BA Balance Boost deal: Multiply Avios earned in 2025 and 2026 YTD by up to 5X

British Airways Balance Boost allows members to double, triple, or quadruple any British Airways Avios they have earned in the past 30 days, for a fee.

At the start of each year, however, British Airways usually runs a special promotion that significantly expands the “boost window”, and increases the maximum boost multiplier. We last saw such an offer in early 2025, and now a new promotion is underway.

Unlike the year-round Balance Boost, this promotion allows members to boost all Avios earned between 1 January 2025 and 6 February 2026. Furthermore, members can boost this amount by up to 5X, buying Avios at 1.2 US cents each (1.53 SG cents).

This is notably stronger than last year’s offer, not just because of the bigger multiplier (2025: 4X), but also because the weakening USD has reduced the effective cost per mile (2025: 1.63 SG cents). 

Despite the recent British Airways devaluation, there are still sweet spots for which buying Avios at this price could make sense. 

BA Balance Boost promotion

Boost Avios

From now till 7 February 2026, 7.59 a.m SGT, British Airways is running a Balance Boost promotion that makes two big changes from the status quo:

• Members can boost Avios earned for the whole of 2025, as well as 1 January to 6 February 2026, instead of just the past 30 days
• You can boost your Avios by 4X or 5X, instead of the usual maximum of 3X

The cost per Avios for the 4 or 5X multiplier is the same as that of the year-round 3X multiplier.

As a reminder, once you boost more than 300,000 Avios (referring to the post-boost amount), the price per Avios becomes very unattractive, so stay below this threshold. 

You can see how many Avios are eligible for boosting by logging into your account, clicking Buy Avios, then Balance Boost. Here’s what I see in my account. 

I’ve really not been using British Airways Club much over the past year, so I have just 250 Avios available for boosting!

This is a reminder that unlike traditional miles purchase offers, BA Balance Boost doesn’t let you generate miles out of thin air. You can only boost whatever Avios have been credited to your account during the eligible period— no activity, no boost. 

Assuming I took the 5X option, I would be purchasing 1,250 Avios at a cost of US$15, or 1.2 US cents (1.53 SG cents) each.

It’s worth reiterating that you can only boost transactions that have not been boosted before, so if you took advantage of BA Balance Boost on a given amount of Avios prior to the launch of this promotion, that amount will not be eligible.

Boosted Avios are usually credited instantly.

What Avios qualifies for Balance Boost?

Here’s a list of Avios transactions that can be boosted. 

In the Singapore context, AMEX, Citi and HSBC points transfers can all be boosted, but HeyMax and OCBC cannot. 

If you intend to convert credit card points to take advantage of this promotion, do note that only HSBC offers instant transfers (OCBC does too, but isn’t eligible for Balance Boost). AMEX and Citi transfers typically 24-48 hours, so act sooner rather than later.

The Avios “hub-and-spoke” model

As a reminder, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways all share the same Avios currency. Avios can be instantly transferred amongst these programmes at a 1:1 ratio, with no conversion fees.

You’ll need to route everything through the “hub” of British Airways Executive Club. For example, if you want to transfer Qatar Avios to Finnair Avios, you would first transfer Qatar to British Airways, then British Airways to Finnair.

Therefore, this promotion effectively allows you to purchase other “flavours” of Avios as well. 

What can you redeem with British Airways Avios?

British Airways Club recently carried out an Avios devaluation, which saw most award costs increasing by around 10%.

However, there are still some worthwhile redemptions, such as:

• Economy Class awards below 650 miles (excluding CX & JL): 6,500 Avios
• Finnair Business Class from Singapore to Helsinki: 62,500 Avios 
• Qatar Airways Business Class awards from Singapore to Europe: 70,000 to 75,000 Avios

By transferring Avios to other programmes, you can also tap additional sweet spots, as highlighted in the table below.

What credit card should I use to boost Avios?

BA Balance Boost transactions are processed through Points.com in USD (for Singapore-based accounts) under MCC 4722 (Travel Agencies), instead of the usual MCC 7399.

Here are the best cards to maximize the miles earned on your purchase:

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DCS Imperium Card Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$4K FCY spend per c. month, otherwise 2.4 mpd
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month
Maybank XL Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Min S$500 per c. month, max S$1K per c. month
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$750 per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min S$1K, max S$1.2K FCY spend per s. month
StanChart Beyond Card Apply	3-4 mpd	3 mpd for regular, 3.5 mpd for PB, 4 mpd for PP. No cap
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	3.2 mpd	Min. S$4K per c. month, no cap. Earn 2.8 mpd with min. S$800 per c. month
Maybank Visa Infinite Apply	3.2 mpd	Min. S$4K per c. month, no cap, otherwise 2 mpd
StanChart Visa Infinite Apply	3 mpd	Min S$2K per s. month, no cap, otherwise 1 mpd
BOC Elite Miles Card Apply	2.8 mpd	No min. spend or cap
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Apply	2.8 mpd	Min S$800 per c. month, no cap, otherwise 1.2 mpd
S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month

What about Citi PayAll?

Another way of buying British Airways Avios would be through the Citi PayAll service, which is available to Citi cardholders with a 2.6% fee.

From 18 November 2025 to 28 February 2026, Citi is offering eligible cardholders a 0.5% fee rebate, provided they charge at least S$6,000 of Citi PayAll payments. The rebate is capped at S$750 per customer, equivalent to S$150,000 of payments.

Citi PayAll promo: Pay bills with 2.1% admin fee and buy miles from 1.31 cents

Here’s what that means for the cost per mile on the four eligible Citi cards.

Card	Earn Rate	Admin Fee	Cost Per Mile
Citi ULTIMA	1.6 mpd	2.1%	1.31¢
Citi Prestige Apply	1.3 mpd	2.1%	1.62¢
Citi Premier Miles  Apply	1.2 mpd	2.1%	1.75¢
Citi Rewards Apply	0.4 mpd	2.1%	5.25¢

Therefore, it can be cheaper buying Avios through Citi PayAll— but only if you’re a Citi ULTIMA Cardholder. The minimum income requirement for this card is S$500,000 per year, so safe to say it won’t be an option for most people!

Conclusion

British Airways is now offering a limited-time enhancement to its BA Balance Boost feature, allowing the boosting of all Avios earned from 2025 and early 2026 by up to 5X. This is equivalent to buying miles at 1.53 SG cents each, a relatively low price compared to what we see during regular points sales.

Buying miles can be useful for redeeming sweet spots with British Airways Club, Qatar Privilege Club, Finnair Plus or any other Avios-denominated loyalty programme. That said, do not buy Avios (or indeed any loyalty currency) speculatively; only do so if you have a definite redemption in mind. No-notice devaluations can and do happen, which would leave you high and dry.