British Airways Club: Ultimate Guide

British Airways Club – Collect Avios miles

Open an Account

Opening a British Airways Club account couldn’t be easier: in all cases, you’ll need to visit the British Airways website and follow the instructions.

British Airways Club members earn Avios.

Travels with Oneworld

The British Airways Club is the British Airways loyalty program.

Avios can be earned on board:

With British Airways

Since October 18, 2023, Avios miles are accumulated according to the amount of money spent on the ticket and extras. Eligible expenses include:

For tickets purchased before October 19, 2023, the accumulation of Avios miles follows the old method and depends on:

You’ll earn between 25% and 300% of the distance travelled in Avios, with a minimum number of miles for each fare category.

In addition, members with British Airways Club status receive a bonus based on distance travelled:

To find out how many Avios miles you will earn with your flight, go to this page provided by British Airways Club.

With Partner Companies

Avios can also be earned for flights on any of the 13 Oneworld airlines.

Mileage calculation varies with partner airlines, either according to flight distance or the total amount spent. Details can be found on this page. Here is an example of the accumulation on Qatar Airways:

With Car Rentals

British Airways Club partners with car rental agencies including:

This makes it easy to accumulate Avios on each rental.

With Hotel Stays

British Airways Club partners with a number of hotel groups and online booking sites, including:

This makes it easy to earn Avios on every hotel stay .

With Airbnb

British Airways Club is partnered with Airbnb, earning Avios on every rental:

With Credit Card Welcome Bonuses

British Airways Club is partnered with two institutions in Canada that offer credit cards enabling Avios to be earned directly or indirectly :

Each of these cards will:

It’s a great way to rack up lots of Avios fast!

American Express

American Express offers seven Membership Rewards cards that can be transferred 1:1 to the British Airways Club program.

Our choice is the American Express Cobalt^® Card.

RBC

RBC offers a credit card directly affiliated with the program: the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card.

In its RBC Avion Rewardsprogram, RBC Bank offers several credit cards that offer travel points transferable into Avios at a rate of 1:1 :

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card regularly offers promotions to earn between 35,000 and 55,000 RBC Avion points.

With Purchases Made on Credit Cards

To accumulate Avios more quickly, it’s best to use one of the credit cards (see choices above) as often as possible!

The rate of mileage accumulation will often depend on the issuer and type of card:

With Hotel Points Conversion

Most hotel loyalty programs allow you to convert your points into Avios miles.

It’s a sneaky way to get Avios! Especially since conversion bonuses are offered at certain times of the year.

For example, you can convert Marriott Bonvoy points into Avios.

By maximizing both programs, and converting during a promotional period (such as the one offering 30% extra miles), it is possible to do the following, for example:

If you have the:

But if you’d like to earn Avios instead of using your points for free nights, this is the solution for you!

British Airways Club – Using Avios Miles

Let’s discover all the ways in which miles can be used to:

Plane Tickets

Avios are best used for booking airline tickets. These are called “Reward” or “Award” flights. But you still need to know the tips and tricks for using Avios correctly.

The Fare Structure for Flights on British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling

British Airways Club has a fare structure based on:

Here is the price list for flights on:

Economy Class

For economy class flights, it will cost:

Premium Economy Class

For flights in Premium Economy class, it will cost:

Business Class

For business class flights, it will cost:

First Class

For flights in First Class, it will cost:

Fares for Flights with Oneworld Partners

British Airways Club has a different fare structure based solely on distance (divided into 9 zones).

This fare structure applies only to travel with other Oneworld members.

One Rate Per Segment

British Airways Club allows you to book one-way tickets. However, if your itinerary includes several segments, it will cost you more in Avios.

It is therefore more interesting to find a direct flight (such as Montreal – Miami) than a connecting flight (such as Montreal – Philadelphia – Miami).

Travelling with Children

The British Airways Club program is particularly interesting for families!

There are”baby reward flights” (children aged under 2 AND traveling on an adult’s lap).

The required fee will be 10% of the cost in miles of the adult rate (+ taxes). A one-way ticket costs 7,500 Avios for an adult, but only 750 Avios for a child under 2!

Modifying and Canceling a Reward Flight

The British Airways Club allows you to change or cancel an air award up to 24 hours before flight departure.

The fee will be CAD 58 (no fee if you are a Gold member). Miles and taxes will be refunded in full.

The Reward Flights Availability

Airline awards will be posted on British Airways Club from 355 days before flight departure.

