I saw an article recently from a major US site that had a completely inaccurate list of airlines you can spend Avios on as they had confused it with airlines you can earn on. In trying to check whether I had missed something, I realised that there is no longer a list on ba.com showing the airlines you can spend Avios on, only the ones you can earn them on. So, I thought it would be useful to see what the official list looks like now. I got the official list direct from the Avios team, so it should be accurate.
I will cover those you can book through Iberia, Qatar and Aer Lingus, as well as British Airways since you can transfer your BA Avios into all of the schemes to book other airlines. I’ll explain how in each section.
In this post:
British Airways Executive Club
All of these should appear when you search for reward flights as you normally would on ba.com. If you need connecting flights but don’t see availability, it can be worth searching for them separately and then calling to book as one ticket. It is cheaper to book Aer Lingus and Iberia via their own websites. The airlines with a star * are those that you can spend British Airways American Express Companion vouchers on.
| American Airlines |
| Alaska Airlines |
| Royal Air Maroc |
| Finnair |
| British Airways* |
| Cathay Pacific |
| Aer Lingus* |
| Sun Air |
| Fiji Airways |
| Iberia* |
| Iberia Express |
| JAL |
| Latam Airlines |
| Malaysian Airlines |
| Qantas |
| Qatar Airways |
| Royal Jordanian |
| SriLankan Airlines |
| Air Nostrum – Iberia Regional |
| Fiji Airways |
Iberia
Iberia is a slightly odd one, as you need to have held an Iberia Plus account for 90 days and had at least one eligible transaction to be able to transfer miles. An eligible transaction includes earning at least 1 Iberia Avios from flights, car hire, transferring in American Express points or Marriott points. Once you qualify, then you simply use Combine My Avios to transfer instantly. Make sure you open the Iberia Plus account with the exact same details as your BA account, or it won’t qualify.
| American Airlines |
| Alaska Airlines |
| Royal Air Maroc |
| Avianca |
| Finnair |
| British Airways |
| Cathay Pacific |
| Iberia |
| Iberia Express |
| JAL |
| Latam Airlines |
| LEVEL |
| Malaysian Airlines |
| Binter Canarias |
| Qantas |
| Qatar Airways |
| Royal Jordanian |
| SriLankan Airlines |
| Vueling |
| Air Nostrum – Iberia Regional |
Aer Lingus
You can transfer between Aer Lingus and British Airways by setting up an Aer Club account and then using Combine My Avios to transfer instantly.
| Aer Lingus | |
| British Airways | |
| Iberia |
Qatar Airways
To transfer between BA and Qatar you will need to open a Qatar Privilege account here and then link your account to your BA Executive Club. Once this is set up, transfers can be done instantly.
| Alaska Airlines |
American Airlines |
Bangkok Airlines |
| British Airways |
| Cathay Pacific |
| Finnair |
| Iberia |
| Japan Airlines |
| LATAM |
Malaysia Airlines |
| MEA |
Oman Air (only Doha to Muscat route) |
| Qantas |
| Qatar Airways |
| Royal Jordanian |
| Royal Air Maroc |
| Rwandair |
SriLankan Airlines |
| Virgin Australia |
9 comments
For those who don’t already know, an easy way to get the Iberia Plus 90 day eligible transaction is to book a Heathrow Express ticket and choose to credit it to your Iberia Plus account.
Although I can’t remember if my Avios were credited at the time of booking or once the journey was completed. Someone else might know.
https://www.heathrowexpress.com/avios?tid=baec&pid=ba&cmp=REF003&utm_source=BA+exec&utm_medium=web+referral&utm_campaign=Avios+WL
That’s a great tip Duncan! Watch out for a special offer on Heathrow Express next week!
Reward availability for Qantas isn’t shown on BA apparently. Instead I found it on American Airlines and then rang BA to book the seats. I followed the article on Head For Points explaining how to do it. I’ve managed to secure three internal flights for my next trip to Australia using hardly any Avios or much money.
As an avid reader of your blogs and your cIose relationship with BA I feel the need to have a bit of a rant!
My daughter was due to fly from Heathrow to Miami this morning on a BA flight with onward connection to Costa Rica to undertake a valuable month of volunteering. Her flight was cancelled at the last minute and she only found out when checking in – no email, no text, no contact at all. BA made no attempt to rebook her and left her to fend for herself without any help or assistance. The rebooking tel number only opened at 8.00am – useless when your flight is cancelled at 4 in the morning. When she finally got in touch they were useless and have not been able to get her a flight until Friday- some 5 days late. BA customer service is nonexistent it feels like they just shrug their shoulders and don’t have a care.
She may not have paid a first class fare but the cost to her was equally significant. We certainly will look for anyone but BA if booking flights in the future.
Rang over!
Sorry to hear this Martin. Usually they offer rebooking options online but I supect if it there were few options that may be why. I suspect it may too late now, but I would always advise looking at what is available across all airlines before phoning BA as you can demand to be rerouted on another airline rather than accept a 5 day wait. They will only usually offer BA/AA flights or possibly oneworld unless you specifically ask.
FYI. The option to create an eligible Iberia Plus transaction is currently more limited if you have a newer account with a 9 digit membership number. That is not working for transfers from Amex and Marriott. Apparently you need an 8-digit number.
Thanks for the update Paul. I don’t know why they make it so hard to transfer when it is all the same company and same balance sheet!
I think Vueling is missing!?
It’s under Iberia
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