Can I earn Avios and British Airways tier points if I fly with Cathay Pacific?

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

It is possible to earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points on Cathay Pacific and its subsidiaries instead of Asia Miles. This is because both airlines are members of the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with Cathay Pacific, 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 do you earn flying with Cathay Pacific?

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

• Economy lowest – 25% of miles flown
• Economy flexible – 100% of miles flown
• Premium Economy lowest – 100% of miles flown
• Premium Economy flexible – 110% of miles flown
• Business – 125% of miles flown
• First – 150% of miles flown

You are also NOT eligible for a tier bonus if you hold a Bronze, Silver or Gold Executive Club status card, further cutting into your earnings.

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. Because you will earn additional tier points for the connecting flight, you would earn more tier points flying to – say – Tokyo via Hong Kong on Cathay than you would if you took a direct British Airways flight to Tokyo.

(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.