How to Earn British Airways Avios

If you love traveling and are thinking of earning points to pay for your flights, you may want to utilize British Airways Avios. Avios are the official British Airways rewards points that can be redeemed for travel.

Avios can be an excellent rewards currency option if you plan to travel internationally, and they're also especially useful for short flights. There are many ways to earn British Airways Avios for your future travel adventures.

If you’re interested in earning Avios, you can do so by applying for certain credit cards.

British Airways has its own branded card. You can earn a significant number of Avios when you sign up for the British Airways Visa Signature® Card and meet minimum spending requirements: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

Earning doesn’t stop there. You’ll earn Avios as you make your regular purchases. Here's the rewards structure:

• Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL.

• Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.

• Plus earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases.

» Learn more: 5 reasons to love the British Airways loyalty program

American Express cards

British Airways is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, which means that you could transfer AmEx points that you’ve earned to Avios. AmEx points are extremely valuable given their flexibility, so you would only want to transfer points when you have a British Airways redemption in mind and you’ve confirmed award availability. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, and the process is pretty painless. You do need a credit card from AmEx that earns Membership Rewards points. NerdWallet recommends the following American Express cards, listed here with their respective welcome offers:

Personal cards

The Platinum Card® from American Express (annual fee: $695): Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

American Express® Gold Card (annual fee: $325): Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

American Express® Green Card (annual fee: $150): Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

How to transfer from AmEx Membership Rewards to British Airways

When you’re ready to transfer points from American Express to British Airways, log in to your AmEx account and select “Rewards” from the menu across the top of the page.

Then, choose the “Transfer Points” option from the menu in the middle of the page, and then “view all” to see a list of all partners.

From the choices provided, select British Airways. If this is your first time doing a transfer, you will need to link your Executive Club account to your American Express account. Have your AmEx credit card handy as you will need to input the four-digit code from the front of the card along with the three-digit code from the back of the card to verify your identity. Once the accounts are linked, you can proceed with a transfer.

AmEx points transfer to Executive Club in increments of 1,000. Because British Airways is a foreign carrier, you will not need to pay the excise tax offset fees that AmEx typically charges on point transfers to domestic airlines.

British Airways sweet spots can be found on short-haul awards and some transatlantic routes, specifically if the flight is on American Airlines, because you can avoid the high taxes and surcharges that British Airways is notorious for adding on to award tickets.

If you complete a transfer while AmEx is running a transfer bonus, you’ll be able to extract a better value out of your Avios. American Express often runs transfer bonuses to hotels and airlines, so if you’ve got a redemption in mind for the future, pay attention to what transfer bonuses are going on at the moment. Most recently, AmEx ran a 25% transfer bonus to Hawaiian Airlines in September 2019 and a 50% bonus to Hilton in April 2020.

Chase cards

Another great way to earn Avios is by transferring them from Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, and the process is pretty straightforward. You will need a credit card from Chase that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. NerdWallet recommends the following cards:

Personal credit cards

Chase Sapphire Reserve® (annual fee: $550): Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire Reserve review: A first-class premium travel card

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire Preferred review: A must-have for travelers

Business credit cards

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (annual fee: $95): Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Ink Preferred review: High rewards for business basics

If you already have any of the cards mentioned above, you can apply for one of the following no-fee cards with Chase. The cash-back you earn can be combined with earnings from other cards as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. Having these cards in addition to the premium travel cards is a great way to increase your Chase Ultimate Rewards® point balance.

No-fee personal credit cards

Chase Freedom Flex® (annual fee: $0): Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Freedom Flex review: Multiple bonus rewards wrapped in one card

Chase Freedom Unlimited® (annual fee: $0): Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

» Learn more: Chase Freedom Unlimited review: A winning combination

No-fee business credit cards

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Ink Cash review: A cash-back contender for small businesses

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» Learn more: Chase Ink Business Unlimited review: When simplicity is key

Transfer from Chase Ultimate Rewards® to British Airways

When you’re ready to transfer points from Chase to British Airways, log in to your Chase account and head over to the Chase Ultimate Rewards® page. From the menu at the top, select "Transfer to Travel Partners."

Then, choose British Airways from the choices provided and input your details. This step will link your British Airways and Chase accounts to allow for future transfers. Once your accounts are linked, you are ready to complete the points transfer.

Points are transferred at a 1:1 ratio and must be transferred in increments of 1,000. Most transfers are instantaneous, which is great because you won't have to worry about an award disappearing while waiting for the points to come in.

