These are the routes where British Airways will still make you wear a face mask

It’s fair to say that the scrapping of its face mask mandate was not the finest hour at British Airways. The policy was announced, and then withdrawn the evening before launch, and then brought back in a random fashion with the decision seemingly at the whim of cabin crew.

The good news is that British Airways has finally published a list of routes which require face masks.

You can find the current version of the list on ba.com here under the ‘Do I need to wear a mask to travel?’ section.

It doesn’t seem to be correct – Portugal is not on it, for a start, which easyJet believes still requires masks.

(EDIT: The Netherlands is on the updated list, which is now in the article. Ignore our comment from the first version this morning.)

However, as of this morning, the ‘you must wear a mask’ list contained:

• Algeria
• Austria
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Cayman Islands
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Dominican Republic
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
• Grenada
• Hong Kong
• India
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Poland
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Scotland
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• St Kitts
• St Lucia
• Switzerland
• The Netherlands
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turkey
• Turks and Caicos
• UAE
• United States

You can find the current list on ba.com here.

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

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) 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.