Rundown of British Airways Executive Club for Canadians (updated February 19, 2019)

With so much news about the Brexit, I thought that it would only be fitting to talk about a British airline!

For Canadians, after Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, Aeroplan, I would say, British Airways’ Executive Club Avios miles are the most accessible to earn through is various credit card partners. There years where I actually earn more Avios and Aeroplan miles depending on what offers are available. I wanted to update the post to include HSBC as a transfer partner, as well as some other minor updates more relevant to Canadians.

Expiry Policy

As usual, let’s start with their expiry policy, as this is generally a deal breaker for me on whether I will put more energy towards a specific program. Fortunately, Executive Club offers one of the best frequent flyer program expiry policies. Your miles stay active so long as you have an activity once every 36 months. This is much more generous than the 12 or 24 months that we generally see with other programs. So this is a big thumbs up to Executive Club!

Earning Avios

Aside from earning Avios by flying directly with British Airways, Executive Club also offers many other options for Canadians to earn Avios. Below are some of the more accessible options that I was talking about above. Note that you earn a minimum of 250 miles for every flight with British Airways or its partners.

Airline Alliance 

Since British Airways is a member of Oneworld alliance, any time you fly with one of its members, you can pool your earnings towards Avios. Personally, because there are already so many ways to earn Avios, I generally pool my Oneworld paid flights towards American Airlines instead. I like to keep my portfolio diversified.

Airline partners (Oneworld)

Below are the Oneworld alliance partners that you can earn and redeem Avios with.

• American Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• LATAM Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Jordanian Airlines
• S7 Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines

Airline partners (other)

Below is a list of other airline codeshare partners with British Airways that you can earn and redeem Avios with.

• Aer Lingus
• Air Italy
• Alaska Airlines

Hotels & Accomodation Partners

• Accor Hotels (earn 2.5 Avios for every £2 to £4 pounds spent)
• Agoda.com (earn up to 10,000 Avios per night)
• Best Western Hotels and Resorts (earn 500 Avios per stay)
• Booking.com (earn 4 Avios for every £1 pounds spent)
• Fiesta Rewards (earn 2,000 Avios per stay, minimum 2 nights)
• Hotels.com (earn 6 Avios for every £1 pounds spent)
• Hyatt Hotels and Resorts (earn 500 Avios for each stay)
• InterContinental Hotels Group (earn 1 or 2 Avios for every $1 USD spent)
• Kaligo.com (earn 5 to 20 Avios for every £1 pounds spent)
• Langham Hospitality Group (earn 250 or 500 Avios per night, up to 3 nights)
• Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (earn 800 Avios per stay)
• Marriott International (earn 1 or 2 Avios for every $1 USD spent)
• Radisson Hotel Group (earn 500 Avios per stay)
• Rocketmiles (earn 1,000 to 10,000 Avios per night)
• Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts (earn 500 Avios for each stay)
• Trip.com (earn 3 Avios for every £1 pounds spent)

Cars Partners

• Avis (earn 500 or 750 Avios per rental, plus more Avios depending on how much is spent and how often you rent)
• Budget (earn 2 Avios for every £1 pounds, with a minimum of 250 Avios per rental)
• Maggiore (earn 2 Avios for every £1 pounds, with a minimum of 500 Avios per rental)

Credit Card

There are only a handful of airline partners that teamed up with credit card companies in Canada. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is one of those companies who offers a co-branded British Airways Visa Infinite Card, that you can directly earn Avios with. Below are the highlights of the credit card:

• $165 annual fee
• $75 fee for supplemental cardholders
• Earn 50,000 sign up bonus Avios (earn 15,000 Avios upon approval, earn 25,000 bonus Avios after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months and earn 10,000 bonus Avios for renewing after the first year)
• Earn 2 Avios for every $1 spent on all British Airways purchases
• Earn 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• Receive 10% off British Airways flights departing from Canada (when booking with this card)
• Receive a Companion Award Ticket (eVoucher) for a reward flight operated by British Airways (after spending $30,000 during a calendar year)
• Have at least $60,000 in personal annual income or $100,000 in annual household income

Credit Card Transfer Partners

Canadians actually have 3 different transfer partners to Avios, which is amazing. I top up my Executive account by watching for transfer bonuses throughout the year as well. For me, catching transfer bonuses is a must.

American Express Membership Rewards – transfer a minimum of 1,000 Membership Rewards points for 1,000 Avios, and in increments of 100 thereafter. The latest transfer bonus was for 30% bonus, but it has fluctuated between 25% – 50% in the past.

HSBC Rewards – transfer a minimum of 25,000 HSBC points for 10,000 Avios, and in increments of 10,000 thereafter. That is a 5:2 transfer ratio. In the fall, there was a 35% transfer bonus.

RBC Avion – transfer a minimum of 10,000 Avion points for 10,000 Avios, and in increments of 1 point thereafter. RBC usually offers a 30% or 50% transfer bonus, twice a year.

Household Accounts

Executive Club offers an amazing feature called the Household Account, which allows you to share Avios with up to 6 people in the same household. I definitely have a household account for my family and I recommend it to all families. It facilitates all family travel.

British Airways Destinations Departing from Canada

Note that due to the high taxes and fuel surcharges, I would not recommend redeeming your Avios with British Airways flights. However, if you are paying for the flight, below is a list of direct flights to and from Canada:

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)

• British Airways: London-Heathrow
• British Airways (seasonal): London–Gatwick

Vancouver International Airport (YVR)

• British Airways: London-Heathrow

Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)

• British Airways: London-Heathrow

Calgary International Airport (YYC)

• British Airways (seasonal): London-Heathrow