Marriott Bonvoy cards

Marriott Bonvoy® points convert to British Airways Avios at a 3:1 ratio. But for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred, you get a 5,000-point bonus. So if you transfer 60,000 Marriott points to British Airways, you will have 25,000 Avios.

There are several Marriott Bonvoy credit cards to choose from depending on your travel and spending preferences:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (annual fee: $0): Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (annual fee: $650): Earn 95,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

• Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (annual fee: $125): Earn 3 Free Night Awards after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Each Free Night Award has a redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points, for a total potential value of up to 150,000 points, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees. Terms apply.

» Learn more: Which Marriott Bonvoy credit card should I choose?

Regardless of which card you go with, if you’re using this method, always try to transfer Bonvoy points in increments of 60,000 so you can take advantage of the 5,000-mile bonus. To view rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, see this page. To view rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, see this page.

Use American Express to maximize the conversion rate

Marriott is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, which often runs transfer bonuses. For example, in September 2022, AmEx ran a 30% transfer bonus to Marriott.

If you have a British Airways redemption in mind and the timing aligns with a transfer bonus from AmEx to Marriott, you could end up walking away with significantly more Avios after utilizing a three-way transfer (AmEx → Marriott → British Airways).

Points from certain hotels can be converted to Avios. If you’ve got some extra hotel points that you have no use for, consider converting them to Avios.

To do a points transfer, visit the British Airways hotel partner page and choose the hotel you’d like to convert points from. Then, log in to your loyalty account on the hotel site and look for the option to convert your points to Avios.

It’s possible to earn Avios when you book directly with participating hotels or on certain hotel booking websites, as well. Accommodation partners include Accor, Agoda.com, Avios Hotels, Best Western Hotels and Resorts, Booking.com, Choice, Hotels.com, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Kaligo.com, Marriott International and Rocketmiles. Each partner has its own earning rate, so make sure to check the British Airways site if you want to maximize your earnings.

» Learn more: Your guide to British Airways’ award chart

If you enjoy staying in Airbnb properties when traveling, you’ll be happy to know that you can also earn Avios by doing so. When you use the British Airways Airbnb portal to book your stay, you’ll earn 3 Avios for every $1 spent. If you’re brand new to Airbnb, you’ll get a 500-Avios welcome bonus.

You’ll also earn Avios when flying with British Airways. All you need to do is become a British Airways Executive Club member, which is easy. For every flight that you take, you’ll earn Avios. And if you’ve made use of one of the methods above, you should already have a British Airways Executive Club number, so just make sure to enter it as your frequent flyer number when flying British Airways and its partners.

Once you’re a British Airways Executive Club member and continue to fly with British Airways and its partners, you can earn frequent flyer status. As you work your way up the Executive Club tiers, you can earn more Avios for the flights that you take.

Executive Club Bronze members earn 25% bonus Avios, while Executive Club Silver members earn 50% bonus Avios and Executive Club Gold members earn 100% bonus Avios. It pays to be loyal.

» Learn more: 4 award sweet spots using British Airways Avios

You can also earn Avios when you book flights with partner airlines, giving you plenty of opportunities to earn Avios when you fly. Here are applicable earning partner airlines:

Note: While Air Italy is a partner airline, you cannot earn Avios on its partner flights.

Shop through the Avios eStore

Another way to earn Avios is by doing the online shopping that you already planned to do, but heading to the British Airways Avios eStore. You can earn up to 20 Avios for every $1 spent, and there are over 400 online retailers who participate. You'll notice that each retailer displays its current earning rate in the portal. Offers do change, so check back often.

Earn Avios when renting cars through Avis

If you like to take road trips or if you’re planning to visit somewhere with limited public transportation, you may need to rent a car. The good news is you can earn Avios when booking a rental car since Avis is the official partner of the British Airways Executive Club.

When booking with Avis, you can earn 1 Avios per $1 spent, with a minimum of 500 Avios awarded per car rental. If you rent with Avis at least four times in one year, you’ll collect 1,000 bonus Avios. You can also earn 250 Avios if you use your British Airways credit card to pay for your rental.

Buy Avios

You may purchase Avios in increments of 1,000 up to 200,000 in a calendar year. The purchase rate operates on a sliding scale. For example, if you buy the minimum 1,000 Avios, the rate is 5.3 cents apiece. If you buy the maximum 200,000 Avios, the rate is 2.8 cents each. Even at the maximum, this is an extremely expensive way to earn Avios and generally ought to be your last resort.

» Learn more: 4 times it makes sense to buy airline miles

From flying on British Airways and Oneworld airlines to earnings points from credit cards, there are plenty of ways to earn Avios. And you might not even need to fly to Europe! What’s your favorite way to earn Avios?