How to maximise your Avios from flights if British Airways tier points no longer matter

Since British Airways announced its new tier point structure, which will make it impossible for many of our readers to retain status, we have had many emails and comments asking us where flights should be credited to earn status more easily.

We’ll come to that over the upcoming weeks, but I think there is something that hasn’t been looked at.

If BA tier points no longer matter to you, you can credit your British Airways and oneworld flights to BA or Finnair or Iberia or Qatar Airways or (flying BA or American) Aer Lingus. All of these schemes earn Avios and all let you transfer them to your British Airways account.

You should no longer be crediting flights to British Airways Club by default.

If you thought that you would earn the same number of Avios for a flight irrespective of whether you credited it to BA, Finnair, Iberia or Qatar Airways, you’d be wrong.

We never spent much time discussing this in the past because:

• most people also wanted to earn British Airways tier points (no longer true) and

• many people had BA status and would usually earn an Avios status bonus, making BA the clear best choice (soon to no longer be true)

Let’s look at three examples:

Maximising Avios from a long-haul business class flight on BA

Surely a BA flight will be most lucrative when credited to British Airways Club? Not necessarily.

Here’s what you get, assuming you have NO elite status with any of the programmes listed:

Sub-class J / C / D (flexible and semi-flexible):

• British Airways: 6 Avios per £1 on base fare
• Aer Lingus: 250% of miles flown
• Finnair: 250% of miles flown
• Iberia: 6 Avios per £1 on base fare
• Qatar Airways: 125% of miles flown

Sub-class R / I (non refundable):

• British Airways: 6 Avios per £1 on base fare
• Aer Lingus: 150% of miles flown
• Finnair: 150% of miles flown
• Iberia: 6 Avios per £1 on base fare
• Qatar Airways: 125% of miles flown

Obviously there is no easy answer as to which is best. However, let’s take Heathrow to Cape Town (12,000 miles return) as an example.

For a cheap R or I-class ticket, Aer Lingus and Finnair will give you (12,000 x 1.5) 18,000 Avios for the trip.

Your BA flight would need to cost more than £3,000 + taxes and charges, so roughly £3,500, before crediting to British Airways Club was a better deal.

Spend under £3,500 return and crediting to Aer Lingus or Finnair will maximise your Avios.

Maximising Avios from a long-haul business class flight on Iberia

Let’s try the same thing with an Iberia business class flight. Where should you credit that?

Here’s what you get, assuming you have NO elite status with any of the programmes listed:

Sub-class J / C / D (flexible and semi-flexible):

• British Airways: 5 Avios per €1 on base fare
• Finnair: 250% of miles flown
• Iberia: 5 Avios per €1 on base fare
• Qatar Airways: 125% of miles flown

Sub-class R / I (non refundable):

• British Airways: 5 Avios per €1 on base fare
• Finnair: 150% of miles flown
• Iberia: 5 Avios per €1 on base fare
• Qatar Airways: 125% of miles flown

As with the BA example, the best option will depend on how much you paid for your ticket. If it wasn’t much, Finnair is likely to give you the most Avios.

For a more expensive trip, British Airways or Iberia – at 5 Avios per €1 – will be your best bet.

Maximising Avios from a long-haul business class flight on Qatar Airways

Here’s a slightly different example. This is how many Avios you earn, assuming you have NO elite status, when you fly business class on Qatar Airways:

Sub-class C / J:

• British Airways: 125% of miles flown
• Finnair: 125% of miles flown
• Iberia: 125% of miles flown
• Qatar Airways: 200% of miles flown

Sub-class D / I:

• British Airways: 125% of miles flown
• Finnair: 125% of miles flown
• Iberia: 125% of miles flown
• Qatar Airways: 175% of miles flown

Sub-class R:

• British Airways: 125% of miles flown
• Finnair: 125% of miles flown
• Iberia: 125% of miles flown
• Qatar Airways: 125% of miles flown

Sub-class P:

• British Airways: 75% of miles flown
• Finnair: 75% of miles flown
• Iberia: 75% of miles flown
• Qatar Airways: 75% of miles flown

This example is easier to understand because no-one credits Qatar Airways flights based on what they cost. All four Avios partners who accept Qatar Airways flights (Aer Lingus does not) use a percentage of miles flown.

As you see, for a Qatar Airways business class flight, Qatar Airways Privilege Club will beat the best Avios earn rate elsewhere if you have a flexible business class ticket

For less flexible ticket types, whilst Qatar Airways usually matches the other options, it would be easier to credit directly to British Airways Club to save yourself the hassle of moving the Avios across. However …. crediting a Qatar Airways flight to Qatar Airways Privilege Club also lets you double dip and earn Accor Live Limitless hotel points at the same time. If you collect Accor points, you should always be crediting to Privilege Club.

Conclusion

If British Airways tier points no longer matter to you, it makes sense – for every different oneworld alliance flight you take – to check the earning rate with British Airways Club, Finnair Plus, Iberia Plus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club, plus Aer Lingus if flying BA or American Airlines.

You can then credit your flight to the scheme which will give you the most Avios, using ‘Combine My Avios’ to move them to ba.com if necessary.

Unfortunately there are far too many permutations to draw up a comprehensive list (Royal Jordanian business class flights in J should go to Qatar Airways or Finnair at 150% vs 125% elsewhere, for example, but C or D sub-class should only go to Finnair at 150% vs 125% elsewhere) so you will need to put in the legwork to maximise your Avios.

Useful links

British Airways – Avios earned by partner airline (scroll down to find your carrier)

Aer Lingus – Avios earned when flying BA or AA

Finnair – Avios earned by partner airline (scroll down to find your carrier)

Iberia – Avios earned by partner airline (click the relevant airline icon)

Qatar Airways – Avios earned by partner airline (click ‘oneworld airlines’)

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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:

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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

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.