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British Airways puts Cape Town back to 160 tier points in Business Class

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There has been some odd shifts in how certain long haul British Airways routes are rewarded this year.

Back in January, we reported that British Airways had increased the tier points offered for Hong Kong flights.

The distance had been reassessed as 6,004 miles which meant that it tipped over into the higher tier points band. A business class flight to Hong Kong now earns 160 tier points each way, instead of the previous 140.

What BA giveth, BA also taketh away.

Cape Town was moved down to 5,995 miles in the British Airways system. As well as slightly reducing the Avios you earned per flight, the tier points you received also dropped. A business class flight went to 140 tier points each way instead of the previous 160.

Premium Economy dropped to 90 tier points each way (was 100). First Class went to 210 (was 240). Economy went to between 20 and 70 (was 20 to 80).

This has now changed back. It’s not clear when it happened, but Cape Town now shows at 160 tier points again in Business Class. It has moved back to 6,019 miles in the BA system.

Hong Kong also remains at 160 tier points each way – at least for now!

This HfP article lists the tier points for EVERY British Airways route.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (February 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 card

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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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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

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

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

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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.

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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (33)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Nobby says:

    I’m actually writing this from Cape Town, having booked this 10-day trip back in February, partly for the double TPs on offer (I have a car for the whole time).
    I regularly checked the tier points on offer in Manage My Booking and they never once fell below 320, so I don’t know where your info came from but it certainly never gave me any cause for concern.

  • zapato1060 says:

    To add to the IB bad news. I believe it’s non refundable too.

    • Patrick says:

      No 24h cooling off period if that’s what you mean (perhaps some exclusions for flights touching the USA) but Iberia Avios tickets are refundable for 25€ per person per ticket, up to 24h before the flight I believe.

      Other issue booking on Iberia is the mess that is their infant policy for reward tickets.

      • memesweeper says:

        Partners’ Avios bookings are not refundable AFAIK. Iberia metal bookings are, until 24h ahead.

  • The Original Nick. says:

    I’ve just been to Ecuador on IB using a BA 2-4-1. Excellent value to get to The Galapagos Islands. Hopefully it’ll be fixed.

    • Giboning says:

      Looking to do this trip in May. Did you book flights to Galapagos on BA or Iberia site?

      • The Original Nick. says:

        The only way to get to The Galapagos islands is on Avianca or Latam from Quito or Guayaquil so you need to get to one of those destinations first. Look at Emetebe for internal flights around the islands as it’s well worth the money. I flew MAD – UIO on Iberia using a 2-4-1. Then I used SAS miles to redeem on Avianca to get to GPS. Then I used Emetebe to get to San Cristobal.

  • Tony says:

    I’ve done three returns to CPT during the reduced 160 to 140 period.
    Are they back-paying the owed 120 Tier Points? Think it’s time to claim the owed 120…!!

  • Novice says:

    I don’t remember, do you get tier points for an award flight?

    • Rob says:

      Not on BA. You do on Virgin.

      • Novice says:

        I knew about virgin but didn’t remember reading about ba so thought I would ask.

        Thanks for the info Rob. But, haven’t you ever discussed this with BA. It would be great if they did.

        • David says:

          It certainly would. I’ve taken so many reward flights this year and now my status has dropped to Silver 😢

          • Gordon says:

            IMO I think silver is the sweet spot, at less than 50% of tier points required vs Gold, unless you really can’t do without the first lounges and the extra 32kg of baggage allowance etc etc.

    • Gordon says:

      Only if you’re one of the lucky ones that amend the reward booking and it goes back into the system as a cash booking. This helped me to silver status. Good old BA IT. Other than that it’s a no….

      • Novice says:

        But did you have to pay for amending excluding the £35 fees. Because I am willing to maybe amend a bit just to get 320 tier points

        • daveinitalia says:

          It has to be a cancellation so they change for free. If you pay to change you can only change to a flight with availability in the reward bucket (so zero points), but if they cancel and you can move to another flight it might be moved to a flight where there’s no reward availability and SOMETIMES this will post with the points for the fare class you’ve been rebooked in. It’s not guaranteed so you should never depend on it and if it does happen don’t draw attention to it.

        • Gordon says:

          I had a genuine reason to change my booking, and was lucky.
          But I would not take the chance and change a booking solely on the possibility you may get the tier points and avios.

  • Gary says:

    Is the Speedbird site ever updated and reverted back to inform you about best deals on Avios or Tier Points for price?

  • Novice says:

    Ok guys, thanks for the info. Appreciate it.

  • pigeon says:

    Is this for both the LHR and the LGW flights? LGW strikes me as at least 20 miles closer to CPT, technically putting it into the lower TP bracket.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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