Flybe to become full Avios ‘earn and burn’ partner, scrapping Rewards4All

Flybe announced to the Stock Exchange this morning that it is abandoning its Rewards4All scheme with pretty much immediate effect, from Monday 27th October.  The company will become a full Avios partner at that point, allowing you to earn and spend Avios points across all Flybe services.

The announcement is below.  I will have a full analysis tomorrow but you can see the key points in this FAQ page.

The key question for me is whether Flybe becomes a Reward Flight Saver partner.  As I have written numerous times, taxes on Rewards4All redemptions are often HIGHER than the cost of buying a cash ticket on the same flight!  Unless this changes, it will be a bit farcical.

FLYBE ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH AVIOS
Flybe Becomes part of the Avios Travel Rewards Programme-

Europe’s largest regional airline, Flybe, has announced a significant new partnership with Avios, part of International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling.

The milestone agreement will take effect from Monday 27^th October 2014 and marks another step by Flybe to offer more benefits to its customers, adding value to their flight purchase and providing a broader selection of redemption opportunities for points earned through frequent travel.

Avios operates the global Avios currency for the British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and Meridiana Club frequent flyer programmes as well as the Avios Travel Rewards programmes in the UK and South Africa.

The new partnership with Avios replaces Flybe’s existing Rewards4All frequent flyer programme. Rewards4All members will need to redeem their outstanding points within six months from today’s announcement. Redemptions can be made on flights up until 24th October 2015. To guide members through the redemption process, the flybe.com website will provide clear information on the process.

This agreement follows Flybe partnerships recently announced with booking.com, the world leader in online accommodation booking and STA Travel, which has established Flybe as ‘Preferred Partner for Student and Youth Travel’ with the world’s largest student and youth travel company with a 2.3 million database. It also follows a new codeshare agreement with Finnair and an interline agreement with Aer Lingus.

Saad Hammad, Chief Executive Officer, Flybe said:

“This agreement represents a significant service enhancement for Flybe customers – a big step change that opens up a new world of reward possibilities.”

“We join Avios following an extensive review of frequent flyer programmes, including our own in-house programme Rewards4All. We determined a better customer proposition existed, and the clear choice was Avios. There are 2 million customers with billions of Avios within 30 miles of a Flybe airport. “

“Our Avios partnership begins on the day we formally start our operations at London City Airport on October 27th, which is already proving an attractive option for the business traveller with daily flights from/to Edinburgh, Belfast, Aberdeen, Dublin, Inverness and Exeter. Flybe customers, and those we welcome onboard from our codeshare partners, are benefiting from our extensive UK regional flying network. Whether flying from Edinburgh to London City, Birmingham to Belfast or Manchester to Stornoway, it makes even more sense to Fly with Flybe!”

 Gavin Halliday, Managing Director, Avios, said: 

“This is an important partnership for Avios, building on our commitment to provide engaging collection and redemption opportunities for Avios Travel Rewards Programme members. Our members will benefit from access to even more reward flights and on new regional routes, as well as the new opportunity to collect when flying with Flybe.”