Can I earn Avios and British Airways tier points if I fly with Cathay Pacific?

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.

In this article we’ll look at how you can earn Avios and British Airways tier points by flying with Cathay Pacific.

It is possible to earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points on Cathay Pacific and its subsidiaries instead of Asia Miles. This is because both airlines are members of the oneworld alliance.

When you book or manage your flights with Cathay Pacific, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

Can I earn Avios and British Airways tier points if I fly with Cathay Pacific?

How many Avios do you earn flying with Cathay Pacific?

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from this page of the British Airways website.

Economy lowest – 25% of miles flown
Economy flexible – 100% of miles flown
Premium Economy lowest – 100% of miles flown
Premium Economy flexible – 110% of miles flown
Business – 125% of miles flown
First – 150% of miles flown

You are also NOT eligible for a tier bonus if you hold a Bronze, Silver or Gold Executive Club status card, further cutting into your earnings.

You can work out how many tier points you will earn on the British Airways tier point calculator here. Remember to search leg by leg if you are connecting. Because you will earn additional tier points for the connecting flight, you would earn more tier points flying to – say – Tokyo via Hong Kong on Cathay than you would if you took a direct British Airways flight to Tokyo.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works. You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.6 million monthly page views. Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios? Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to sign up for our free weekly or daily email newsletters.)

PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

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 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 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.