British Airways only offers one co-branded credit card, but you can also earn Avios through intro bonuses and everyday spending across partner credit cards and transferring those rewards directly to your British Airways Executive Club account.
- Best For Intro Bonus: British Airways Visa Signature® Card
- Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets: American Express® Gold Card
- Best For Travel & Dining: American Express® Green Card
- Best For Small Business Travel: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
- Best For High Value: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Best For Flexible Travel Rewards: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Best For Flexible Business Travel Rewards: Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Best For Intro Bonus
The British Airways Visa Signature® Card is a great option if you're looking to earn a solid amount of Avios on purchases with Avios-earning airlines.
It earns 3X Avios on British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus purchases, 2X Avios on hotel bookings made directly with the hotel, and 1X on all other purchases. The card also offers some solid benefits like up to $600 in reward flight statement credits and a Travel Together ticket after spending $30,000 during the calendar year.
The British Airways Visa Signature® Card is most known for it's intro bonus of 100,000 Avios which can offer significant value. The Iberia Visa Signature® Card, which earns Avios under the Iberia Plus program and features a 100,000 Avios intro bonus, can also be a solid option for quickly building rewards as Avios can be transferred between both frequent flyer programs.
Intro Bonus: Earn up to 100,000 Avios. Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Earn an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $20,000 within the first 12 months of account opening.
Learn More about the British Airways Visa Signature Card.
Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets
The American Express® Gold Card is one of the best travel credit cards for earning rewards transferable to partners.
The card earns 4X Membership Rewards Points dining at restaurants and at U.S. supermarkets, 3X on airfare purchased directly from an airline or through American Express Travel, and 1X on all other purchases.
These points can be transferred directly to your British Airways Avios account at a 1:1 ratio. They can be transferred to Iberia Avios and Aer Lingus Avios if needed as well.
In terms of benefits, the American Express® Gold Card offers up to $120 in annual dining credit and up to $120 in annual Uber credit. That's up to $240 in annual credits which pretty much takes care of the annual fee in terms of value.
Overall, if you spend heavy in restaurant and U.S. supermarket purchases and you want to maximize your Avios, you'll want to consider the American Express® Gold Card.
Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months.
Learn More about the American Express Gold Card.
Best For Travel & Dining
The American Express® Green Card is a great option if you're looking to earn rewards transferable to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus when spending on travel and dining.
The card earns 3X Membership Rewards Points on travel, transit, and restaurant purchases. That makes this card an excellent option to take along on vacation as you'll easily rake up points.
Benefits of the American Express® Green Card include an annual $100 credit towards CLEAR and an annual $100 credit towards LoungeBuddy.
Intro Bonus: Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $2,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Learn More about the American Express Green Card.
Best For Small Business Travel
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is a great business card choice if you're looking to earn a flat-rate of rewards across your business spend.
The card earns 2X Membership Rewards Points on the first $50,000 in purchases made during the calendar year, then 1X for the remainder of the year once the cap is hit. These points can be transferred to British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio as well as be transferred to Iberia Avios and Aer Lingus Avios at a 1:1 ratio.
If you want to maximize your business earnings in the Membership Rewards Program, I recommend pairing The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card with the American Express® Business Gold Card.
Intro Bonus: Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
Learn More about The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express.
Best For High Value
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a premium travel card that is loaded with travel benefits and can offer a significant amount of value toward travel no matter how you use your rewards.
The card earns 10X Ultimate Rewards Points on Chase Dining purchases and both hotel and car rental purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5X on airline travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining and other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else. Points can be transferred to British Airways Avios as well as Iberia Avios.
The card offers a 50% boost to the value of Ultimate Rewards Points when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards which means you'll be able to redeem your points for an easy 1.5 cents each. It's a great alternative if you can't find great redemption transferring to British Airways.
Additional benefits of the card include up to $300 in annual travel credit, Priority Pass Select Membership, up to a $100 statement credit towards a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, and superb travel insurance.
Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Best For Flexible Travel Rewards
If you're looking for a well-rounded travel rewards card that can offer great value, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a great option.
It earns 5X points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on online grocery purchases, select streaming services, and dining purchases, 2X on other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else. These points can be transferred to British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio.
Benefits of the card includes a 25% boost to the value of Ultimate Rewards Points redeemed though Chase Ultimate Rewards and a $50 anniversary hotel credit that can be used through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The card also comes with great travel insurance.
Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
Best For Flexible Business Travel Rewards
If you want to earn a great amount of points on travel and select business categories, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is an excellent choice.
It earns 3X Ultimate Rewards Points on the first $150,000 spent on travel, shipping, internet, cable services, phone services, and advertising each account anniversary year. These points can be transferred directly to your British Airways Avios or Iberia Avios account.
The card offers a 25% boost to the value of Ultimate Rewards Points when used for travel via the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. This gives you the option to redeem your points for 1.25 cents each which is a great alternative if you can't find good value in transferring your rewards.
Intro Bonus: Earn 100k bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Learn More about the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card.
Best Credit Cards Summary
| Credit Card | Best For | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| British Airways Visa Signature® Card | Intro Bonus | $95 |
| American Express® Gold Card | Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets | $250 |
| American Express® Green Card | Travel & Dining | $150 |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | Small Business Travel | $0 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | High Value | $550 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Flexible Travel Rewards | $95 |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card | Flexible Business Travel Rewards | $95 |
Avios Points Calculator
Use the British Airways Avios Points Calculator to get a list of the best credit cards for earning Avios based on the spend amounts you enter.
Results will be sorted by net return which is the average value of the rewards earned, plus annual credits, and minus annual fees.
Results will consist of credit cards that earn British Airways Avios and credit cards from our partners that earn rewards that can be transferred to the British Airways Executive Club program.
Find out which credit cards will earn you the most rewards and best value based on the spend amounts you entered
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Results
These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.
You can click on the estimated earnings to see the calculations or click on the card to learn more and apply for the card through our partners.
Do note that all spend amounts entered into the tool above will carry over to every credit card rewards calculator on the site, so there's no need to re-enter spend if you choose to dive deeper into calculating rewards for credit cards on the site.
