Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

How does the BA upgrade voucher from Barclays Premier and Barclays Avios Rewards work?

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How does the upgrade voucher issued with Barclays Avios Rewards to Barclays Premier customers work?

I am spending some time this week looking again (after a lengthy gap) at the Barclays Premier and Barclays Avios Rewards current account partnership, so you can see if it is worth signing up.

There is a 25,000 Avios bonus for signing up for a free Barclays Premier current account and opting in to the £12 per month Barclays Avios Rewards add-on.

Our overview of Barclays Avios Rewards is here.

You can sign up on this page of the Barclays Premier website.

Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher reviewed

Ignoring the generous 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus for new Barclays Premier customers, Barclays Avios Rewards works like this:

  • you pay £12 per month
  • you get 1,500 Avios per month
  • you get an British Airways Avios upgrade voucher every 12 months

Today we are looking at the upgrade voucher and how it works.

For clarity, these are identical to the upgrade vouchers that you receive each year with two Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit cards. We reviewed the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard here and reviewed the Barclaycard Avios Plus card here.

How does the Barclays Avios Rewards British Airways upgrade voucher work?

The full details are on this page of ba.com. If there is any divergence between that page and what I write below, trust ba.com.

Put simply, you receive a voucher which can be used to upgrade ONE return Avios flight for one person, or TWO one-way Avios flights for two people

Rather than cutting and pasting 37 bullet points from ba.com, I have broken down the key items in various categories.

When do I earn a Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher?

You receive your voucher in your British Airways Executive Club account within five working days of making your 12th monthly Barclays Avios Rewards membership payment.

Additional vouchers will be issued every 12 months as long as you continue to be a Barclays Avios Rewards member.

You will be able to see your vouchers online on the same page of ba.com which shows your British Airways American Express companion vouchers.

Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher reviewed

Is there an alternative to the voucher?

Yes. You can choose to receive a bonus of 7,000 Avios rather than an upgrade voucher.

Most people should choose the voucher but the 7,000 Avios option will work for some. This will include people who don’t earn enough Avios each year to maximise the value of the voucher. You can change your decision each year if you wish.

Who can use the voucher?

This is important. The voucher is semi-transferable.

Whilst the flight must be booked from the account of the person who receives the voucher, the flight can be booked for anyone.

The usual restrictions apply if you are in a British Airways Executive Club Household Account – the flyer must be in the Household Account or on your Friends & Family list.

What do I pay when I use the voucher?

Let’s get one thing clear. THIS. IS. NOT. AN. UPGRADE. VOUCHER.

I call it an upgrade voucher. Barclays calls it an upgrade voucher. It is NOT an upgrade voucher.

In practice, this is how it works.

You go to ba.com and book a flight using Avios. If you choose to apply the voucher, the Avios you are charged is the sum required if you had booked in the next lowest cabin on the aircraft.

Instead of an upgrade voucher, it is really a ‘book a flight but only pay the Avios you would have paid if you had booked in the next lowest cabin‘ voucher. This isn’t very catchy, so we pretend it is an upgrade voucher.

This DOES make a difference, because:

  • the taxes and charges due are the taxes and charges of the higher cabin, since that it what you are booking into (this bit should be obvious), and
  • you do NOT need Avios availability in the lower cabin, only in the higher cabin (this bit is NOT obvious)

You are NOT booking 2 x World Traveller Plus seats with Avios and then upgrading them using the voucher. You are booking 2 x Club World seats with Avios and using the voucher to reduce the cost of the Avios component to that of the next lowest cabin.

Let me repeat – you do NOT need Avios availability in the lower cabin. You DO need Avios availability in the cabin in which you intend to fly.

Hope that’s clear …..

How to earn Avios from Barclays Premier

What are the restrictions on the flights I can book?

