Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Business Class?

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

Today I want to give you an overview of how many Avios points you need to upgrade your long-haul British Airways flight to Business Class / Club World.

For other classes, this Head for Points article tells you all you need to know about upgrading British Airways flights with Avios.

The first thing I want to say is that this only applies to British Airways flights.  With only a few exceptions, which are very unlikely to apply to you, you cannot use Avios to upgrade flights with any other airline.

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Business Class?

Here is a summary of the upgrade rules for Club World:

  • you can only upgrade to the next cabin up – it is not possible to jump from long-haul Economy to Business Class, because you are skipping over Premium Economy
  • any Premium Economy / World Traveller Plus ticket, even if bought in a sale, is eligible to be upgraded with Avios to Business Class
  • extra taxes and charges may be required on top of the Avios needed – there is no additional Air Passenger Duty going from Premium Economy to Business Class, but British Airways adds extra surcharges

There MUST be Avios reward seats in Business Class to upgrade

To be eligible for an Avios upgrade to Club World business class there must be reward availability.

This means that there must be a seat in Club World which you can book directly with Avios.  If there is, you can use the same reward seat for your upgrade.

If there are no seats in Club World showing for Avios redemptions, you cannot upgrade from Premium Economy.  Keep checking back, however, as seats often up closer to departure.

Search on ba.com for a ‘full’ Avios redemption in the higher cabin to ensure it can be done before you start wasting time trying to upgrade.

What does it cost to upgrade my flight with Avios points?

The cost of the upgrade is the difference between a standard Avios redemption in the two classes using the chart below.

A one-way peak Club World ticket to Dubai (3,001 – 4,000 miles) is 60,000 Avios for example, whilst World Traveller Plus is 40,000 Avios.  It would therefore cost 20,000 Avios to upgrade the ticket in one direction.

How many Avios points do I need to upgrade to Business Class?

How do I upgrade my British Airways flight?

You can process the upgrade online, via ‘Manage My Booking’, or by calling British Airways Executive Club.

Do I earn Avios and tier points based on the class I booked or the class I flew?

You will not earn Avios and tier points for the upgraded class. As this is an Avios upgrade, you will only earn Avios and tier points in line with the cash portion of the booking.

If you buy a World Traveller Plus / Premium Economy ticket and upgrade it to Club World / Business Class, you only earn Premium Economy Avios and tier points back.  You can read more about earning Avios and tier points on upgrades here.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.5 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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

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

25,000 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

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

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.