Updated: 24 October 2026
Updated to reflect changes to Avios earning on BA Holidays booked from 25 November 2026.
This page is part of our British Airways Club Hub which pulls together all our articles on BA & Avios
How Many Avios Will I Earn on a British Airways Flight?
Historically, frequent flyer schemes were simply a case of airlines issuing air miles to their frequent flyers, who could then cash them in for cabin upgrades or free flights. Things have moved on considerably over the years and there are now many different ways of earning Avios in the British Airways Club, and with other Avios issuing airlines.
However, rewarding flying remains a key pillar of all airline loyalty schemes and BA Club members need to understand how their future flight bookings will impact their Avios bank balance.
On a British Airways-marketed flight, you’ll normally earn between 6 and 9 Avios for every £1 of eligible spend, depending on your British Airways Club status. Different rules apply to some partner-airline flights.
| British Airways Club status | Avios per £1 eligible spend |
|---|---|
| Blue | 6 Avios |
| Bronze | 7 Avios |
| Silver | 8 Avios |
| Gold | 9 Avios |
1) Flying on British Airways
Collecting Avios on British Airways flights is simple in theory, but working out exactly how many Avios you will get for your flight is a little more complicated.
The number of Avios you get for your flight is based upon what BA calls the “total eligible spend” which is the base price of the flight and carrier charges plus cabin upgrades, the cost of pre-booked seats and additional baggage. For the avoidance of doubt, the total eligible spend excludes government taxes and airport charges.
The total eligible spend is multiplied by a different amount depending on your status level within the British Airways Club:
- Blue: 6 Avios per £ spent
- Bronze: 7 Avios per £
- Silver: 8 Avios per £
- Gold: 9 Avios per £
For example, a Silver member who has paid £600 for a flight (including £100 taxes & fees) would earn 4,000 Avios ((£600 – £100) x 8 avios) for their trip.
Helpfully, the amount of Avios to be earned is usually (but not always) shown on the BA App and in the Manage My Booking section of the BA website.
To be clear, in this instance, we are referring to what BA calls a “British Airways Marketed Flight” – this is basically where there is a BA flight number on the flight ticket (eg BA1350), irrespective of who actually operates the flight.
If you are not flying on a BA flight number (the flight could still be operated by BA or a partner airline), different rules apply (see sections 3 & 4).
How Many Avios will I earn flying British Airways to New York?
Let’s use a real life example on London Heathrow > New York JFK
- Return flight in Premium Economy, marketed & operated by British Airways
- Total cash price: £1,150.29
- Of which the base fare is £258 and the carrier imposed charge is £542
- Taxes & charges (eg Air Passenger Duty, Passenger Service Charges, Transportation Tax etc) add up to £350.29 – these are excluded from the Avios calculation
- Total cost excluding taxes & charges is £800 (£258 + £542)
- Therefore the Avios earnings would be:
- Blue member: 4,800 Avios (800 x 6 Avios per £)
- Bronze member: 5,600 Avios (800 x 7 Avios per £)
- Silver member: 6,400 Avios (800 x 8 Avios per £)
- Gold member: 7,200 Avios (800 x 9 Avios per £)
2) Flying as part of a British Airways Holiday
For bookings up to 24 November 2026
Avios are earned in two ways as part of BA Holiday:
- Avios from the flight element; plus
- 1 bonus Avios per £1 spent on the holiday.
Compared to normal BA flights, British Airways Holidays has a different system for calculating Avios earned on the flight. BA does not reveal the breakdown of the total cost of a holiday into of flight/car/hotel etc so Avios for the flight element are awarded based on this calculator. For a multi-segment flight booking, you will need to calculate each flight individually to get a total amount.
In addition, booking with BA Holidays triggers 1 bonus Avios per £ spent on the holiday. Unlike for flight only bookings, these bonus Avios are paid on the total cost of the holiday, including taxes & fees and are paid to the lead name on the booking.
For bookings made from 25 November 2026
Avios are awarded at a rate of 6 Avios per £ spent on the holiday. The points earned are divided equally between all members of the travelling group.
Read our full guide to Avios and Tier Point earning on British Airways Holiday.
3) Flying on American Airlines and Iberia
These will earn Avios in exactly the same way as British Airways Marketed Flights. Any tickets booked in a foreign currency have the price converted into sterling. Iberia includes Iberia Express & Air Nostrum Marketed Flights
4) How many Avios do you earn on BA partner airlines?
Avios earning on all other partners is based on a percentage of the distance flown in miles on each leg of the trip. For example a cheap economy ticket might earn 25% of the actual miles flown, whilst an expensive business class trip might earn 250% (or more) of miles flown.
For example a BA Bronze member flying in Economy class (Q fare class) on a Finnair flight from London Heathrow to Helsinki would earn 324 Avios each way, while the same person flying Business class (J fare class) on Japan Airlines from Heathrow to Tokyo would earn a whopping 17,111 Avios each way. Fare classes are typically clearly shown when booking on the airline or travel agent’s website.
As well as American Airlines and Iberia (mentioned above), BA’s partner airlines include members of the oneworld alliance such as Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and Sri Lankan Airlines. All these airlines give enhanced Avios for BA Bronze, Silver & Gold status members.
BA also partner with Aer Lingus, China Southern and LATAM (excluding LATAM Paraguay) and Avios can be earned on all flights – although all members get the same number of Avios for their flight, regardless of status.
Use this calculator to work out how many Avios you will earn on a flight with a BA partner.
Other Ways of Earning Avios
There are many other ways of earning Avios including British Airways American Express cards and bonus Avios with British Airways Holidays. See our comprehensive guide to the 90+ different ways in which you can earn Avios.
Avios expiry rules
British Airways has a hard expiry rule on Avios. Your total individual Avios balance will remain intact as long as you have some activity on your account within a 36 month period – no activity and all Avios will be deleted from your account. Activity is defined as collecting, spending, or transferring at least one Avios.
Further reading
- Redeeming Avios for flights with British Airways
- Your Guide to the British Airways Club: Earning Status & Status Benefits
- Your Guide to the British Airways Club: Using Avios for Flight Upgrades
- 58 Ways To Turn Work Travel Into Free Flights, Hotel Stays and Tax Savings
- How we used Avios to score Business Class Flights to the World Cup
