Bits: new Stansted route, HfP in The Economist, British Airways / China Eastern codeshares

News in brief:

New British Airways route from Stansted

Over the Summer, British Airways has been running a series of routes from Stansted at the weekend.  These use aircraft which would otherwise be flying from London City but which are left idle by the 24 hour curfew at the airport from Saturday lunchtime.

Despite the often appalling flight times, such as 06.00 departures, the services seem to be doing OK.  BA has announced the following changes for the Winter season:

a new route to Chambery, with an outbound flight on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 17th December

Berlin Tegel to operate all year round (13.15 on a Sunday departure)

Malaga and Faro to be extended by an extra two weeks, with flights to end on 19th / 20th November

I expect further announcements of additional Winter routes to follow.

Cash and Avios bookings to Chambery can be made now at ba.com.

HfP in The Economist

The Economist website picked up on the service reductions at British Airways yesterday in this well-written post.

HfP is referenced in the article (although I did not speak to the author) but irrespective of that I recommend that you read it as it offers a good summary of the current position.

This article is outside The Economist paywall so no subscription or sign-up is required.

British Airways announces a codeshare with China Eastern

British Airways has announced a new codeshare agreement with China Eastern even though the airline is a member of the competing SkyTeam alliance.

You will now be able to book flights to Kunming, Xi’an, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Chongqing on a BA flight code, connecting to China Eastern via Chengdu or Shanghai.

Chinese flyers will be able to book flights to Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle using the MU flight code, connecting to China Eastern flights to Heathrow.

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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.

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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.