British Airways Executive Club ‘birthday bonuses’ still going strong

Clearly I did something wrong, because British Airways Executive Club forgot my birthday entirely last November.  (Although I did get some freebies from other loyalty programmes.)

However, reader James got in touch this week to confirm that the BAEC ‘birthday bonus’ programme is still going strong – at least for the lucky few who are chosen each month.

James has his birthday in May.  He received an email on March 3rd offering him a big Avios bonus if he booked a flight before 31st March to take in the month of his birthday.

The bonuses are:

• European economy return – 4,000 Avios
• European Club Europe return – 8,000 Avios
• Long-haul economy or World Traveller Plus return – 15,000 Avios
• Long-haul Club World return – 30,000 Avios

Here is another interesting one – the bonus is valid on cash, Avios and ‘Avios and money’ bookings.

This represents an excellent deal, especially for the solo traveller.  (The bonus is per booking, not per person, so it is worth more to a single traveller.)  On a short European flight, you would be getting 4,000 Avios back after spending just 9,000.

On a long-haul economy flight to the Middle East or New York, you would be getting 15,000 Avios back after spending just 40,000.

If buying a ticket for cash, the ‘sweet spot’ is the 15,000 Avios points for a long-haul economy trip.  If you could bag a cheap enough ticket, the bonus Avios – plus the Avios from the flight itself – could effectively make the flight almost free!

If you doing a redemption, the ‘sweet spot’ would be a Club World booking.  30,000 miles back on, say, an 80,000 mile flight to Dubai is a pretty good discount.

The bonus is strictly targetted, with the bonus Avios posting in arrears, presumably after BA manually works through a list of people who were invited to see where they travelled.  You only get the bonus on one flight, but if you take multiple flights during your birthday month, you get the highest bonus to which you would have been entitled.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 2022)

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.

EDIT: Until 25th October 2022, there is an exceptionally generous sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card. You will receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points – double the usual amount – and £200 to spend at Amex Travel. You need to spend £6,000 within six months to earn the bonus.

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 10,000 Avios.

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.