Bits: Norwegian launches Buenos Aires, two Avios wine deals ending

News in brief:

Norwegian launches Buenos Aires from Gatwick

If you follow our Instagram feed, you’ll know that Anika is currently in New York testing out Norwegian’s Premium cabin.  We should get that review up in the next couple of weeks.

If it turns out well, you may be tempted to try out Norwegian’s latest route launch – Buenos Aires. 

The service is due to launch in February 2018.  There will be four flights per week on a new Boeing 787, and the lead-in economy fare is £299 each way.

This will be the second non-US route for Norwegian from Gatwick following the recent announcement that flights to Singapore will begin in late September.  It takes their total number of long-haul routes from London to nine.

Perhaps the British Airways paranoia about Norwegian is not entirely misplaced, although the airline is still losing money (albeit you would expect that as new routes take time to build up) and it remains to be seen how it would survive a return to high oil prices.

Two Avios-earning Laithwaites wine deals about to end

Both British Airways Executive Club and avios.com are running generous Avios-earning deals with wine group Laithwaites at the moment.  Both deals end on 30th June so you need to jump in now if you want to take advantage.

The deals are slightly different depending on what freebies you want.

The avios.com deal is here.   You receive:

A 12-bottle wine case, chosen from seven options between £52 and £58

2 Dartington wine tumbers worth £15

1,000 Avios points (250 Avios points if you are an existing Laithwaite’s customer)

Free delivery

The British Airways Executive Club deal is here.  You receive:

A 12-bottle wine case, chosen from seven options between £52 and £58

3 free bottles of rioja worth £36

1,000 Avios points (250 Avios points if you are an existing Laithwaite’s customer)

Free delivery

The only difference is whether you take the free rioja or the free tumblers.  Remember that you’ll need to give a BAEC number if you take the rioja and an avios.com account number if you take the tumblers.

Either way, there is one snag you need to deal with.

By ordering, you are signing yourself up to Laithwaite’s Wine Plan.  Every 8-12 weeks they will automatically send you another 12-bottle wine case.  It is very easy to stop this happening – simply amend your account online or give Laithwaite’s a call to cancel your Wine Plan membership, there is no penalty – but you must trust yourself to remember.

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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.