Some British Airways ex-160 tier point routes from Gatwick showing 80 points from Heathrow

The switch of British Airways Gatwick short-haul services to Heathrow has led to an interesting but annoying quirk – some routes which offered 160 tier points now appear to only offer 80.

EDIT: following our article, it now looks like British Airways has updated its system and the destinations that dropped to 80 tier points are now back up at 160 tier points return. All is well.

I often get emails from readers who say “I need XXX tier points in the next few weeks to reach British Airways Bronze / Silver / Gold status – how can I do it?”.

If you need to earn a small number of tier points – between 80 and 160 – the easiest way was a weekend break to one of the few destinations flown by British Airways which offer 160 tier points return in Club Europe.  This is twice as many tier points as the usual Club Europe return which earns 80.

If you made such a booking for Summer 2020, however, you might be in trouble.  You may now only receive 80 tier points for your flight!

This is the list of ALL British Airways routes which used to offer 160 tier points.  Most of these routes were ALWAYS Heathrow routes and so still earn 160 tier points.

Some of the Gatwick routes have now dropped to 80 tier points following the switch of all short-haul Gatwick flights to Heathrow.  Is this an accident or not?  We don’t know.

The data is taken from the BA tier points calculator here.

• Algiers – still 160 tier points
• Athens – still 160 tier points
• Bucharest – still 160 tier points
• Catania – still 160 tier points
• Chania – still 160 tier points
• Corfu – still 160 tier points
• Dalaman – still 160 tier points
• Funchal – now only offers 80 tier points return from Heathrow

• Gran Canaria – still 160 tier points
• Heraklion / Crete – now only offers 80 tier points return from Heathrow
• Istanbul – still 160 tier points
• Kalamata – still 160 tier points
• Kefalonia – still 160 tier points
• Kiev – still 160 tier points
• Kos – still 160 tier points
• Lanzarote – still 160 tier points
• Larnaca – still 160 tier points
• Malta – still 160 tier points
• Marrakech – still 160 tier points
• Mykonos – still 160 tier points
• Paphos – now only offers 80 tier points return from Heathrow

• Reykjavik – still 160 tier points
• Rhodes – still 160 tier points
• Santorini – still 160 tier points
• Sofia – still 160 tier points
• Tenerife – still 160 tier points
• Thessaloniki – still 160 tier points
• Tirana – now only offers 80 tier points return from Heathrow
• Zakynthos – still 160 tier points

Don’t dispair if you do have one of these routes booked.  It may post correctly once you have flown it, with the number thrown up by the calculator simply being an error.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2023)

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.

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.

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.

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.

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.