Bits: new Avios / Avis promo, South America bargains, flights to St Helena launched

News in brief:

New British Airways / Avis promotion

Until 30th June, you will earn 750 bonus Avios points when you rent a car for 2+ days from Avis.

This is on top of the standard minimum earning rate of 500 Avios per rental, meaning that you will earn at least 1,250 Avios with your car.  If you pay with a BA Amex you will also receive an extra 250 Avios.

The only snag is that you need to book before 30th April (although cancellable bookings also count for the offer so there is no risk in making a speculative booking) and book at least a Group C car.

Anyone who books a car via Avis using the BA deal before 30th April will also be entered into a free draw to win 50,000 Avios points.

Remember that one key benefit of the Avis / BA relationship is that you receive a free additional driver when you book via the dedicated site.  This can be a good saving – to be honest, I have never understood why adding a 2nd driver, which should make for safer driving as can split your time behind the wheel, attracts a premium price.

Decent Alitalia business class fares to Asia and South America

Alitalia has been running a sale this week, ending on Monday.  What caught my eye were the fares to South America and Asia in business class.

Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile are all £1,499 return.  This is for high season Autumn travel, between 12th September and 16th December.  Not many people will be able to commit that far ahead but these are decent fares, given that they are for London departures via Italy.  You won’t earn Avios however – if you wanted to get some British Airways tier points out of a trip to South America you would need to look at LAN, or of course BA.

Flights to St Helena launched

If you’re looking for a different holiday destination, you can now consider the tiny British Overseas Territory of St Helena.

In five weeks, Atlantic Star Airlines is launching direct flights from Luton to St Helena (via a refuelling stop in Banjul, Gambia).  The first flight departs on 22nd May although the next service is not until 5th June …. so unless you are planning a lengthy stay I’d recommend coming back via the Comair service to Johannesburg.  The only other route off the island is a five day boat trip to Cape Town.

Tickets will go on sale next week.  Services will be operated with a short-haul Boeing 737-800 under contract from TUIfly and will carry TUIfly flight numbers.  The launch of services coincides with the opening of St Helena’s airport on 21st May which will be conducted by Prince Edward.