Bits: Egypt follows India with new visa rules, new BA Gatwick to Vienna route

News in brief:

Egypt launches tough new visa regime

My article yesterday about the disproportionately tough new visa regime brought in with very little warning by India caused a lot of comment.

I hope no-one decided to swap their holiday plans from India to Egypt.  The military Government in Egypt announced yesterday that individual travellers would no longer be allowed to buy a visa on arrival.  Tour groups are exempt.

The change takes place on May 15th.  From that date, you will have to obtain a visa before you fly from the Egyptian Embassy.

Ironically, as Reuters mentioned in the same report:

“Egypt hopes to generate $20 billion in revenue from tourism by 2020 by attracting 20 million visitors, new Tourism Minister Khaled Ramy told Reuters on Sunday at an international investment conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.”

Not behaving like this he won’t.

Cairo has also, in recent years, been one of the cheapest places in the world to buy a British Airways long-haul flight.  Buying a ticket out of Cairo was not only cheap but earned additional tier points, because the Cairo to London leg is treated as long haul.  This game may now be up, unless passengers in transit are still allowed to travel without a visa – and even then, doing a back-to-back flight to Cairo is not for the feint hearted.

New British Airways route to Vienna

British Airways announced yesterday that it will launch a new year-round route from Gatwick to Vienna.

Flights will start on September 17th.  There will be four flights per week during the Winter season (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday) and six per week (not Saturday) during the Summer.

Redemption and cash flights can already be booked at ba.com.  A redemption is 15,000 Avios points return in World Traveller and 30,000 in Club Europe.

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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.