Do I earn bonus Avios as a British Airways Bronze, Silver or Gold member?

Do you earn bonus Avios as a British Airways Bronze, Silver or Gold member?

Today I want to look at whether you earn additional Avios points on your flights if you are a British Airways Executive Club status member with a Gold, Silver or Bronze card.

Bronze, Silver and Gold are the three elite tiers of British Airways Executive Club membership, and they all come with a range of benefits including Avios bonus earning rates.  This article outlines the benefits of each BA Executive Club tier.

Following a major change in 2023, the Avios you earn are no longer based on the distance you fly and your travel class. It is now based on what you spend, with an adjustment for elite status.

A base level Blue member earns 6 Avios per £1, whilst an elite member will earn up to 9 Avios per £1.

Take a look here:

• Bronze members earn 7 Avios per £1
• Silver members earn 8 Avios per £1
• Gold members earn 9 Avios per £

It’s not so simple though.

British Airways is basing your earnings on the NET cost of your ticket, after taxes and external surcharges have been deducted.

This makes it very difficult to know in advance how many Avios you will earn. Taxes and external surcharges make up a large part of the cost of an inflexible Economy ticket but only a tiny part of a fully flexible Business ticket.

For example, a £39 one way ticket to Manchester has a base fare, adding back the ‘carrier imposed surcharge’, of just £16.50. You earn Avios based on 40% of what you spend.

An £8,072 one way flexible business class ticket to New York has a base fare of £7,795. You earn Avios based on 97% of what you spend.

Not all BA flights will earn in this way

Some tickets including those booked as part of a BA Holidays package will continue to earn under the previous mileage- and cabin-based scheme.

This will happen when the fare paid is not disclosed to the customer, such as when you book a package holiday. On these bookings, a simple status bonus is applied:

• Bronze – 15%
• Silver – 30%
• Gold – 50%

Note that the structure outlined in this article only applies to British Airways flights.  If you are flying with a British Airways airline partner – either a oneworld alliance member or another partner – you should check this page of ba.com to see what earning system applies and whether a status bonus will be given.  Iberia gives an Avios tier bonus, Malaysia does not.  American Airlines gives an Avios tier bonus, Royal Jordanian does not.  It pays to check.

(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 join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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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:

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. 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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th December 2024, there are EXCLUSIVE sign-up offers for our readers on the two Capital on Tap small business Visa cards. You can earn 20,000 points on the Business Rewards card and 30,000 points on the new Pro card. Click here to apply.

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

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.