Reports of the death of BMI Diamond Club are greatly exaggerated

31st August was the last day to redeem BMI Diamond Club miles for flights on Virgin Atlantic. Not surprisingly, once BA had bought BMI, it was keen to extract itself from this partnership with a core competitor as quickly as possible.

Since July, it has been possible to move your BMI Diamond Club miles into British Airways Executive Club (a one-way move only).

If you have done this, you may be forgiven for thinking that Diamond Club is now useless. However, it continues to contain some real gems:

1. You can still earn BMI miles on flights operated by BMI Regional – even though BA has now sold the airline. (This partnership will end on 30th September 2012.)

2. You can still earn and redeem BMI miles on three partner airlines:

• Qatar
• Transaero (a Russian carrier)
• Jet Airways (an Indian carrier)

BMI has conveniently removed the reward table for flights on these partners from its website (the earning chart for partners is here). Only return flight redemptions are allowed on partners, not one ways.

Qatar in particular has an excellent reputation – here is their business class seat on their new 787’s:

3. The BMI credit card remains the biggest ‘no brainer’ in the UK loyalty sector! 20,000 Diamond Club for spending a paltry £250, no income requirement (my minimum-income pensioner Mum got one) and no annual fee. The earning rate of 1.5 miles per £1 on the Amex is also very good. Full details are on the ‘September Credit Cards Update‘ page. If you’ve already got one, get one for your Mum, your partner etc. You can transfer their miles to yourself by starting a BMI Family Account.

4. You can contain to earn via BMI’s hotel partners. Most important is the super-generous earnings rate at Hilton Group properties. Credit your stay to British Airways Executive Club and a Hilton stay gets you 500 Avios per stay. Credit to Diamond Club and you get 1,000 miles per night (max 3 nights).

5. Transferring your BAA Worldpoints into Diamond Club miles is more valuable than converting directly to Avios. 500 points get you 750 DC miles but only 600 Avios (unless there is an Avios transfer bonus on).

Is there anything I’ve missed?

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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.