Bits: free Luxury Travel Fair tickets, British Airways cancels Westjet codeshares
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News in brief:
Free Luxury Travel Fair tickets
The Luxury Travel Fair is back at Olympia in London from 3rd-6th November.
To be honest, this is not a hugely exciting event. It is essentially just a lot of high-end hotels and travel agents in booths – you don’t, for example, get airlines bringing along their latest business class seats to try out.
The last time I went was especially poor, with torrential rain and a fire at South Kensington tube station making for a particularly wet and depressing journey!
The fact that they actually charge for tickets is a bit cheeky. However, until 8th September you can order free tickets via their website using code LT4E in return for a £2.50 handling fee. If you live nearby then it is worth popping in on the basis. I don’t recommend it at the standard price of £14.50 in advance or £15.50 on the door.
BA ending Westjet codeshare – and cancelling flights
British Airways is ending its codeshare relationship with Canadian airline Westjet on 15th October. You will no longer be able to book tickets to smaller cities in Canada with a BA flight number on a Westjet service.
What is surprising is that BA is cancelling existing Westjet tickets even though the flights are still operating. If you have a ticket with a BA flight number on a Westjet service after 16th October, your flight will have been cancelled.
If seats are still available, you will be rebooked under a Westjet flight number on the same flight.
However, 24 hours after initially telling travel agents to do this, BA changed its guidance. It has now told travel agents not to rebook passengers if the flight would be too expensive (!) – ie in the H, W or K economy ticket buckets. You will be encouraged to take a different flight instead even though seats are available on the flight on which you were originally booked ……

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (May 2022)
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. You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £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 UK’s most valuable card perk – the 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 £12,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.
The Platinum Card has doubled its sign-up bonus to 60,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert to 60,000 Avios, if you apply by 1st June 2022.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
60,000 points (SPECIAL OFFER) and an unbeatable set of travel 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 10,000 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
10,500 points bonus – the most generous Avios Visa for a limited company 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 a long list of travel benefits 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.
(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)
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