  • You can only book British Airways operated flights, with a BA flight number. This includes the City Airport flights operated by BA Cityflyer and the Gatwick flights operated by BA Euroflyer.
  • You cannot use the voucher to book with Qatar Airways, American Airlines or other partners
  • You cannot use the voucher on franchise partner SUN-AIR
  • All flights must depart from the UK
  • The voucher is only valid on Avios flights. You cannot use it to upgrade a cash flight.
  • You cannot book in First Class. The highest upgrade you can get is to fly in Club World / Club Europe, paying the Avios required for World Traveller Plus / Euro Traveller.
  • The voucher can only be used on ‘full’ Avios bookings at the standard base price. You cannot choose a ‘sliding scale’ option of using more or fewer Avios than the base price in return for less or more cash. For a short haul Club Europe redemption, for example, you MUST choose the ‘Avios + £25 cash return’ option and pay the Economy Avios amount plus the £25.
  • You cannot use a Barclays Avios Rewards voucher in conjunction with a BA Holidays booking, in the same way that you cannot mix a standard Avios redemption or a companion voucher with a BA Holidays booking

Can I combine my upgrade voucher with a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher?

No, not on the same ticket.

Obviously a family of three could unofficially combine an Amex 2-4-1 voucher and a Barclays upgrade voucher on the same trip. Two seats could be booked with the American Express companion voucher and the third seat booked with the Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher. You would need to make two separate bookings to do this.

Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher reviewed

Can I upgrade an existing Avios booking?

No.

This is an important restriction. You cannot book a World Traveller Plus ticket on Avios and then ring up BA to upgrade it to Club World if two Club World seats open up later. You would need to cancel the original booking and make a fresh one.

How long is my voucher valid for?

You must complete the outbound segment of your flight within 24 months of the issue date.

Can I have multiple vouchers?

You can only earn one Barclays Avios Rewards upgrade voucher every 12 months. However, as you have two years to spend them, it is possible that you may have two in your British Airways Executive Club account at the same time.

Even if you have two Barclays Premier accounts (one sole, one joint), you can still only earn one upgrade voucher per year.

You can earn additional upgrade vouchers from the two Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit cards if you hit the annual spend target. You can learn more about, and apply for, two Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit cards here. We reviewed the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard here and reviewed the Barclaycard Avios Plus card here.

You CAN use two Barclays Avios Rewards or Mastercard vouchers on the same booking if you have two in your account.

How to apply

Our article from yesterday explains the criteria for being accepted for Barclays Premier in more detail.

You can find out more about Barclays Avios Rewards, and open a Barclays Premier account, on this page of the Barclays website.


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

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 (70)

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

  • CheshirePete says:

    Begs the question in general how do we define ‘Upgrade’ with anything. Is a GUF an upgrade. Is a Cash upgrade really an upgrade as you’re paying more taxes and fare. None of these methods of booking into the next cabin are really ‘upgrades’ if you assume it is ‘free’ – None of them are except an Op-Up at the airport. In this context upgrade is perfectly legitimate title as they are not stating it’s a Free Upgrade. But you are definitely upgrading whether Free or not. Anyone who has sat in WTP and then CW would definitely know that CW is an upgrade.

    The Cambridge dictionary says:

    “to improve the quality or usefulness of something, or to raise something or someone to a higher position or rank”

    Paying extra or not doesn’t come into it! You upgrade your car to a higher spec. One assumes you pay for it! You upgrade on the train to 1st. You pay for it. And amaziingly you need space in 1st or you can’t upgrade! Who’d have thought!

    • WillPS says:

      Open 1st class excesses are available regardless of availability on board.

  • HampshireHog says:

    I believe you can book outward online using the voucher and add inbound later if booking outbound at the max 355 days.
    Question is though is it only possible by ringing up or can you book separate one way back and then ring in to have the voucher applied and 50% avios returned?

    • The Streets says:

      I was told by BA that this isn’t possible as per the ts and cs. Unlike the companion voucher you have to book both outbound and inbound at the same time

      • jsg31 says:

        I booked the outbound and inbound separately (both over the phone) using the upgrade voucher last month, so not sure that’s entirely accurate

        • The Streets says:

          I did the whole hang up and try again a few times but kept getting the same response.
          You were lucky

      • Professor Yaffle says:

        Booked a one-way last weekend – called a day later to add the return without issue

    • Alex says:

      Confirmed I did this on a high demand route. Booked outbound at T+355 (they did charge me the £15 phone fee at 1am) and then called back a few weeks later to add return once it became available (no fee).

    • NorthernLass says:

      There’s a long thread in the forum which addresses this and similar queries. It does seem to a great extent that the answer you get depends on the BA agent you speak to, as readers have posted about success AND failure when trying to achieve the same ends!

