Bits and pieces for Saturday (BA, Facebook, Etihad, Qatar Airways, KLM)

We are away for a few days, so here are a few headlines without the usual analysis so you don’t miss out on the latest deals:

British Airways is restarting flights to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from 14 September 2015 (nothing like planning ahead!).  There are only two flights per week – Monday and Thursday – and they will be on a standard Airbus A320 which, given the new 29 inch seat pitch in Eurotraveller and 30 inch pitch in Club Europe, could be painful.

It could be a good tier point run though if cheap enough – fares are currently £499 in Club Europe for 280 tier points return.

There are a couple of new ‘suitcases’ to open on the Facebook Avios Suitcase game.  If you haven’t played this before then you should be able to get a few hundred Avios out of it.

Remember that you CANNOT share stickers with ‘Only Me’ – the app will not allow you to earn the points unless you allow your friends to see your postings.  You can now access the game via www.aviossuitcase.co.uk which diverts to the relevant Facebook page.

Etihad is offering TRIPLE miles in First Class and Business Class and DOUBLE miles in economy until November 20th.  You need to book by November 10th and only certain routes – Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, KL, Mumbai, New Delhi – qualify for the economy offer (all routes count for the Business and First offer).

Flights must start in London or Manchester although the registration page says it is open to Etihad Guest members in a number of countries.  The registration link is here.  The Etihad booking page is here.

Qatar Airways is offering £30 off economy flights and £100 off business class flights. You must fly from the UK, book before October 28th and travel before June 15th next year. You must enter code PAYPALUK02 on the website when booking. The small print says some already discounted fare types and routes may be excluded – you seem to need to be transferring beyond Doha for it to work.

Finally, KLM is running an aggressive 5 day economy sale from the UK until 28th October. Prices include £384 to Doha, £519 to Singapore and £525 to Tokyo. Travel dates vary by route, it says, and helpfully are not listed on their site. There are also good business class deals from Amsterdam (do not search for prices from the UK) to Asia such as Singapore at Euro 1,800.

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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (June 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express Credit Card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review