Which Airlines Accept Avios Points?Â

Did you know that you only need around 10,000 Avios to start catching flights? Once you’re fairly established in your British Airways Executive Club membership, you’ll want to get clued up on which airlines accept Avios.

And when it comes to Avios and airlines, knowledge is power. Knowing which airlines and routes you can start spending your points on will ensure you get to keep more of your hard-earned cash safely tucked away in your account.

In this guide, I’ll introduce you to the process of redeeming your Avios with different airlines. I’ll explain the built-in Executive Club tool that you should use, and provide a comprehensive list of partnered airlines. We’ll soon get your flight booked and money saved.

BA Executive Club’s Policy on Spending on Other Airlines

First things first, the rules (although they’re pretty good, as rules go!).

BA Executive Club has a flexible Avios spending policy. One of the greatest strengths of joining the BA Executive Club is that it allows you to spend Avios on other airlines. This means you aren’t just limited to British Airways flights and routes. 

Instead, you have access to over a dozen airlines with different routes and prices.

Be aware that you will have to pay any tax or booking fees associated with your flight of choice. 

Airlines That Accept Avios When Booking Through BA Executive Club

So let’s get to it. Avios is a global reward currency used across multiple airlines. You can collect and use Avios on any member of the Oneworld Alliance.

It’s also available on some airlines outside of the alliance, such as Aer Lingus, when you book through certain reward programs. Here are the 18 airlines that you can book flights with using Avios from your British Airways Executive Club account:

1. Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is mostly considered a budget airline founded in 1936. It primarily connects Ireland with the rest of the world, running over 100 routes for domestic and international flights.

It also has connections to Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, and Europe. 

2. Air Nostrum

Air Nostrum is a Spanish airline that mostly operates regional and European flights. It specializes in short-haul experiences and is ideal for those wanting a quick flight.

Air Nostrum regularly operates flights between the UK and major Spanish cities like Madrid and Santander.

3. Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is a major international carrier that connects more than 115 destinations. It operates in the USA, Canada, South and Central America, and some European destinations. Alaska Airlines offers great premium and first-class seating.

4. American Airlines

American Airlines operates between more than 350 destinations in 60 different countries. You can fly between major cities like New York City and Chicago. American Airlines is approaching 100 years old and is a famous American carrier.

5. British Airways

British Airways is the UK’s largest international airline carrier, linking 160 global destinations. It offers excellent business class and first-class experiences, and is directly affiliated with the BA Executive Club.

6. Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific serves over 200 destinations and has its main hub in Hong Kong. It’s fantastic for international flights and serves countries all over Asia, Australasia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.

7. Fiji Airways

Fiji Airways is Fiji’s flag carrier and a major international and domestic carrier in the South Pacific. It has significant connections between Fiji, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Sydney.

8. Finnair

Finnair is a relatively budget-friendly airline with its main hub in Helsinki, Finland, and flights to Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America.

9. Iberia

Iberia is Spain’s flagship carrier. It operates domestic and international flights worldwide, with roughly 120 destinations in 45 countries, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the USA.

10. Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines was formed in 1951 and operates flights to approximately 70 destinations in 20 countries. It has a business class option and has been rated 5 stars by Skytrax.

11. LATAM Airlines

LATAM Airlines is the airline to choose for flights across Latin America. It has over 140 destinations in 25 countries. It is relatively budget-friendly, but also offers premium and business class options.

12. Malaysian Airlines

Malaysia Airlines’ main hub is in Kuala Lumpur and is known as one of the best-connected airlines. It flies to around 60 destinations, connecting Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. 

13. Qantas Airways

Qantas operates in nearly 80 different destinations and is Australia’s flagship carrier. It is a highly respected airline with great first and business class experiences. 

14. Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways’ main hub is in Doha. It is a brilliant airline that connects destinations like Europe and Australia via the Middle East.

15. Royal Air Maroc 

Royal Air Maroc is Morocco’s flagship carrier, serving over 90 destinations. Skytrax considers it a 4-star airline, and it is great for connections across Africa and Europe.

16. Royal Jordanian

Royal Jordanian is Jordan’s national flagship carrier, operating in around 60 destinations and 40 countries. It is ideal for travel within the Middle East but also provides excellent connections to Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

17. SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan Airlines is Sri Lanka’s flag carrier and one of the best-connecting airlines to the Maldives. It runs flights to nearly 130 destinations in over 60 countries.

18. SUN-AIR

SUN-AIR is a regional Scandinavian airline with its main hub in Billund, Denmark. It predominantly connects the UK with Denmark and Sweden.

Airlines That Accept Avios Through Points Transfers 

If you want to cast your Avios net even further, you can use the points transfer system to access even more airlines. You simply shift your Avios to different airline rewards programs – gaining access to different partners through a completely different membership program.

The following airline rewards programs accept transferred Avios. This is a clever way to access their partnered airlines andthose available with BA Executive Club:

Iberia Plus

Iberia has its own loyalty program, Iberia Plus. To access four new airlines through Iberia, head to your BA Executive Club account and find the ‘Combine My Avios‘ tab. From here, you can transfer your Avios to Iberia Plus.

Transferring your points to Iberia gives you access to:

• Avianca
• LEVEL
• Binter Canarias
• Vueling

Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Qatar Airways has a great rewards program called the Privilege Club. You can quickly transfer points through the ‘Combine My Avios‘ tab in your Executive Club menu, which provides access to these four new airlines:

• Bangkok Airlines
• Oman Air
• RwandAir
• Virgin Australia

How To Redeem Avios on Flights Through BA Executive Club

You can currently book flights with Avios using Iberia, Qatar, or BA accounts. For the sake of this article, though, we’ll concentrate on booking through BA.

I found the whole idea of it a little confusing to start with, but the Executive Club flight search tool really does all the hard work for you. 

This handy search tool is simple to find. Navigate to your account menu, and head towards ‘Executive Club‘, where you’ll find the ‘Spending Avios‘ tab.

Once you’ve clicked, you’ll then see a ‘Book a reward flight‘ button. Click here and a search tool will pop up.

This is where you simply input your preferred destination, flight dates, and class. The tool pulls up all eligible flights, and you scroll through to pick where you’d like to jet off to. Think of it like Skyscanner, but Executive Club-style. 

This Executive Club search tool automatically brings up eligible flights with partnered airlines, so you don’t need to worry about which airlines do or don’t accept Avios. If it appears in your search results, it’s there for the taking – just go ahead and press ‘Book‘.

As an example, as I search right now for a flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, it offers me 25,750 Avios flights with Malaysia Airlines. They are partnered airlines, so I can just book directly with my Avios to secure my seat.

So there you have it – redeeming Avios on different airlines is really straightforward using the Executive Club flight search tool. Practically speaking, you don’t need to worry about which airlines do or don’t accept Avios – the tool do it for you.

In Summary 

We’ve taken a look at the 18 airlines that can be booked using Avios through the BA Executive Club tool alone. Using point transfers between loyalty programs unlocks even more. 

I love the flexibility of having so many different airlines to choose from using Avios. There’s so much variety, especially with short-haul flights like London to Dublin.

You could book a budget-friendly 4,000 Avios flight with Aer Lingus, or a business class flight with British Airways for 16,000 Avios. However you want to travel, Avios gives you both reward and choice.