner airline earning rates?

Executive summary:  BA has not yet released its new partner earning rates but we know that changes – for the worst – are coming to certain airlines

Key link: ‘Club Changes’ page on ba.com, ‘Club Changes’ page on iberia.com

Here are the other articles in this series you may have missed:

1. Understanding the new tier point rules

2. Understanding the new earning rates

3. Understanding the new spending rates

4. What is an Avios point worth now?

5. Exploiting the ‘no repricing on date changes’ rule

6. Why are off-peak upgrades now more expensive than peak?

7. Save 43% of your Avios on long-haul redemptions if you fly Iberia

8. Partner redemptions may be cheaper if booked on iberia.com

10. Are you a winner or a loser overall?

As I outlined in the first article of this series, the Avios changes – to come into force on April 28th – will sharply reduce the amount of Avios points earned when flying on a discounted economy tickets.  They will increase the number earned on fully flexible tickets in all other classes.

British Airways has made no announcements so far about changes to the earnings rates on the other 14 oneworld alliance earning partners.

However, Iberia has let the cat out of the bag.

Here is the list of the British Airways airline partners.  If you click through each of the logos on that page, you will see the current earning rates.

The following airlines already offer variations on a theme of earning 25% of miles flown in Economy, 100% of miles flown in fully flexible Economy, 110% of miles flown in Premium Economy, 125% of miles flown in Business and 150% of miles flown in First:

airberlin, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia, Qantas, Qatar, Royal Jordanian, S7, Sri Lankan, TAM, Aer Lingus, Meridiana

The following airlines are substantially more generous and you receive the current British Airways rates.  This means 100% of miles flown for ANY Economy ticket, 150% for Business and 200% for First:

American Airlines, Iberia, US Airways, Alaska

Can you guess what is going to happen?  Well, you don’t need to.  If you look at the Iberia website for the forthcoming changes, it says:

Are there any changes in how Avios are collected with the other Programme Partner airlines?

In the case of British Airways flights, the levels for collecting Avios will be updated so you can also obtain Avios in proportion to the purchased fare. These levels will also be updated for flights with American Airlines, US Airways and Finnair.

We can therefore expect to see the Avios and tier points earned when you fly American, US Airways and Iberia to change.   Because of the transatlantic joint venture, they are more likely to match the British Airways rates than the rates for other oneworld partners – although this makes no difference if you are in economy.

There is one quirk, though.  What will American Airlines do with its own earning rates?  After all, at present, if you credit British Airways super-cheap economy flights to an American Airlines account it will credit at 100%.  These miles also count towards AA status.  Perhaps we should all start crediting economy BA flights to AAdvantage?

It would be a little odd if Alaska remained the only airline to earn 100% with British Airways Executive Club in discounted economy, but it might happen!

Click for the next article: a summary of the winners and losers from the changes

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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.

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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

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.