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British Airways launches new route to Fort Lauderdale – Avios seats wide open

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Following on from the very recent news of a new Heathrow to New Orleans route for 2017, British Airways confirmed another rumour yesterday by announcing a new route from Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Located on the Atlantic coast in south east Florida, Fort Lauderdale is a city of 166,000 people which sits 45km north of Miami.  BA tell me that it is famous for its sunny beaches with an average year-round temperature of 24c and 3,000 hours of sunshine.

Miami unsplash

Here is the key information:

The route launches on 6th July 2017

There will be three flights per week all year on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

An additional Sunday flight will operate from 16th July to 3rd September

The aircraft used will be a Boeing 777 in a three class configuration, which means no First Class

Seats are now available for booking at ba.com.  More importantly, Avios availability is wide open.

With at least four World Traveller and two Club World seats available on every flight, and with flights only becoming available for booking from yesterday, there is a great chance here to get yourself to Florida on Avios on peak dates next Summer.

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.

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.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (74)

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

  • Lady London says:
    28 Oct28 October 11:54

    FLL has excellent shopping.

    It’s Florida though and geared to the holiday market. So it’s not full of Wholefood stores.

    Some lovely beaches further up the coast near St Petersburg.

    • james says:
      28 Oct28 October 12:42

      errrm…
      FLL is east coast (Atlantic) and St Petersburg is Gulf Coast – so – up the coast and across the State!!

      • Lady London says:
        28 Oct28 October 13:16

        You’re right. I did the same trip several times landing in FLL then driving across to Naples on the other coast, then up to my destination Sarasota and after that the St Petersburg area.

        Never drive over the speed limit in Florida on any of the roads. It’s heavily policed. A useful thing is that like some other US states, a one-way car rental in Florida won’t have any surcharge. So you can go in one airport and out the other provided you drop the car within the State of Florida. Air Berlin flies to Fort Myers (RSW) which is a relatively nice US airport.

    • Gavin says:
      28 Oct28 October 14:51

      Found the Publix supermarket in Fl to be pretty good, this was in Jacksonville Beach / Amelia Island area though in NE Florida

  • Caro says:
    28 Oct28 October 12:48

    OT: I am one flight away from Silver and am flying to Gatwick tonight. Will my status change be automatic so that I can access the Lounge tomorrow morning for an onward flight?

    • Gavin says:
      28 Oct28 October 14:52

      Unlikely to be that quick from experience

    • Lady London says:
      29 Oct29 October 21:38

      If you have no shame you could always phone the Executive Club and grovel as soon as you’ve checked in for the flight.

  • Brian says:
    28 Oct28 October 14:13

    Bit frustrating, I have the £100 BA offer but the points redemption I want to do departs/arrives from different airports so can’t book it online.

    Any way around this? Thanks

    • Nick says:
      28 Oct28 October 14:31

      Book by phone? The Amex offer is to spend direct with BA, doesn’t have to be online.

      • Brian says:
        28 Oct28 October 14:43

        As far as I can see it says BA.com ?

        £100 on £500 BA spend @ Amex
        BRITISH AIRWAYS
        Spend £500 or more, get £100 back
        Save to Card to get a £100 statement credit when you spend £500+ at ba.com by 24/11/16. UK departure flights only. Valid once per Card for the first 20,000 UK Cardmembers to save.

  • Phil G says:
    28 Oct28 October 14:56

    Why launch a route to a place when it is too hot & humid to be enjoyable. October to May best time for less humid weather but school holidays rip-offs rule

  • Daniel says:
    28 Oct28 October 16:09

    O/t is the Ba Amex deal targeted as I can’t find it under offers on my BA Amex card? Thanks

  • Keith says:
    28 Oct28 October 19:00

    Really good for cruise holidays. Last time I flew to FLL, it was via DFW. A direct service from UK will be great.

    Is this new flight from LHR if LGW. If it’s the latter then it doesn’t help me because I have to fly from MAN and BA to my frustration cancelled all flights to LGW so I need to fly via LHR.

  • Kerr says:
    28 Oct28 October 22:47

    A big thank you for your morning e-mails. After looking for ages to get flights for my family using my Avios points and 3 companion vouchers to Florida, I managed to book 6 CW seats flying out on 1 Aug and back on 15 Aug first thing this morning. Absolutely delighted, thanks again.

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