British Airways Executive Club ‘unavailable’ for three days in November

You may already have received the email that BA Executive Club will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance and improvements to the underlying tech.

All British Airways customers are being emailed today to warn of a scheduled outage of ALL Executive Club functions for a 3.5 day period, between 3pm on the 13th and midnight on the 16th of November, so that you can plan ahead.

What will happen?

ALL Executive Club functionality will be unavailable during the scheduled improvements. That means you WON’T be able to:

• Check your Avios balance or transactions
• Redeem your Avios for flights or any other redemptions
• Combine your Avios
• Transfer Avios to another member
• Claim missing Avios
• Change or update your Executive Club personal information including email address, address, password etc
• Manage your Household Account, Family & Friends or travel companions list

The engineering work does NOT affect flights and you will still be able to add your BA Executive Club number to any flights you take. You can still check in and use Manage My Booking as normal.

It only affects British Airways Executive Club – Iberia Plus, AerClub and Avios.com accounts will remain unaffected.

Will Avios transactions still post?

Yes. Any Avios transactions during the downtime (which could include Avios being deposited in your account from flights taken, or from Amex, or other partners) will credit once the scheduled work has completed.

They may take a little longer to appear whilst BA works through all Avios earned globally during the period.

Why is the outage happening?

Whilst not confirmed, this is likely to be related to the ‘Global Loyalty Platform’ project which has been ongoing at IAG for several years.

The platform would form a global hub for all Avios programs rather than having them managed separately by British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus etc, in a similar structure to how milesandmore.com is the single hub for all Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, LOT and Brussels Airlines mileage activity.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Avios! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 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 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees 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

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.