Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Using your Avios points to pay for British Airways seat selection is coming soon

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

‘The Club’, the British Airways Executive Club online magazine, is – bizarrely – very rarely the source of any useful information about British Airways Executive Club.

Here is a typical article from ‘The Club’ – ‘Singer Celine Dion on her favourite holiday, where she’s visiting next and her packing essential’ ….

However, the March 2018 edition does have some genuine news.

As you can read here (click, select country, then click this link again):

Later this year, Executive Club Members will be able to use their Avios to pay for and reserve seats in advance via Manage My Booking. This additional benefit is one of a number of new initiatives which will give members more ways to use their Avios. 

The same page includes a reminder of the new Run Gatwick fun run on Sunday 13th May, which we have covered on Head for Points before, which will raise money for BA’s Flying Start charity.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus 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 card

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 – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) 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.

Comments (98)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Edward Noel says:

    (First time poster.) Will I be able to use Avios to pay for reserved seats when booking, but pay for the rest of the cost normally? And, if so, would I still earn Avios on that flight, or would the whole flight be treated as a reward purchase? Many thanks in advance – greatly enjoying HfP!

    • Rob says:

      No, cannot (yet) use Avios to pay for seats.

      • Edward Noel says:

        Many thanks, Rob. Just wondering, when the time comes later this year, is it your understanding that one could use Avios just for booking the seats, pay for the rest of the cost normally, and still qualify to collect points for the flight?

  • ColinJE says:

    Just noticed that my transfer of 80k Amex Rewards points from a UK card to my Iberia account earned an additional 20% bonus. 16,000 extra avios! It took 3 days for the bonus to be added. If you’re thinking of moving some into an Avios account it might be worth a try.

    • Rob says:

      Be very careful. My test transfer did NOT get a bonus (7 days ago now). I did not get the original email though.

      If you were NOT emailed about this then I wouldn’t risk it. If you were, you will probably be OK.

    • Scott says:

      After someone one here said they tried with 1,000 MR points and got the bonus, I transferred my stash (I would have converted into Avios anyway, so no risk for me) on 12th Mar, and just checked and a 20% bonus was added on 15th Mar, so pleased with that.
      I did receive the offer email.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.