BA Holidays doubles down – now with free lounge access and Fast Track plus double tier points

There was a lot of interest amongst Head for Points readers on Wednesday about the new BA Holidays offer of double Executive Club tier points.

You can read the full article here and find the details on ba.com here, but to summarise you will earn double tier points on BA Holidays bookings completed by 30th September.

You could earn Executive Club Silver status with just one trip to Europe if you book it correctly.

The only snags are:

• at least two people must travel
• you must stay at least five nights
• you must book a hotel or car hire for every night of your stay

If you can work around these restrictions, it is well worth a look if you are seeking British Airways elite status.

BA Holidays has now doubled down

A new element has now been added to the offer.

If you spend £1,500 per person or more, and are travelling for 5+ nights from Heathrow, you will receive priority check-in, Fast Track security, priority boarding (from 21st June) and access to the Galleries Club lounges at Heathrow.

If you are already booked into Business Class, either Club Europe or Club World, BA has thought about you too. As long as you spend £2,500 per person or more, you will be upgraded to the Galleries First lounge and can use The First Wing to check in.

Existing bookings qualify so don’t rush out and claim free cancellation on your existing booking in order to rebook. It isn’t necessary.

Your outbound flight must be on or before 30th September.

Conclusion

Taken together, the offers of double tier points, lounge access, fast track security and priority boarding do make BA Holidays an attractive proposition this Summer.

If I had to criticise anything about this new offer, it is the £2,500 minimum spend required to get into Galleries First and use The First Wing. We’re not talking about Luthansa’s First Class Terminal here – it isn’t such an improvement over the standard Galleries Club lounge that you need to impose a £2,500 threshold.

In any event, at certain times of day BA is sending everyone to Galleries First anyway, since the passenger numbers don’t justify opening two lounges.

You can find out more on BA Holidays here. The dedicated home page for the ‘double tier points’ offer, which includes all the small print you need to study, is here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (June 2025)

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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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 Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express Credit Card

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 Credit Card

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

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

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.

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

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.