Your Complete Guide to the Barclays Avios Rewards Programme
Simon25 Mar 2025
Last Updated: 26 Oct 2026
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SimonLast Updated: 26 Oct 2026
Payday can be even sweeter if you know that the current account your wages are entering is earning you BA reward flights and free upgrades.
There are several ways to earn Avios by using a credit card, however, only one bank in the UK has current accounts that will give you this perk.
In 2021 Avios teamed up with Barclays to launch the Barclays Avios Rewards programme. Two of the bank’s current accounts now let you earn a chunk of Avios each month and a very attractive cabin upgrade voucher each year - making it easier to splash on business class and potentially saving you thousands.
You’ll need to have a well above average income or savings to qualify for the Barclays Premier or Barclays Personal Wealth current accounts but if you fit the criteria and you’re a keen Avios collector it’s certainly worth a look.
Barclays Avios Rewards is a current account perk. The Barclaycard Avios credit cards are a separate product: you earn Avios by spending on the card, not by holding an account. Here's how the two cards compare, checked on Barclaycard's Avios page in October 2026:
| Barclaycard Avios | Barclaycard Avios Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | £0 | £20 a month |
| Avios per £1 spent | 1 | 1.5 |
| Welcome bonus (new to Barclaycard) | 5,000 Avios on £1,000 spend in 3 months | 25,000 Avios on £3,000 spend in 3 months |
| Annual reward | Spend £20,000 in 12 months, then choose an upgrade voucher or 7,000 bonus Avios | Spend £10,000 in 12 months, then choose an upgrade voucher or 7,000 bonus Avios |
| Representative APR (variable) | 29.9% | 80.1% |
Representative APRs are based on a £1,200 credit limit, and the Avios Plus figure includes its £20 monthly fee. If you hold Barclays Avios Rewards and open an Avios Plus card, Barclays pays £5 a month back into your current account.
For the full card comparison, read our Barclaycard Avios card guide, and once you've earned a voucher, see how to use your upgrade voucher.
Unlike with rewards credit cards, you do not need to spend to earn. The perks are accrued just by having a relevant current account. Here’s what you get:
25,000 bonus Avios when you join Barclays and switch your current account from your existing bank to Barclays Premier or Personal Wealth within 90 days, using the Current Account Switcher Service.
2,500 bonus Avios when you join the Barclays Avios Rewards scheme if, for at least four months, you have held a Barclays Premier current account or a Barclays Personal Wealth current account.
1,500 Avios each month once you have joined the Barclays Avios Rewards programme (that’s 18,000 Avios per year).
After 12 months in the programme, with 12 monthly fees paid, you choose either a British Airways cabin upgrade voucher or 7,000 bonus Avios. You get this anniversary reward for every year you stay in the programme.
Membership comes through Assurant and DragonPass. You can use it for airport lounge or fast-track passes, or choose a meal voucher or spa treatment instead. Details checked on Barclays' Avios Rewards page in October 2026.
There’s a £12 per month fee for the Barclays Avios Rewards programme.
To qualify for Barclays Premier you have to have a pre-tax annual income of £75,000 going into your account. Though you can have a joint account, at least one of your salaries has to hit the £75,000 threshold individually; you can’t pool your resources.
To qualify for the Barclays Personal Wealth current account you must have at least £100,000 in savings or investments with Barclays.
If you have a joint account you will still only receive a single upgrade voucher each year.
The upgrade must be made on a British Airways-operated flight, so can’t be used on BA’s partner airlines in the Oneworld alliance, in the way that Avios usually can, nor on codeshare flights not operated by BA.
The upgrade must be on a BA reward flight (paid fully with Avios), not a flight paid partly or entirely with cash.
The upgrade can be used for business or premium economy seats but not first class. It is subject to reward flight availability in the class you’re booking, so you’ll still need to be canny with Reward Flight Finder (RFF).
As with a regular reward flight, you’ll still have to pay fees and taxes.
Once you’re a member, these additional Barclays financial products could boost your Avios collecting.
700 Avios each month, per mortgage, with a welcome bonus of 2,000 Avios when you take out a new mortgage.
200 Avios per month for a Barclayloan, with a minimum value of £5,000, plus 2,000 bonus Avios if it’s new.
500 Avios per month, for the first 12 months, for a life insurance policy that includes critical illness cover, or 150 Avios per month for a life insurance policy that does not. This reward isn't available to Barclays Wealth clients.
If you have a Barclays Premier or Barclays Personal Wealth current account and are receiving a healthy 18,000 Avios per year, then with a few extra Avios, after 12 months you could already have enough for a European break. (As of October 2026, an off-peak Economy return from London to Amsterdam costs from 20,000 Avios plus £5 in taxes and fees, according to our Avios Calculator.)
The annual upgrade voucher is the most valuable perk, however, as that’s worth potentially thousands.
The voucher is valid for travel within 24 months of issue, which means you must have booked your flight and made at least your outbound journey before it expires.
When you book your BA reward flights you will be charged for the price in Avios of the cabin below. This means you could book:
Business Class (Club Europe) for the Avios price of Economy (Euro traveller).
Or, where Premium Economy is available, business class (Club World) for the price of Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus), or Premium Economy for the Avios price of Economy (World Traveller).
You can redeem your upgrade voucher on a return flight for one person or one leg of a flight for two people. You can gift the upgraded flight to someone else if you wish, so long as the voucher holder makes the booking.
It depends on how you use it and what matters most to you - saving Avios or improving your flying experience. You save more Avios if you travel off-peak. You pay more taxes and charges the higher the cabin you fly in.
If you normally fly economy, upgrading to Premium Economy is a small jump in the flying experience with a bit more space. If you normally fly Premium Economy, upgrading to business class is a much bigger leap, with access to lounges, much more space, a fully flat bed, and much better food and wine.
Using the popular London to New York route, a business class return ticket currently costs around £6000. Booking a reward seat in premium economy and upgrading to business class using the voucher (paying the taxes and charges of a business class ticket) is likely to save you several thousand. Definitely worth it.
If you’re redeeming your Avios on BA reward flights you will need to know which services there are reward seats available.
You can use the British Airways reward flight finder on ba.com and search for the dates you want to travel but you’ll find it easier to check availability for the coming 12 months in one place using Reward Flight Finder (RFF).
New reward seats can be released at any time, so to avoid missing out you can have Reward Flight Finder (RFF) working away for you in the background by setting up an alert on Reward Flight Finder (RFF).
You will need to sync your Premier or Wealth bank account with your Avios. To do this, make sure you’re signed up to the free British Airways Club, and then opt into Barclays Avios Rewards via the Barclays app.
You’ll also have to agree to go paperless for all your Barclays accounts and services and, if you are signed up to Barclays Blue Rewards, switch to Barclays Avios Rewards – you can’t do both.
Remember, there are many factors beyond reward perks to consider when choosing a new bank account or other financial services, so always seek independent accredited advice.
Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. You should seek separate specialist advice if unsure. Opinions are based primarily on the ability to earn Avios. RFF discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself.
