Which British Airways Club Europe routes earn 160 tier points?

Which British Airways Club Europe business class routes offer 160 tier points for a return flight?

I often get emails from readers who say “I need XXX tier points in the next few weeks to reach British Airways Bronze / Silver / Gold status – how can I do it?”.

If you need to earn a small number of tier points – between 80 and 160 – the easiest way is a weekend break to one of the few destinations flown by British Airways which offer 160 tier points return in Club Europe.

This is twice as many tier points as the usual Club Europe return which earns 80.  On some routes, you won’t pay much more for a 160 tier point route than you would for one with 80 tier points.

You could even get 320 tier points for one trip

Until the end of October 2022, British Airways Holidays is offering double tier points when you book five nights of hotel or car hire along with your flights.

Full details are here on ba.com.

A relatively cheap holiday in, say, Malta would get you 320 tier points for the return flights.

It’s only fair to say that BA is having huge problems posting the double tier points for this offer. Some HfP readers have been waiting for months with no joy. It’s up to you if you trust the airline to deliver what is clearly promised.

The official statement on ba.com is:

“Bonus Tier Points will be awarded separately to standard Tier Points and within 60 days of your return flight. Please note that we are currently experiencing a delay in awarding Tier Points as part of this offer, standard Tier Points continue to be awarded as normal.”

Tier point thresholds are reduced by 25% until 31st December

What’s even better is that, until 31st December, tier point thresholds are reduced by 25% from standard levels:

• Bronze status requires 225 tier points (usually 300 tier points) – key benefit is free seat selection from 7 days before departure

• Silver status requires 450 tier points (usually 600 tier points) – key benefit is lounge access for you and a companion and free seat selection at the time of booking

• Gold status requires 1,125 tier points (usually 1,500 tier points) – key benefit is Galleries First lounge access, use of the First Wing at Heathrow Terminal 5 and access to Row 1 seating

Note that if you don’t hit the reduced tier point target by 31st December, you will require the full target from 1st January 2023.

Which Club Europe routes earn 160 tier points for a return flight?

We introduced ‘the Head for Points BA tier point calculator’ chart – click here.  This article listed every British Airways route together with the tier points it would generate in each class.

However, to save you having to sort that, I have published the full list of 160 tier point Club Europe routes below.

Remember that, as well as earning the required number of tier points, you need to have flown four segments (ie two return flights) on cash tickets on British Airways or Iberia planes to get Silver or Gold, and two segments for Bronze.

You cannot earn status purely by flying on partner airlines such as Qatar Airways, even if you earn the required number of BA tier points.  (This is not strictly true due to rules with codeshares but, for all intents and purposes, assume that it is.)

The price next to each city was the lowest fare showing yesterday in the ba.com Low Fare Finder for Club Europe flights over the next 12 months.

• Algiers (£363)
• Antalya (£550)
• Athens (£350)
• Bucharest (£310)
• Catania (£264)
• Chania (£675)
• Corfu (£490)
• Dalaman (£666)
• Funchal (£380)
• Gran Canaria (£424)
• Heraklion / Crete (£475)
• Istanbul (£336)
• Kalamata (£664)
• Kefalonia (£506)
• Kos (£496)
• Lanzarote (£356)
• Larnaca (£594)
• Malta (£348)
• Marrakech (£354)
• Mykonos (£382)
• Paphos (£578)
• Ponta Delgada (£622)
• Preveza Lefkada (£398)
• Reykjavik (£284)
• Rhodes (£510)
• Santorini (£574)
• Skiathos (£550)
• Sofia (£222)
• Tenerife (£352)
• Terceira Island (£424)
• Thessaloniki (£386)
• Tirana (£316)
• Zakynthos (£570)

Whilst Helsinki is still listed in Low Fare Finder, BA no longer operates this route. All flights are operated by Finnair. It will still earn 160 tier points return.

Catania, Reykjavik and Sofia are the stand-out bargains at £300 or less return on selected dates.

This list is more about convenience than price, however.  After all, you could spend £320 on two return flights to Aberdeen over two different weekends which would be a cheaper way of earning 160 tier points than many of the places above.  This list is for someone who needs up to 160 tier points and wants to achieve it in one go whilst visiting somewhere different – and, in Winter, somewhere warm.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (August 2022)

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.

EDIT: Until 25th October 2022, there is an exceptionally generous sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card. You will receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points – double the usual amount – and £200 to spend at Amex Travel. You need to spend £6,000 within six months to earn the bonus.

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 10,000 Avios.

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.