Alaska Airlines now letting you earn status from British Airways flights
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Alaska Airlines is a little-known British Airways partner. Whilst it is not a member of the oneworld alliance, you have always been able to earn and redeem Avios points on Alaska (which operates in the American North West) as per this page on ba.com. It is a similar arrangement to the one with Aer Lingus.
Alaska also offers members of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan the opportunity to earn miles when flying on BA. Since January 15th, this has been expanded. British Airways flights credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan now count for status with Alaska as well.
I can see a scenario where – for a small number of people – crediting some BA flights to Alaksa might be beneficial. This is especially true if you have already retained BA Gold for next year and so no longer need the British Airways tier points.
Why do this? Because Alaska has an interesting range of redemption partners.
You can redeem on the usual oneworld mainstays such as American Airlines, LAN, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and of course BA.
But you can also redeem on Emirates, Aeromexico, Air France, Delta, Era, Fiji Airways, KLM, Korean and PenAir.
Most (not all) partners now allow one-way redemptions. There are also some good deals in there – the best from a UK perspective is probably 85,000 miles for a RETURN Cathay Pacific business class redemption from Hong Kong to anywhere in Europe!
Emirates is a bit of an issue, as there is no award priced for London to Dubai. You can only redeem from/to North America, which ironically means (if you live in the UK) having to book the Milan to New York flight I think.
You only need to credit 25,000 flying miles across Alaska and/or its partners to achieve MVP status. This will give you a 50% mileage bonus on future BA flights credited to the programme.
Alaska may also be an option if you know you will be doing a limited amount of flying on Emirates, Aeromexico, Air France, Delta, KLM and Korean. By crediting these flights to Alaska, you would be able to top up your account to a decent redemption using British Airways flights, or indeed a Starwood Preferred Guest points transfer.
At the end of the day, this is very much going to be a minority interest – but there will be value here for some people.
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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.
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