On Wednesday, British Airways announced a bonus offer enabling customers to earn up to 550 additional points per flight based on their cabin class will be extended for the rest of the year.

Rob Burgess, founder of the frequent-flyer website Head for Points, said: “With a Gold card now available for just over one-and-a-half £12,000 fully flexible Club World return flights to New ...

Canny frequent flyers can take advantage of such anomalies and acquire status without spending a fortune. But British Airways is now aligning status with spend – at a rate of one tier point per £1.

Now, as the Avios.com scheme closes down, a British Airways Executive Club account will be created for Avios customers who don't currently have one, and points balance will be transferred over.

Frequent flyer programs, coupled with rewards credit cards, are very profitable for airlines. For example, Delta’s latest annual report shows last year that the company earned US$5.7 billion ...