      • The Streets says:

        Thank you Northern Lass for coming to the rescue! I bagged a club suite flight to Sydney with the upgrade voucher but was trying to max it out further with a return flight from Asia

      • HampshireHog says:

        @Northernlass there is indeed a long thread in which booking return leg later is mentioned, however the comments are inconclusive hence my question today and the responses are illuminating I think. Huaca being the way to go!

        • Kwab says:

          Yes. I think how you talk to the agents can also change fortunes in that I find if I can lead the call (.i.e. I have done my research) results tend to be more positive. There is a fine line though between that and you coming across as the expert which I find generally the agents don’t like. If you can establis ha rapport and come across as trying to be helpful for them doing their job. They will often try different options for you.
          A case in point, last night I phone Australia to make a HND-LHR booking for next August. The agent clearly wasn’t familiar with the idea that you need to book at 0000 GMT but I gently explained it to him with a lot of laughter (aren’t I sad being up at this time?!) He was more than happy to follow the steps and then asked why as it was just the outbound I hadn’t completed this online. I explained that agents generally can get in ahead of the online customer which I could tell he was lapping up…. but yes if you are getting frustrated, a polite thank you and HUACA is always the best option!

      • HampshireHog says:

        It would seem that booking a single back online and asking for half the avios back is a no no as it is actually a separate one way from overseas which breaks the only ex uk rule?

    • Sam G says:

      my tldr of the experiences are if you use a voucher on the outbound (or 2 if there are 2 of you) then you should be able to find someone to add your inbounds. What doesn’t seem to be possible is to fly say ET outbound and then want to add a CE leg as your inbound using 1 voucher for 2

      That said some agents seem to be able to work around things so if you’re persistent you may get things done

  • Lee says:

    I was looking at this just last night. It’s not possible to book a flight for two passengers and use two vouchers at the same time (I have three available). You can’t select more than one voucher to use at the same time and it says you don’t have enough vouchers in your account for all passengers on the booking.

    • NicktheGreek says:

      I have this experience too.

      I’m also unable to price up a long haul flight from Manchester as presumably the system can’t handle one leg economy to business, with the next leg premium to business. I guess the call centre must be able to though?

      I’m earning 2 a year, but with the annoying hassles (inc Ex UK only) the 7k avios is becoming more appealing…

      • Lammy52 says:

        T&c’s state flight must start from London. I have the same issue unfortunately.

        • RS says:

          It would be useful if there was more information as to how regional connections work. I haven’t got my voucher yet but will soon and would hope to use it from NCL

          • Erico1875 says:

            I didn’t use it, because Amex worked out more advantageous
            , but I was able to book EDI to San Sebastian (EAS) with the Voucher

        • HampshireHog says:

          No, a flight can be from the regions, just that only a single leg flight can be booked online

      • jj says:

        The web page has a bug, so you need to edit the JavaScript and it will work. There’s a thread in the forums somewhere that explains this, or you can phone up the call centre.

        I successfully booked a couple of months ago using the JavaScript technique.

      • NorthernLass says:

        You have to call to book the whole thing, or ask BA to add the domestic connection immediately after booking the long haul.

    • teaboy says:

      The the call centre a ring as they can book your tickets using 2 vouchers. I did this yesterday.

    • John G says:

      I used two vouchers in a single online transaction recently booking for 3 passengers one way so can be done.

  • LittleNick says:

    The only saving grace this voucher has over the BAPP 2-4-1 voucher is that you can book a flight in someone else’s name from your account. This can’t be done on the 2-4-1

  • memesweeper says:

    “Obviously a family of three could unofficially combine an Amex 2-4-1 voucher and a Barclays upgrade voucher on the same trip”

    … only if the family of three is two adults one child. The one adult two children family cannot. BA do not allow solo child bookings, and the BA companion voucher would need to be used by the adult as presumably they earned the voucher.

    • JDB says:

      If you telephone, you can book a child solo as long as it is linked to an over 16/adult booking. It’s a very common scenario where for instance a child might travel with a different adult out/rtn.

  • teaboy says:

    Two wishes for the upgrade voucher:
    1) it halved the avios needed for economy (in short haul at least).
    2) it allowed you to book journeys from other countries.

  • Anne says:

    I have an “upgrade” voucher sitting ready to use in my BA account. Can I still use it if I close my Barclays Premier Account or will it disappear from my BA account?

  • CSBOB says:

    When it says you can use two vouchers together, can I upgrade twice from economy to business?

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

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