Flybe joining Avios – 13 key questions answered

I put out an extra article yesterday to cover the announcement that Flybe is abandoning its own reward scheme and will be awarding Avios points from Monday 27th October.

Today I want to run through some of the key questions and answers that you may have.  Flybe put out its own FAQ as well although you’ll find it doesn’t answer the questions in the same way as I do!

How many Avios will I earn when I use Flybe?

Not many.  The cheaper ‘Just Fly’ and ‘Get More’ ticket types earn 2 per £1 / €1 spent.  ‘All In’ flexible tickets earn 4 per £1 / €1.

However, this excludes ‘Government charges’.   It is not clear what they mean by this.  I looked at a £120 return flight from Southampton to Hamburg.

The base fare is £65.  You definitely earn Avios on this.

Air Passenger Duty is £13 in the UK and £5.90 in Germany.  There is also a £3.20 German security tax  You definitely do NOT earn Avios on this.

What about the £10.86 of Southampton Airport fees or the £7.60 of Hamburg Airport fees?  These are NOT ‘Government charges’ after all.

More interestingly, what about the £14 of ‘fuel surcharge’ which goes straight into Flybe’s pocket?

You definitely will not earn 240 Avios from a £120 Flybe ticket.  You will earn at least 130 Avios (base fare of £65 x 2) and possibly as many as 196, depending on what Flybe decides to count as part of the fare.

You will NOT earn Avios points on additional charges such as baggage fees.

Remember that British Airways will give you a minimum of 500 Avios per flight so you earn at least 1,000 on a return trip.  Flybe will be substantially less lucrative than flying BA.

When do I receive my Avios?

Here is an interesting titbit.  Unlike every other airline I can think of, you will only receive your points when you have flown your return journey.  The outbound points will not be posted after the flight.

If you miss one flight on your itinerary, you will forfeit your Avios points for the entire trip.

Can I earn Avios in British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus?

No.  You can only credit a Flybe flight to avios.com. The only exception is if you have booked a British Airways codeshare with Flybe under a BA flight number.  You can credit such flights to BAEC.

Since you cannot credit Flybe flights to BAEC, you clearly cannot earn tier points or any status bonus.  The gap between what you would earn on a BA flight and what you would earn on a Flybe flight is a bigger if you have BA status because of the lack of status bonus.

Avios earned in avios.com can be moved across to British Airways Executive Club free and instantly via ‘Combine My Avios’.

Can I redeem Avios points for Flybe flights on ba.com or iberia.com?

No.  Flybe redemptions can only be booked via avios.com.  You will need to use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move your points across.

How many Avios will I need for a reward flight on Flybe?

The same rules apply as for other airlines.  Flights under 650 miles per leg will cost 4,500 Avios points per leg and flights up to 1,150 miles will cost 7,500 points.

Can I get Reward Flight Saver on Flybe flights?

No.  This is going to make many Flybe redemptions poor value for money.  Take a look at my other post today for some examples.

Will Avios redemption seats on Flybe include a luggage allowance?

Yes.  When booking you will see this message:  “Please note that your ticket will state 0PC for baggage allowance. However, these fare types are inclusive of 20kgs of checked baggage, in one bag only”.

What are cancellation fees for Flybe redemptions?

Good question.  Avios.com states “In the event of cancellation, Flybe will charge a refund administration fee of GBP25.00 per person per sector. This fee will be deducted from any refund amount due to you.”   As it is ‘per sector’ a return trip has a £50 fee.

This contradicts the Flybe FAQ page – “If you choose to cancel your booking outside of 24 hours before departure you can do so by contacting AVIOS on 0844 49 333 99. The cost to cancel is £35.00 per person per flight and your AVIOS will be re-credited to your account.”

I am guessing that avios.com will change its wording on 27th October and that the fee will be £35 per return flight.

I live outside the UK.  How can I redeem Avios for Flybe flights?

You can’t, because avios.com membership is for UK residents only.

Nothing stops you opening an account with a fake UK address, of course.  ‘Combine My Avios’ should still work as long as your name, email address and date of birth match your BAEC account.

I used to collect Rewards4All points but I live outside the UK.  Can I earn Avios points?

No, see above.  Your loyalty is no longer required!

Can my Rewards4All points be turned into Avios?

No.  This is a poor decision in my opinion and will lead to an unnecessary backlash.

The only upside is that, until January 9th, you can still choose Rewards4All points instead of Avios points.  This will allow you to build up to the exact number you need for a specific redemption.

You need to redeem your Rewards4All points by 31st March or they will be lost.  The last date to fly a redemption will be 31st October.

I currently redeem Rewards4All points for Flybe lounge access?  Will I able to use Avios for this?

It seems not.

What happens to my Flybe credit card?

See my other article today.  They are launching a new reward scheme just for the credit card.

Why does Flybe insist on spelling Avios as AVIOS?

I genuinely have no idea …..

If you want to know more, the Flybe home page for their Avios information is here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.