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Have you been given 2019 free Avios from British Airways?

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It looks like British Airways has kicked off its 100th birthday celebrations, although it has been kept very much wraps.

At noon yesterday BA launched its special ‘£200 return’ flights to selected destinations in Economy / World Traveller.  This deal will run until Thursday, with two new destinations launched each day at noon.

More interesting, however, is the 2019 Avios which are mysteriously appearing in British Airways Executive Club accounts.

Some people – and my wife and I are NOT among them – received 2,018 Avios from British Airways on their birthday last year.  It isn’t clear what you had to do to receive these (my wife and I are both BA Gold) but we clearly didn’t do it!

If you received 2,018 birthday Avios from BA last year on your birthday, it seems that you should have received 2,019 Avios from British Airways yesterday to celebrate BA’s 100th birthday.

Why? Who knows?  It is a generous gesture, although now you’ve read about this – and realised that you haven’t got them – the net balance of ‘people who now feel happier towards BA’ versus ‘people who now feel grumpier towards BA’ may not be positive ….


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.

Comments (118)

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

  • Roger says:

    OT- Can I get a Gold Card in addition to my existing Amex Platinum to keep my MR account live without transferring MR out.
    Of course I will not get the sign up bonus but can at least keep my account alive.

    Gold card has better earning (airline spend) compared to ARCC

  • Al says:

    My wife didn’t get 2018 but did get 2019 a week or so ago on her birthday. We’re both silver but her avios earnings are much less than mine (I haven’t received anything). She hasn’t mentioned getting more yesterday, and I’m not waking her up now to ask! 😉

  • Alan says:

    Haha agree, Rob – defo in the grumpier camp having received neither. Will just have another beer in a nice pub in Sydney instead 😛

    • Anna says:

      +1, except instead of drinking beer in sunny Sydney, I have just got up for work in the cold, dark North 😡

      • Alan says:

        Haha almost the same 😛 Did I mention I flew here in BA F and got great upgrades at Conrad Singapore and West Hotel (Curio by Hilton) in Sydney 😉 Off to Melbourne later in the week where I’m finally using the Marriott travel package that was a right pain to redeem!

  • Benylin says:

    No did not receive either!

  • ollie says:

    Something free from BA … when you get a measly 125 Avios for flying between EDI and LON! Sadly I am firmly in the grumpy camp. Although it’s my birthday in a week … so who knows!

  • ChrisC says:

    Am BA gold as well and nothing for my birthday last year (I flew the day after) and nothing from BAs birthday either.

    So what did they do to choose the lucky people?

    Maybe I didn’t because I elected not to get marketing emails?

    Most puzzling.

    I know it’s only a few avios but to give to some and not others does appear to be a bit mean on BAs part.

    Maybe we should contact the BA rep on flyer talk and see what that gets us!

  • Roger says:

    OT – but airline question

    If two airlines in same alliance (say LOT and Lufthansa in Star Alliance) fly to different places from same airport, if they do not have any published specific code share agreement, by the virtue of being in same alliance, would they be able to book air tickets under one PNR?

    • John says:

      Nothing to do with codeshares or alliances really, just depends if they offer a fare for your route. You can book BA and Virgin flights on one PNR.

  • Oliver Anderson says:

    Yes, I got them. No idea why. I am only a BLUE member and not a frequent flyer. I flew in November and I that is the only thing different to my wife (similar points and status) that didn’t get them.

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

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