airberlin launches its new fully-flat seat for your low-tax redemptions

I have written a few pieces about airberlin recently because they offer an excellent way to redeem your Avios without paying extreme taxes.  Yes, you need to hub through Germany to travel with them, but you will still make a large saving.

I wrote here about how I recently booked a one-way in Business Class from New York to Berlin for just £1.50 of taxes!

There is even better news to come.  Abu Dhabi airline Etihad has a 29% stake in airberlin and a codeshare deal.  airberlin is now rolling out Etihad’s fully-flat (ie horizontal) business class seat.  This will replace the current sloping version.

Here is the seat:

It is certainly an improvement on the current sloping seat.

The new seats, not surprisingly, will be used on the Abu Dhabi routes first.  This allows connecting Etihad passengers to get the same seat all the way through.  Over the next year or so, though, they should be rolled out across the airberlin long-haul fleet.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.