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Have you been given 2019 free Avios from British Airways?

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It looks like British Airways has kicked off its 100th birthday celebrations, although it has been kept very much wraps.

At noon yesterday BA launched its special ‘£200 return’ flights to selected destinations in Economy / World Traveller.  This deal will run until Thursday, with two new destinations launched each day at noon.

More interesting, however, is the 2019 Avios which are mysteriously appearing in British Airways Executive Club accounts.

Some people – and my wife and I are NOT among them – received 2,018 Avios from British Airways on their birthday last year.  It isn’t clear what you had to do to receive these (my wife and I are both BA Gold) but we clearly didn’t do it!

If you received 2,018 birthday Avios from BA last year on your birthday, it seems that you should have received 2,019 Avios from British Airways yesterday to celebrate BA’s 100th birthday.

Why? Who knows?  It is a generous gesture, although now you’ve read about this – and realised that you haven’t got them – the net balance of ‘people who now feel happier towards BA’ versus ‘people who now feel grumpier towards BA’ may not be positive ….


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 (118)

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

  • Carl says:

    I got the 2018 birthday points but not the 2019 bonus. I’m bronze and in charge of a household account.

    • Carl says:

      Actually just refreshed my app and I have also had the 2019 bonus, it didn’t show up yesterday though and I never received an email about it so had assumed I’d not got it.

  • Nadine P says:

    Yes I received 2018 points in December for my birthday and 2019 a few days ago. Thought it was a mistake so thanks for writing about it

  • William Kerr says:

    no bonus for me – however best Avios bonuses , though unrelated to this post , were taking all personal insurances with Alan Boswell Group – house, car and motorbike, through HFP recommendation, and in each case getting sizeable Avios handouts – on renewals too ! – last bonus was 7500

    • Rob says:

      Boswell is relaunching soon as a BA partner. They got caught when the Avios scheme closed but they are in the process of moving across.

      • Roberto says:

        Still awaiting for 5000 avios from Boswell. I seem to be getting the run around.

        Purchased in October

  • Serena Wilson says:

    Sorry folks – I got 2018 AND 2019 birthday points about a week apart a few days ago.

  • David says:

    No 2018 or 2019 points for me

  • John M says:

    I’ve just received the 2019 points. I’m a silver member.

  • Olly says:

    I looked online on my BAEC account (blue) and there was no birthday bonus. However I’ve just opened the app, and although no Avios bonus at first, having done a few actions on the app when I returned to the home screen there are 2019 more Avios than a minute before. Go into the app in case that is the key!

  • j kelly says:

    I just called BA to find our what their criteria was for this bonus and was told it was a ‘mistake’ on BA’s part and related to a promotion to be held later this year.

    I also asked why I did not receive a bday bonus last year and was told it was given to a targeted group last year whose bdays were between July-Dec.

    Gold member

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