The ultimate guide to British Airways Executive Club

British Airways Executive Club is the British Airways frequent flyer programme.

There are 14 member airlines of the Oneworld Alliance:

Note that LATAM will withdraw from the alliance during 2020.

Alaska Airlines will join Oneworld in 2021.

Unlike other frequent flyer programs that allow you to earn miles based on the cost of your ticket, British Airways Executive Club has kept a distance-based system.

You will earn between 25% and 300% of the distance traveled in Avios miles, with a minimum of miles for each fare category.

In addition, members with Executive Club status get a bonus based on distance travelled:

• Blue: 25%
• Silver: 50%
• Gold: 100%

Avios miles can also be earned for flights on any of the 14 Oneworld airlines AND other partners.

For example, here is the earning rate on American Airlines (Oneworld member):

And on Alaska Airlines (non-Oneworld member in 2020):

British Airways Executive Club is partnered with a number of hotel groups and online booking sites including:

• Accorhotels.com
• Agoda
• Best western
• Booking.com
• Hotels.com
• Hyatt
• InterContinental Hotels Group
• Marriott

This makes it easy to earn Avios miles on each hotel stay.

American Express offers 4 cards with Membership Rewards points that can be transferred 1:1 to the British Airways Executive Club program:

HSBC offers, as part of its HSBC Rewards program, a credit card that allows you to transfer points into Avios miles: the HSBC World Elite Mastercard.

The transfer is done per HSBC points increments:

Thus, 2.5 HSBC points = 1 Avios mile (or 5 HSBC points = 2 Avios miles).

RBC, through its RBC Rewards program, has several credit cards that offer travel points that can be transferred to Avios miles at a 1:1 rate:

• RBC Avion Visa Platinum
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege
• RBC Avion Visa Platinum Business

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite card regularly offers promotions to earn 20,000 to 30,000 RBC Rewards points.

So, one of the best cards for earning Avios miles is the American Express^MD Gold Rewards card: between 1 and 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar or 1 to 2 Avios miles per dollar (or even more if you convert your Membership Rewards points during a conversion promotion).

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

This is a sneaky way to get Avios miles! Especially during conversion promotions offered by Aeroplan.

For example, it is possible to convert Marriott Bonvoy points into Avios miles.

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

60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
=
25,000 Avios miles
+
30%
=
32,500 Avios miles

Using Marriott Bonvoy to earn Avios miles is also a way to turn Select Membership Rewards points earned into Avios miles:

• American Express Cobalt™ Card
• American Express Business Edge™ Card

So, if you have the American Express Cobalt Card or the American Express Business Edge™ Card and would like Avios miles, here is the way to proceed during a promotional period:

50,000 Select Membership Rewards
=
60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
=
25,000 Avios miles
+
30%
=
32,500 Avios miles

Let’s discover together all the different ways of using Avios miles:

• Airfares
• Car rentals
• Hotel nights

The best use of Avios miles will be to book airline tickets. This is called “flight reward“. You still need to know the tips and tricks to use Avios miles correctly.

For economy class flights, it will cost:

For flights in premium economy class, it will cost:

For business class flights, it will cost:

For flights in First Class, it will cost:

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

This price list is only applicable to travel with other Oneworld members.

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

It will be more interesting to find a direct flight (like Montreal – Miami) than a flight with a connection (like Montreal – Philadelphia – Miami).

The British Airways Executive Club programme is particularly interesting for families!

There are “Infant Flight Rewards (children under 2 years of age AND traveling on the adult’s knees).

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

British Airways Executive Club allows you to change or cancel flight rewardup to 24 hours prior to flight departure.

The fee will be CA$58 (no fee if you are a Gold member). The miles and taxes will be fully refunded.

Flight rewards will be posted on British Airways Executive Club from 355 days before flight departure.

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

On British Airways Executive Club, when booking a flight reward, a fee is added to the amount in miles.

This fee includes:

• airport taxes
• a possible “surcharge” from the carrier

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 earn money.

Also, there is an unavoidable departure tax in the UK, so one will seek to avoid leaving the UK.

However, if you are smart about searching for flight rewards, you can avoid the carrier surcharge: some airlines do not charge any surcharge at all.

A great use of Avios miles: to book short-haul flight rewards. These are “local” destinations.

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

But it’s especially useful in some countries like Japan. Here is an example of a reward flight:

There are several free and paid tools to find reward tickets on British Airways Executive Club.

If Expertflyer will suit advanced users, Award.Flights is easier to understand and is free.

This is an extension to add to your Chrome browser that automatically searches British Airways Executive Club based on your queries.

Avios miles can be used to rent a car.

Here is an example of a car rental, for a week, in Miami.

It is also possible to use Avios miles to book hotel nights.

Do you know how to earn and use your Avios miles?

Now let’s see how to manage them… every day!

The value of an Avios mile will depend on how you use it. However, it is agreed that 1 Avios = 1.6 cents.

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

Avios miles do not have an expiration date based on their accrual date.

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

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

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

It is possible to make a claim for missing miles up to 6 months after the transaction. You’ll have to complete the claim form available on the missing miles page.

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

To obtain one of these statuses, you must earn “status points” (which are different from Avios miles).

The only way to earn status points is by travelling with British Airways or its Oneworld Alliance partners.

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

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

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

Unlike other frequent flyer programs that are based on the calendar year, British Airways Executive 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.

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

Getting a British Airways Executive Club status allows you to have an equivalent on the Oneworld side.

This post was not sponsored. The views and opinions expressed in this review are purely my own.