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Free transfer of Avios – Gold members do NOT need to be in a household account

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new ‘transfer your Avios to someone else’ scheme launched by British Airways.

In summary:

A Gold Guest List or Premier BA member can transfer – free – up to 162,000 Avios per year to other people, up to a maximum of 27,000 each

A Gold British Airways member can transfer – free – up to 162,000 Avios per year to people who are on their ‘Family & Friends list

Family

‘Family & Friends’ is part of the Household Account structure on ba.com.  If you are in a household account, you can only redeem your Avios for either other members of the household or one of the six people on your ‘Family & Friends’ list.

When British Airways launched ‘transfer your Avios to your ‘Family & Friends for free’, I automatically assumed that you would have to be in a Household Account to take part.

This was wrong.

You can now set up a ‘Family & Friends’ list even if you do not have a Household Account. 

This means that, if you are a British Airways Executive Club Gold member, you can now transfer your Avios points for free to other people without having to be in a Household Account.

I am still not desperately sure that this new ba.com feature has much merit.  However, it will – for example – allow me to top-up my Mum’s account to a level where it can be zero’d out.  It will also open up a market for Gold members who want to break the scheme rules and make a few quid by selling Avios points in 27,000 Avios chunks to other people …..

If you are a BA Gold and want to take advantage of a free Avios transfer to someone else, you can set up a ‘Family & Friends’ list here.


How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 BA Amex American Express card

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 BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

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:

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

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 card

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.)

Comments (3)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Rohan says:

    May it also allow for ‘win avios’ competition on a certain popular avios blog ? 😉

  • Andrew says:

    It will be interesting to see the “market rate” for avios on ebay 🙂

  • danksy says:

    I had a look earlier, seems to be between 1p and 1.25p per avios, so not good value IMHO (unless you are buying to redeem for F or J ticket !) Also… not worth the risk of breaking the T&C’s and the risk of losing your Avios!

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.