British Airways offers one co-branded credit card that you can use to earn Avios on everyday spend. You can also earn Avios by earning rewards on partner credit cards and transferring those rewards directly to your British Airways Executive Club account.
Review our top picks for best credit cards for British Airways Avios and calculate which cards can earn you the most Avios and best return.
This page details our top picks for the best credit cards for earning Avios with British Airways. You can use the calculator to estimate which credit cards can earn you the most miles and best average return on your spend.
The cards on this page are updated periodically. New cards are introduced from time to time and the benefits of current cards could change at any time. You can use our Credit Card Finder Tool to search by spend across all credit cards in our database.
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, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL purchases, 2X Avios on hotel bookings made directly with the hotel, and 1X on all other purchases.
The card offers some solid benefits, but it is most known for it's 100,000 Avios Intro Bonus which can offer significant value.
The Iberia Visa Signature® Card and Aer Lingus Visa Signature® card also feature 100,000 Avios Intro Bonuses for their own respective Avios programs. Regardless, these bonuses still have around the same significant value.
Best For Restaurants & Big Supermarket Spenders
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.
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.
Best Travel Rewards Card For Small Businesses
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.
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.
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.
Best Business Card For Flexible 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.
Best Credit Cards For British Airways Avios Summary
| Credit Card | Best For | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| British Airways Visa Signature® Card | Intro Bonus | $95 |
| American Express® Gold Card | Restaurants & Big Supermarket Spenders | $250 |
| American Express® Green Card | Travel & Dining | $150 |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | Travel Rewards For Small Businesses | $0 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | High Value | $550 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Flexible Travel Rewards | $95 |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card | Flexible Travel Rewards For Business | $95 |
Best Credit Cards For British Airways Avios Calculator
The Best Credit Cards For British Airways Avios Calculator will give you an idea of which credit cards can earn you the most Avios and best returns.
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.
Click Search For The Best Cards to find out which credit cards will offer you the most value based on the spend amounts you entered.
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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.
All spend entered in the fields above will carry over to every credit card rewards calculator on the site so there's no need to re-enter spend.
