Earn The Most British Airways Avios With These Credit Cards

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By: Robert Flowers III

Last Updated: 10-27-2023

Best Credit Cards For British Airways Avios

Looking for a credit card to start earning Avios points? British Airways has one co-branded card, and there are also a number of partner credit cards that can provide you with introductory bonuses and everyday spending rewards which can be transferred directly into your British Airways Executive Club account.

Here's our top credit card picks for earning British Airways Avios:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Best for flexible travel rewards.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Best for high value.
American Express® Gold Card: Best for restaurants and supermarkets.
American Express® Green Card: Best for travel and dining.
British Airways Visa Signature® Card: Best for British Airways benefits.
Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Best for flexible business travel rewards.
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express: Best for small business travel.

Use Our Calculator To Maximize Your British Airways Avios

Discover personalized credit card options that match your spending habits and maximizes your Avios.

Simply input your monthly and yearly spend amounts into our easy-to-use calculator to find the best options for you!

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Best For Flexible Travel Rewards

Earning Rate: Earn 5X Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services, 2X on other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
Annual Credits: $50 credit towards hotels booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
Main Highlights: 10% bonus points annually based on how much you spent the prior cardmember year and a 25% boost to point value when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points = 1,000 British Airways Avios.
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 Travel℠.
Annual Fee: $95.
Summary: The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the best flexible travel rewards credit cards available. Points can be transferred to British Airways and many other partners or be easily redeemed for 1.25 cents each towards travel booked via Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Calculate Card Value & Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar spent for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Best For High Value

Earning Rate: Earn 10X points on Chase Dining and both hotel and car rental purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5X on airfare through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining and other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
Annual Credits: $300 travel credit.
Main Highlights: Priority Pass Select membership, up to $100 towards a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, top-notch travel insurance, and a 50% boost to point value on travel redemptions made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points = 1,000 British Airways Avios.
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 Travel℠.
Annual Fee: $550.
Summary: Fantastic premium travel credit card for earning points transferable to Avios. Points are also worth a whopping 1.5 cents towards travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards which is a great alternative option if you can't find great reward space with British Airways and their airline partners.
Calculate Card Value & Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar spent for the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

American Express® Gold Card

Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets

Earning Rate: Earn 4X Membership Rewards points on restaurant purchases worldwide, 4X at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1X), 3X points on airfare purchased direct or through American Express Travel, and 1X points on all other purchases.
Annual Credits: Up to $120 in annual dining credit ($10 per month) and up to $120 in annual Uber Cash ($10 per month).
Main Highlights: Book hotels through The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel and receive a $100 hotel credit and room upgrade upon arrival (when available) when booking at least a two consecutive night stay.
Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 British Airways Avios.
Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Annual Fee: $250. (See Rates and Fees)
Summary: 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. It is one of the best credit cards for earning flexible travel rewards points.
Calculate Card Value & Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent for the American Express Gold Card.
Learn More about the American Express Gold Card.

American Express® Green Card

Best For Travel & Dining

Earning Rate: Earn 3X Membership Rewards points on travel, transit, and at restaurants, and 1X on all other purchases.
Annual Credits: Up to $189 in CLEAR credit and up to $100 in LoungeBuddy credit.
Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 British Airways Avios.
Intro Bonus: Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express® Green Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Annual Fee: $150.
Summary: This card lives in the forgotten shadows of the American Express Gold Card, but honestly... it's a slept on credit card. It's bonus categories combined with having no foreign transaction fees makes it a really solid travel card.
Calculate Card Value & Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent for the American Express Green Card.
>Learn More about the American Express Green Card.

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

Best For British Airways Benefits

Earning Rate: Earn 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.
Main Highlights: 10% off British Airways flights and a Travel Together Ticket after spending $30K on the card during the calendar year.
Intro Bonus: Limited time offer! Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. 5x Avios on up to $10k in gas, grocery stores, and dining purchases for first 12 months!
Annual Fee: $95.
Summary: Great card if you frequently purchase airfare with Avios-earning airlines and want to earn Avios directly on all of your purchases. It also provides a solid intro bonus.
Calculate Card Value & Avios per dollar spent for the British Airways Visa Signature Card.
Learn More about the British Airways Visa Signature Card.

Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Best For Flexible Business Travel Rewards

Earning Rate: Earn 3X points on up to $150,000 on travel, shipping, internet, cable services, phone services, and advertising purchases each account anniversary year. All other purchases earn 1X.
Main Highlights: 25% point value boost towards travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points = 1,000 British Airways Avios.
Intro Bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee: $95.
Summary: The Ink Business Preferred is the best business credit card for earning points on business purchases and travel. Points earned with the card can be transferred to British Airways and other partners as well as be redeemed for 1.25 cents each towards travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
Calculate Card Value & Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar spent for the Ink Business Preferred Card.
Learn More about the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card.

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Best For Small Business Travel

Earning Rate: Earn 2X Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 in annual purchases, then 1X for the remainder of the year.
Main Highlights: The 2X points at no annual fee.
Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 British Airways Avios.
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.
Annual Fee: $0. (See Rates and Fees)
Summary: The Blue Business Plus is the best credit card for small businesses but it is also the best credit card for miscellaneous purchases. You can pair this card with any business or personal Membership Rewards credit card to make sure you're always earning at least 2X points on your purchases (at least up until you hit the $50K annual cap). If you want to maximize your Avios, I highly suggest picking up this card if you can.
Calculate Card Value & Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent for the Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express.
Learn More about The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express.

Avios Points Calculator: Which Credit Card Is Best For You?

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.

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Calculator Options

Personal Or Business?

Are you looking for personal (consumer) credit card or business credit cards? You can also include both in the results.

What Type of Rewards Do You Want To Earn?

This calculator can output the best credit cards for a general rewards type or compile a list of the best credit cards for earning rewards with a specific loyalty program.

Frequent Flyer Programs

Select the frequent flyer program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected airline and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected airline.

Hotel Loyalty Programs

Select the hotel loyalty program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected hotel program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected hotel program.

Credit Card Rewards Programs

Select the credit card rewards program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all credit cards offered by the selected program and any other credit cards offered by partners that allow you to earn rewards with the selected program.

Other Loyalty Programs

Select the program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all credit cards offered by the selected program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected program.

Include Intro Bonuses?

If set to yes, intro bonuses will be included for a card's calculation ONLY IF you have met the monthly spend criteria based on what's entered into the tool.

Do note that we do not have intro bonuses for all credit cards and we cannot calculate intro bonuses for some cards due to the complexity of some spend requirements.

Enter Your Monthly & Yearly Spend Amounts

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Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add it to the calculator. If you want to be more specific, you can specify domestic or international spend.

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About Spend Region: Some credit cards feature categories that only earn rewards when spending in a certain region. Changing this category to Domestic or International spend will calculate such for those cards, otherwise it's assumed by Default.

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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.

British Airways Avios Calculators & Guides