Avios credit cards in the UK compared

What the Barclaycard Avios cards earn and cost

The Barclaycard Avios page names two consumer cards, the Barclaycard Avios card and the Barclaycard Avios Plus card. [2] For the Avios card the representative example shows 29.9% APR variable, a 29.9% purchase rate and a £0 monthly fee, based on a £1,200 credit limit, and Barclaycard says it may instead offer an APR of 31.9% variable depending on the individual's circumstances. [2]

The Avios card collects 1 Avios for every £1 spent on eligible purchases. [2] Earning applies to purchases, balance transfers and money transfers within the credit limit, but not to the transactions that make up the cash balance, such as cash withdrawals, wire transfers and buying currency, and not to transactions that are later returned or refunded. [2] Spending above the agreed credit limit collects no Avios, while qualifying purchases made abroad do collect Avios. [2]

A 5,000 Avios welcome bonus is offered to customers who are new to Barclaycard if they spend £1,000 in the first three months. [2] Existing Barclaycard customers who change to an Avios card get a different amount: 1,000 Avios on the Avios card after spending at least £1,000 within three months of receiving it, or 5,000 Avios on the Avios Plus card after spending at least £3,000 within three months. [2] The welcome bonus can be collected only once, a customer switching between the two Avios cards is not eligible for a second one, and no bonus is paid if the spending target is missed. [2]

The card must be linked to a British Airways Club membership, which Barclaycard will set up if the applicant does not have one, and only one Club membership can be linked to a card. [2] Avios collected on the card are transferred to that account monthly, arriving on the second working day of the following month, and the balance can also be checked in the Barclays or Barclaycard app. [2]

The annual spend voucher

Spending £20,000 on the card within 12 months lets the cardholder choose between a British Airways cabin upgrade voucher for an Avios Reward Flight booking and 7,000 bonus Avios. [2] One cabin upgrade voucher can be collected for every 12-month period in which the spending target is reached. [2]

The voucher moves a booking up by one cabin class where a higher cabin is available, and a booking cannot be upgraded to First with it. [2] It must be used at the point of booking an Avios Reward Flight and cannot be added to an existing booking, the Club member must make the booking, and travel must begin within 24 months of the voucher being issued; taxes, fees and carrier charges per person still apply. [2] Once redeemed, the voucher can take up to five working days to appear in the Club account, where it is listed under member vouchers rather than in the Barclays or British Airways apps. [2] The Club also says a Barclays upgrade voucher can be used to upgrade between cabins on an Avios-only flight, subject to availability, at the same upgrade price as a standard Reward Flight. [4]

Using the Avios in the Club

Avios can be spent on flights, upgrades, hotel stays and car hire. [2] A Reward Flight pairs a fixed Avios amount with a fixed cash amount covering taxes, fees and carrier charges on British Airways flights; the Club quotes Europe from £5 and 20,000 Avios and destinations further afield from £150 and 55,000 Avios, with Club World from 154,000 Avios and £350 return, all examples correct as of May 2026. [4] On partner airlines the cash amount is variable rather than fixed. [4] Barclaycard's own examples, correct as of June 2026, are 20,000 Avios plus £5 for an off-peak economy return between London and Paris and 44,000 Avios plus £40 for an off-peak Club Europe return between London and Rome. [2]

Reward seats are not unlimited: British Airways guarantees at least eight economy, two premium economy and four business reward seats on its Heathrow and Gatwick flights, and two business and two economy seats on its London City flights, while all reward bookings remain subject to availability and capacity controls. [4] [7] Part of a balance can also be paid with Avios part payment from as little as 1,000 Avios. [4] Barclaycard notes that Reward Flight Saver eligibility requires at least 1 Avios collected in the past 12 months. [2] Avios can be moved between the Club account and Iberia Club, AerClub, Loganair Loyalty, Vueling Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club or Finnair Plus accounts, as often as the member likes. [5]

Exceptions and limits

• Approval and pricing. Acceptance depends on the applicant's financial circumstances and borrowing history, the rate offered may differ from the representative rate, and applicants must be 18 or over; the eligibility check does not affect a credit score. [2]
• Bonus conditions. The welcome bonus is paid once, is not paid on a switch between the two Avios cards, and money already spent on an existing Avios card does not count toward the spending targets for the new card. [2]
• Figures not published.
• Expiry. If a member has not collected, spent, purchased or transferred Avios for 36 consecutive months, all Avios accrued expire and the membership ends automatically. [7]
• Booking rules. Reward bookings are subject to availability and capacity controls, must be booked at least 24 hours before departure, and changes and cancellations normally carry a service fee; a cancellation must be made at least 24 hours before the first flight to qualify for a refund. [7] [4]
• Linked programme. Only one Club membership can be linked to a card, so a household with two cardholders cannot pool both cards into separate linked memberships on the same card account. [2]

Related pages

Programmes: Barclaycard Avios, British Airways American Express. Background: Avios, card selection framework, frequent flyer glossary.

Sources

Sources checked on 18 October 2026. The comparison covers Barclaycard's UK consumer Avios cards and the British Airways Club rules that apply to the Avios they produce; the British Airways American Express cards, HSBC cards, business Avios cards and Avios cards issued outside the UK are not covered here, and their terms are not published in the sources checked. [2] Reward examples carry the dates their issuers gave them: May 2026 for the Club and June 2026 for Barclaycard. [4] [2]

1. Barclaycard Avios card page and frequently asked questions, checked 18 October 2026
2. The British Airways Club: Reward Flights, checked 18 October 2026
3. The British Airways Club: Transfer your Avios, checked 18 October 2026
4. The British Airways Club terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026