British Airways Executive Club launches ‘birthday bonus’ – up to 30,000 Avios

British Airways Executive Club has launched a ‘birthday bonus’ promotion – although if your birthday isn’t in February you won’t have heard about it!

This is actually quite a clever one, I think.

Reader Kevin, who sent me this, has his birthday in February.  On Monday he received an email offering him a big Avios bonus if he booked a flight before 31st December to take in the month of his birthday.

The bonuses are:

• European economy return – 4,000 Avios
• European Club Europe return – 8,000 Avios
• Long-haul economy or World Traveller Plus return – 15,000 Avios
• Long-haul Club World return – 30,000 Avios

Here is another interesting one – the bonus is valid on cash, Avios and ‘Avios and money’ bookings.

This represents an excellent deal, especially for the solo traveller.  (The bonus is per booking, not per person, so it is worth more to a single traveller.)  On a short European flight, you would be getting 4,000 Avios back after spending just 9,000.

And on a long-haul economy flight to the Middle East or New York, you would be getting 15,000 Avios back after spending just 40,000.

If buying a ticket for cash, the ‘sweet spot’ is the 15,000 Avios points for a long-haul trip.  If you could bag a cheap enough ticket, the bonus Avios – plus the Avios from the flight itself – could effectively make the flight almost free!

For those of us without a February birthday (and perhaps only a few of those were targetted) we will have to wait and see if this promo continues.

The bonus is strictly targetted, with the bonus Avios posting in arrears, presumably after BA manually works through a list of people who were invited to see where they travelled. 

You only get the bonus on one flight, but if you take multiple flights during your birthday month, you get the highest bonus to which you would have been entitled.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)