British Airways launches Costa Rica flights from May 2016

British Airways announced yesterday that it will launch flights to Costa Rica (San Jose) in May 2016.

The service will operate from Gatwick.  It will start out at two flights per week, on Wednesday and Saturday, before increasing to three flights per week for Winter 2016.

It will be operated by a Boeing 777 in a three-class configuration, which means that there will be no First Class cabin.

Cash tickets are already available for sale at ba.com although Avios seats have not yet been loaded.  When they are, you should see excellent availability – as is usual with new routes – so it may be worth thinking about a trip for next year.

If you do not have a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher to spend, you should also look at the existing Iberia service from Madrid.  Tax on Business Class redemptions out of Madrid is over £300 lower than on BA flights from London, which easily covers the cost of a connecting flight.  The connection must be on a separate ticket to avoid paying long-haul UK Air Passenger Duty.

It is impossible to say if you will need more or fewer Avios for the Iberia service.  You will need to compare the table of peak and off-peak dates for both BA and Iberia – which, of course, do not match.  On some days BA is peak and Iberia is off-peak, whilst on other days it is the other way round.  Or both might be peak.  Or both might be off-peak.  What a great system …..

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.