Bits: changes to BA earning with American AAdvantage, tour the McLaren factory with Hilton

News in brief:

Changes to British Airways flights credited to American Airlines

If you credit your British Airways flights to American Airlines, there are some changes which come into effect today.  If you haven’t heard about these in advance, it is because American only snuck out the details a couple of weeks ago.

American has introduced an Elite Qualifying Dollars earning rate for BA flights.  From next year, earning elite status with American Airlines will require a minimum level of spend on top of earning the required number of status miles:

• AAdvantage Gold – $3,000
• AAdvantage Platinum – $6,000
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro – $9,000
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum – $12,000

Whilst it is easy for AA to know what you paid for its own flights, it isn’t possible to track what you paid for partner flights.  It is therefore awarding you ‘pseudo’ Elite Qualifying Dollars for partner flights based on miles flown.

On British Airways, you will earn between 0.05 (!) and 0.3 Elite Qualifying Dollars for every BA mile flown which is credited to AA.  A £2,000 Club World flight to New York would earn 1,729 EQD if flown on BA whilst you would earn 2,600 EQD (based on a $1.30 FX rate) if you booked on AA.

There is one other change to the British Airways earning chart which goes live today.  Tickets booked in semi-flexible Economy class H will now only earn 50% of miles flown instead of 100%.  Only Y and B booking classes will now 100% of miles flown in Economy.

This is a slightly odd change.  British Airways continues to give 100% of miles flown on BA ‘H’ class economy tickets credited to British Airways Executive Club.

American has also changed partner earning for other airlines.  Some have been hit harder than BA – Qatar Airways, for instance, sees base mileage halved on B and H economy tickets whilst cheaper R and I business class tickets will no longer earn a 25% cabin bonus.

If you have crediting your oneworld flights to American Airlines AAdvantage instead of British Airways Executive Club, it is worth taking another look at the earning rates for the airlines and ticket classes you normally book to see if it still make sense.

Full details of the changes to BA earning with American can be found on their site here.

Visit the McLaren-Honda factory with Hilton HHonors

Hilton HHonors has arranged another tour of the McLaren-Honda factory at the Norman Foster-designed McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.

The date is the afternoon of Friday 30th September.  The cost is 50,000 Hilton HHonors points for two people.  You can redeem via this page of the Hilton @Play site.

The factory is not normally open to the public so this is a rare opportunity to take a look inside.  It is a shame that the timing won’t work for children who will be back at school by then.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)