Can I earn Avios and British Airways tier points if I fly with American Airlines?

In this article we’ll look at how you can earn Avios and British Airways tier points by flying with American Airlines.

It is possible to earn Avios and BA tier points on American Airlines and its subsidiaries instead of AA Advantage miles. This is because they both belong to the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with American Airlines, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

How many Avios will I earn on American Airlines?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from this page of the British Airways website.

The Avios earned will depend on your status in British Airways Executive Club:

• Blue Members will receive 6 Avios per qualifying £1 spent
• Bronze Members will receive 7 Avios per qualifying £1 spent
• Silver Members will receive 8 Avios per qualifying £1 spent
• Gold Members will receive 9 Avios per qualifying £1 spent

A ‘qualifying pound’ is the cost of your ticket less taxes and charges.

If the underlying cost of your ticket is not available, perhaps because it is part of a multi-airline booking, you will earn Avios based on the distance travelled and travel class:

• Economy – between 25% and 50% of miles flown
• Premium Economy – between 100% and 110% of miles flown
• Business – 125% of miles flown
• First – 150% of miles flown

There will also be an extra bonus if you have British Airways Executive Club status.

When it comes to earning tier points, remember that you may earn more if you can break your trip down into multiple segments. London to San Francisco direct earns fewer tier points than London to New York (plane change) to San Francisco for example.

You can work out how many tier points you will earn on the British Airways tier point calculator here.  Remember to search leg by leg if you are connecting.

(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.)

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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:

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. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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.

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.

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