FINALLY: ‘P’ business class tickets on Cathay Pacific earn Avios and tier points
Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.
Back in 2020, during the pandemic, Cathay Pacific added ‘P’ class tickets to their range of business class fares.
This was an intermediate business class fare – more expensive than ‘I’ class, which is the lowest possible business class tariff, but not fully flexible like a ‘J’ class ticket.
It generally takes a few weeks for partner airlines, such as British Airways, to update their earning tables to reflect new fare classes. For some reason, British Airways never got around to it.

For three years, ‘P’ class discounted business class tickets on Cathay Pacific earned nothing – no Avios, no tier points – when credited to British Airways Executive Club.
It was clearly an oversight as cheaper ‘I’ class fares did earn Avios. However, you would often find that the cheapest business class ticket on sale was in ‘P’ with no ‘I’ available. If you were aware of the issue you could book a ‘D’ class ticket by telephone with Cathay Pacific for around 10% more but few did know.
Better late than never – and remember that most other frequent flyer schemes added ‘P’ class tickets fairly quickly – British Airways has acted.
This is the current Cathay Pacific earning chart as shown on ba.com here:
From last week – 1st November to be precise – Cathay Pacific ‘P’ class tickets now earn Avios at the same rate of 125% of miles flown as cheaper ‘I’ class tickets. You will also now earn British Airways Executive Club tier points.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)
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
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
25,000 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 £12,000 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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points (TO 9th JANUARY), FREE for a year & four airport ….. Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
Crazy 100,000 points (TO 9th JANUARY) and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
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
40,000 points bonus 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.
Comments (19)