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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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (118)

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

  • Ronnie Ross says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:12

    No points across my family account. i have raised a complaint and i will post the outcome.

  • Rebecca says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:21

    I got them! I’m on silver. Wasn’t expecting anything so that’s a nice surprise.

    O/T I have some flights booked with LATAM in Peru. The tier point calculator says I’ll get 40 tier points as I’ve booked a flexible ticket but I’ve read elsewhere that you don’t get tier points for internal flights with LATAM. Has anyone got any experience of this either way?
    I could cancel the flights and book with avios instead (I didn’t realise this at the time) but could use the tier points as it’ll push me into silver for another year.

    • Neil says:
      22 Jan22 January 08:55

      I received tier points and avios on all my internal Latam flights in Peru last year. The internal’s were so cheap I would nearly go back each year just to hit silver again.

      • Rebecca says:
        22 Jan22 January 11:45

        Ok thanks! Good to know.
        Unfortunately they’re not cheap for me £288 for 40 tier points or can cancel it and book with avios for 9000 + £14.
        I’m getting 460 points for the flights there. Not bad for £1400
        I tried to cancel them yesterday but their online cancellation form keeps getting stuck. Might have a think about what I want more, the tier points or the £288!
        If I keep the flights they are fully flexible so that could be handy….

    • goran says:
      22 Jan22 January 08:59

      I have received points on LATAM Ecuador on my trip to Galapagos

    • Matt says:
      22 Jan22 January 13:00

      They changed the rules earlier this year, so domestic Latam flights generally get TP and Avios. I’ve recently done a few domestic flights in Chile and got 5TP each time as expected.

  • Matthew says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:31

    Got both too. 2018 birthday bonus took 4-6 weeks to post after clicking the link they sent to my email. The 2019 just appeared in my account yesterday. No one else has them from both my family and a number of friends. I’m Blue member to with only a couple of short haul reward flights last year. Bizarre algorithm for sure but must be the same one as the personal Bday bonus.

    • Ryan says:
      22 Jan22 January 09:06

      Likewise myself, all received. One or two shorthaul cash flights within UK but a Club Class redemption to Berlin. I also got my 2018 birthday bonus only last week too. Very kind BA, thanks!

      • Anthony says:
        22 Jan22 January 10:08

        +1 yes, both all received. My BA use was limited to EU redemptions last year so thanks BA. Blue.

        • LewisB says:
          22 Jan22 January 10:18

          I got both and I’m only at blue status with my only tier points coming from Qatar rather than BA. I haven’t paid for a cash BA booking in years. Earned upwards of 200k avios in the past 12 months. Seems like it’s targeted to those who aren’t frequent flyers of BA but occasionally use them (cash or points).

    • Charlie says:
      22 Jan22 January 11:00

      Yes me too.
      2018 Birthday received
      2019 promo received
      Blue member, head of household (no other members received) with just one European short haul flight in the last 12 months.

    • Alex Sm says:
      22 Jan22 January 17:06

      Is it only for those whose birthdays are in January?

  • Nick says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:43

    OT:
    Anyone know a easy method of checking for “O” class tickets on virgin Atlantic?

    I have a coupon that’s only valid for o class tickets

  • Kim says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:43

    I got both lots and originally wondered if it was because I had a ‘round number’ birthday last year? Clearly I’m very happy about it but I don’t see why others should be complaining because they don’t get a random freebie.

    • Michael Jennings says:
      22 Jan22 January 09:52

      I had a round number birthday last year, and I didn’t get any. Of course, I am only BA Blue.

  • Rich S says:
    22 Jan22 January 08:57

    I got them, I’m BAEC Blue. My wife didn’t.

  • Fonzi says:
    22 Jan22 January 09:00

    Weird i just checked my account in apo and closed the app and open again to do screenshot after reading your article and the amount of miles jumped. It could be those 2019. No tier points tough.

  • Paul says:
    22 Jan22 January 09:20

    Just as a data point:

    2018 my Birthday Bonus received.
    2019 their Birthday Bonus NOT received.

    Silver.

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