How to pay just £26 instead of £35 for your Reward Flight Saver redemptions

A couple of months ago, the Avios rewards programme launched in South Africa.  I didn’t write anything about it, because it didn’t seen relevant.  However, it did give us the Avios / Facebook game a few weeks ago, which was playable by UK residents until Avios restricted it.

The Avios South Africa programme works in the same way as the UK one.  There is a petrol partner (BP), a credit card and a supermarket partner (Pick’n’Pay).  You can redeem for BA flights, both on BA and BA’s South African franchise partner, Comair, in the usual way.

Here is the key thing to know.  As far as the Avios computer is concerned, the UK and South African programmes are the same.  There is no restriction on transferring Avios points from Avios South Africa to British Airways, or vice versa.

Why would you sign up for the Avios South Africa programme?

Because ….

You can book the standard range of British Airways flights via the Avios South Africa website …

Charged in South African Rand …

At a very favourable rate ….!

Take a look at the following screenshot.  It shows London to Paris, booked via Avios South Africa.

As you will see, the tax figure is ZAR 440.  This is equivalent to £26.  It would cost £35 if booked via Avios UK.

If I had run the same search for a business class seat, the tax would have been ZAR 640.  This is equivalent to £38, instead of the £50 charged by Avios UK.

Comair

This also works with Comair.  Comair is a South African airline which operates as a British Airways franchise, flying BA-painted planes with staff who wear BA uniforms.  You can book these flights on ba.com and you can earn and redeem Avios on them.

The most common reason for flying Comair is to get from Johannesburg to Cape Town.  It is difficult to get Avios redemption seats from London to Cape Town, so you will often find yourself doing London to Johannesburg and then Johannesburg to Cape Town on Comair.

The other route you might book is Johannesburg to Mauritius, if you can’t get a direct BA flight.

You can book the South African routes using Reward Flight Saver, in the same way as you would book a European redemption.  However, the cash payment required is higher.  Johannesburg to Cape Town, for example, costs 15,000 Avios return + £56 in economy and 30,000 Avios + £64 in business.

However, if you book via the Avios South Africa programme, the cash price is lower.  Avios South Africa charges 15,000 Avios + ZAR 700 (£42) in economy and 30,000 Avios + ZAR 800 (£48) in business.

The two hurdles to jump

Obviously this is not a life-changing saving, but on the other hand there is no point throwing money away!

The first thing to note, though, is that you will need to give a made-up South African street address to open an Avios South Africa account.

The second issue is that, in order to be able to book Reward Flight Saver flights, your account will need to ‘earn’ 1 Avios.

Luckily, Avios has solved this problem for you.  About a week after signing up for Avios South Africa, you will receive an email with a short questionnaire attached.  Answer the few questions, and you are immediately awarded 150 Avios.  This will ‘activate’ your account and make you eligible to book Reward Flight Saver tickets.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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.

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.

EDIT: Applications for this card are temporarily suspended due to IT issues with the British Airways On Business SME loyalty scheme.

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.