Can I earn Avios and BA tier points if I fly with Vueling?

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In this article we’ll look at how you can earn Avios and British Airways tier points by flying with Vueling, and whether it’s worth it compared to flying British Airways.

Vueling is a Spanish-based low-cost airline equivalent to easyJet or Ryanair that belongs to International Airlines Group (IAG), which also owns British Airways and Iberia.

There are three ways of earning Avios with Vueling.

Option 1:

It is possible to earn Avios on Vueling via Vueling Club, their frequent flyer program, which also uses the Avios rewards currency. This makes it very convenient for earning Avios and crediting them to your Executive Club account. This is the logical option for most people.

Unlike British Airways and Iberia, you earn Avios per € spent rather than per mile flown. This makes it a revenue-based system.

As you can see on the Vueling website here, you earn 3 Avios per €1 spent on a Basic fare and 4 Avios per €1 on all other fare classes.

You need to open a Vueling Club account on the website. Once your flight has been taken, Avios will be added to your account. You can access this account via avios.com and use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move the points to British Airways Executive Club.

Option 2:

Some Vueling flights are codeshares with British Airways. This means that they can be booked via ba.com and your flight will carry a British Airways flight code. In this case you will earn Avios directly in your British Airways Executive Club account and earn tier points. Fares are likely to be higher than you will find at vueling.com however.

When you book or manage your flights with Vueling, you will be able to add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

Option 3:

There is an exception to this. If you book Optima fares on Vueling, you can choose to earn Avios using a traditional miles-based system rather than based on spending. To do so, you must use an Iberia Plus account number, though you can later transfer your Avios to your British Airways Executive Club account using the free ‘Combine my Avios’ tool. These are the earning rates:

Vueling flight carrying an Iberia (IB) flight number:

Economy Flexible – 1 Avios per mile flown (min 500)
Economy Classic – 0.5 Avios per mile flown (min 250)
Economy Basic – 0.25 Avios per mile flown (min 125)

and on flights with a Vueling (VY) flight number:

Economy Flexible – 1 Avios per mile flown (min 500)
Optima Class – 0.5 Avios per mile flown (min 250)
Basic Class – 0.25 Avios per mile flown (min 125)

Depending on your flight length and ticket cost, it may make more sense to use the Iberia Plus earning rates rather than the revenue-based system that Vueling normally offers. Unfortunately, you need to do the maths for every flight to find out which would earn you more, as there is no easy blanket statement for which will earn you more Avios.

Do I earn tier points?

Unfortunately, and despite belonging to the same group of companies as British Airways, you will not earn any British Airways tier points flying Vueling and doing so will not help you gain elite status with British Airways Executive Club. This is because Vueling is not a member of the oneworld airline alliance.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works. You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 1.8 million monthly page views. Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios? Click here to read our latest news stories, click here to join our email list and click here to read our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series.)

How to get 20,000 Avios from Amex Gold or 30,000 Avios from Amex Platinum (December 2021 offer)

The sign-up bonus on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold converts to 20,000 Avios and the card is free for the first year. You can apply here.

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

You don’t qualify for the Amex Gold bonus if you have a British Airways American Express card. You DO qualify for the bonus on The Platinum Card, which converts into 30,000 Avios. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

If you have your own small business, the best way of earning Avios is via the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa. It has a sign-up bonus which converts to 10,000 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 look at the British Airways Accelerating Business card, because it currently has a limited time offer of 60,000 Avios when you sign up by 14th November. You can apply here.