Earn BA Avios and tier points with Vueling – and summary of UK Vueling flights

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Vueling is the little known sister of British Airways and Iberia. International Airlines Group, the parent of BA and Iberia, took full control of the Spanish low cost carrier last year.

The airline operates a one-class service with a fleet of, primarily, Airbus A320 aircraft. There are no long-haul flights and no business class seats. The main base is in Barcelona with a secondary main base in Rome. There are a large number of tertiary bases where a small number of aircraft (2-4) are based.

From the UK, Vueling flies:

Heathrow Terminal 3 – A Coruna / Galicia, Bilbao

Gatwick – Barcelona, Bilbao, Florence

Cardiff – Alicante, Barcelona, Majorca, Malaga, Seville

Edinburgh – Barcelona

Until Thursday, Vueling was a partner with Iberia Plus but not British Airways. This meant:

you could earn Avios flying Vueling but they had to be credited to Iberia Plus

you could redeem Avios on Vueling but you could only book via Iberia Plus

This is now changing.

Starting immediately, British Airways is becoming a codeshare partner on Vueling routes to or from Italy, including domestic Italian flights, and all Vueling routes to or from the UK.

Vueling flights from Spain or other bases, except for those which come to the UK, are not included. You will not earn BA Avios on those flights although you can credit them to Iberia Plus.

You can see the earning rate for Vueling here at ba.com near the bottom of the page.

It is NOT generous. You only receive 25% of miles flown compared to 100% on BA economy. You WILL earn tier points – for many people this will be more valuable than the handful of miles.

Note that if you book Vueling flights on ba.com or iberia.com your ticket includes a free suitcase. This is not the case if you book directly on the Vueling website – but your ticket may be cheaper at vueling.com for this reason.

At present you still cannot redeem BA Avios for Vueling flights. Those will need to be done via Iberia Plus.

One thing that is not clear is whether booking a codeshare, and so having a BA flight number on your ticket, gets BA Silver and Gold ticket holders into the Heathrow T3, Gatwick and Edinburgh lounges?

Vueling is pronounced ‘bwelin’, if you were wondering ….

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:

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: