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Avios ‘last minute deals’ are back for next weekend – where can you go?

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Back in November, avios.com trialled a new product – 50% off a last-minute break.

How last minute?  For the following weekend.

The trial apparently went well and Avios will be running this offer more frequently.

Here is the current selection of deals.

You can fly in either direction next Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

You can only book tickets in economy and the taxes and charges are not reduced.

Here are the routes involved:

Heathrow – Edinburgh

Heathrow – Brussels

Heathrow – Frankfurt

Heathrow – Oslo

Heathrow – New York

Heathrow – Boston

Birmingham – Amsterdam (on Flybe)

Whilst the website does not mention this, you can mix and match promotional and non-promotional dates.  Imagine that you are happy to fly to Edinburgh next Saturday but prefer to return on Tuesday instead of Monday.  In that case, you would pay 2,000 Avios (half-price) for Saturday but the full 4,000 Avios for Tuesday.

Since cash tickets increase in price the nearer you get to the day of departure, these deals could represent good value – although that assumes you would normally book a flight to New York for cash at 5 days notice.

Remember that you cannot book these deals at ba.com.  You must use avios.com and transfer your points from British Airways Executive Club into an avios.com account.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (25)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • CDB says:

    Any idea if this can be combined with Lloyds upgrade voucher?

    • Rob says:

      Logically yes, whether the system charges the higher or lower amount in reality …..

    • the_real_a says:

      I think upgrade vouchers are processed as manual amendments hence why you need to call to use them. This was the case when i booked using mine in November.

      • Jenny says:

        I did a dummy booking to Boston using my upgrade voucher and it doesn’t seem to work; I still paid the full economy avios fare for WTP. Oh well, still a great deal for the EU destinations.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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