However, for some airlines, tickets will not be posted until 300 days before flight departure.

Carrier Surcharges

On the British Airways Club, when you book an airline award, a fee is added to the amount in miles.

This fee includes:

The carrier surcharge was introduced by some airlines such as British Airways or Qatar Airways when the price of oil reached record highs.

Since then, this surcharge has not been removed, and is a way for airlines to make money.

Also, there is an unavoidable departure tax in the UK, so we’ll be looking to avoid leaving the UK.

However, if you look carefully for your airfares, you can avoid carrier surcharges: some airlines don’t charge any surcharges at all!

Airlines Without Surcharge

To avoid carrier surcharges, you need to know which airlines do not charge them on award tickets.

The following airlines DO NOT charge surcharges:

Short-Haul Flights: The Best Bargain

An excellent use for Avios: to book short-haul airfares. These are “local” destinations.

In North America, certain flights operated by American Airlines will cost 7,500 miles one way, or 15,000 miles round trip. Like Montreal – New York, for example.

However, this is particularly useful in countries such as Japan. Here is an example of an award ticket between Tokyo and Osaka:

Award Ticket Search Tools

There are several free and paid tools available for finding award tickets for the British Airways Club.

While Expertflyer is aimed at advanced users, Seats.aero is easier to access and offers a free version.

For Car Rentals

Avios can be used to rent a car.

Here’s an example of a one-week car rental in Miami.

For Hotels

Avios can also be used to book hotel nights. However, point valuation is far from optimal.

British Airways Club – Manage your Avios Miles

The Value of Miles

The value of an Avios depends on how you use it. However, it is generally agreed that1 Avios = 1.7¢.

You could get much more value from short-haul airfares in Asia or flights in premium cabins (business/first class).

Miles Expiration

Avios do not have an expiration date based on their accumulation date.

This means that all Avios will remain in your account as long as you generate activity every 36 months.

Claiming Missing Miles

Have you travelled on British Airways or a Oneworld airline without giving your membership number?

Or have you forgotten to use your British Airways Club membership number with a partner?

It is possible to make a claim for missing miles up to 6 months after the transaction. To do this, you will need to complete the claim form available on the mileage credit request page.

The Family and Friends Account

This is a major advantage of the British Airways Club program.

There are three components to your British Airways Club account:

Family accounts can be opened for :

And it’s a way for kids under 18 to earn Avios on their travels!

Once the accounts have been combined, Avios can be accumulated and used together!

Transfer Avios Miles

It is possible – but very expensive – to transfer miles from one British Airways Club member to another. We do not recommend this option (prefer the Family and Friends account option).

Status

British Airways Club has four levels of status:

Status Points

To obtain one of these statuses, you need to accumulate status points (which are different from Avios).

The only way to earn status points is by flying with British Airways or itsoneworld alliance partners.

The amount of status points earned will depend on the type and fare class of the ticket.

Here’s an example of a one-way ticket between Montreal and London, as a Blue member.

At the lowest economy fare (Q, O, G), you’ll earn 813 Avios and 20 Status points.

Status Qualification Year

Unlike other frequent flyer programs, which are based on the calendar year, the British Airways Club takes into account the date of joining the program. The amount of status points earned in the 12 months from that date determines your status for the remaining period and the following year.

Status Advantages with British Airways

Blue

At this level, there are no particular advantages other than the ability to accumulate and use Avios and Status points.

Bronze

Here are the advantages of Bronze status:

Silver

Here are the additional benefits of Silver status:

Gold

Here are the additional benefits of Gold status:

Status Advantages with Oneworld

Obtaining British Airways Club status is equivalent to Oneworld status.

Bronze = Oneworld Ruby

Here are the advantages of Oneworld Ruby status:

Silver = Oneworld Sapphire

Here are the additional benefits of Oneworld Sapphire status:

Gold = Oneworld Emerald

Here are the additional benefits of Oneworld Emerald status:

British Airways Club – Avios credit cards

Many credit cards in Canada allow you to earn Avios directly or indirectly. See our best cards on this page.

Bottom Line

The British Airways Club is one of the world’s leading frequent flyer programs. In Canada, as you saw above, it’s very easy to earn Avios thanks to credit card partners American Express and RBC.

This program will appeal to:

There are many great uses (sweetspots) in this program. To further your knowledge of the program, here are several articles we recommend:

British Airways Club – Frequently asked questions