Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: BA premium flights and holidays sale, CityJet to launch flights from Southend

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News in brief:

British Airways Luxury Sale now on

We have been a little slow in covering the latest British Airways  premium sale, apologies.

The prices don’t look too exciting, but it’s well worth having a look to possibly find a good deal.

Until 8th November – so you still have a week to book – you can get :

Club World flights to New York from £1,475

Club World holidays from £1,478 p/p

Club Europe holidays from £271 p/p

It looks like you can book as far ahead as September 2017 so it’s well worth thinking about the next Summer holiday.

The BA Low Fare Finder tool remains the best way to see what deals are available.  Apart from the New York deal above, there is also Boston £1555, Montreal £1435, much of India for £1700, Muscat £1498 and Beijing £1799.  That is about it under £2000.

All prices are based on two people travelling together and include business class flights and accommodation.

CityJet 350

CityJet to launch flights from London’s Southend airport

The Irish airline CityJet and Stobart Group are currently discussing the possibility of new routes from London Southend Airport starting in April 2017.

The proposal is that CityJet will operate up to 18 new routes from Southend on up to four aircraft.

In 2012, with the arrival of easyJet, Southend Airport saw initial success but further expansion seemed a bit difficult.  Rob visited the airport earlier this year and was impressed by the modern terminal and the direct train service from London Liverpool Street.  There is even a decent airport lounge which accepts Priority Pass.

Now with CityJet as a potential partner, Southend Airport is targetting an increase in passengers from 900,000 last year to up to 1.5 million per year.

Though the discussions remain ‘at an early stage’ it looks like a formal agreement can be released as soon as next month.  More information can be found here.

Meanwhile, I flew CityJet out to Amsterdam from London City Airport yesterday.  I will write about that next week.


best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (October 2024)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

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

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Comments (56)

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

  • Cuchlainn says:

    OT – NECTAR AMEX offer email ( targeted ?)
    Email this afternoon for 30K ( 20K welcome bonus & 10K sign up ) Nectar points for sign up in Nov, spending £2,000 in 3 months – not on my Nectar app, my Nectar online a/c or my AMEX offers ??
    More bizarre is that I signed up for the 20K+20K Nectar AMEX card in the October offer !!!!

  • Win Griffiths says:

    As i have stated before it is time to put a stop to all of this special fare & perks nonsense , fares should be set at a reasonable rate for all of the travelling public , not this we are better than you nonsense , we own a Business, or we get employer perks by travelling on our Employers expense account , all points earned via Employers expense accounts should be turned into the Employer for re-distibution to the Employees that never get out of the Work place other than the usual yearly Holiday , and as far as I see Britain has so many Holidays , it is no wonder that nothing really ever gets done, every time you call a Major Company especially BA all you hear is this person is on Holiday .yet no one is monitoring that missing persons account , now blastant Discrimination with Excess Baggage charges for India what next ? Disgraceful way to run an Airline !!!!!! the people posting here sound like trhe spoiled entitlement group that I find so obnoxious when travelling , and have spoiled travel for everyone these past ten years .

    • Win Griffiths says:

      Please forgive any typo errors never was a touch typist & low visoin now does not help >

    • Genghis says:

      I couldn’t disagree more with your post, specifically that points earned for work travel should belong to the employer. I see these points as compensation for having to be away from my wife and life in London. Many people (including some of my colleagues) don’t bother with loyalty schemes. Should they then be rewarded with the fruits of my hard work from tips gained on HfP?

      • kasiM Dabalou says:

        He thinks you should be on an 11 hour red-eye flight from Vancouver down the back with your knees getting crushed by the reclining seat in front (travelling in your own time), with a screaming kid either side of you, and one beyond you constantly kicking your chair mercilessly for good measure. And that it would be preferable that your catering options are non-existent….

        And for you not to be compensated in any way by the company you work for, as ‘Britain has so many holidays’ as it is that your trip away for business was just a holiday and should be booked as annual leave. Forget the lounge as well, and any status, if you travel for work, you should be slumming it with the rest of us, forget hassle of going through security x many times, your work travel is a holiday – be grateful for all the hassle when security want to re-scan your bag and get you to empty it for the sake of looking professional (LHR T5).

        I hope you had a great holiday.

    • the real harry says:

      nobody is better than anybody else (at birth) but we make our own luck – in the UK – by studying, getting smart etc, finding a good job & developing a well-rounded personality

      so it strikes me as somewhat antediluvian that you should argue that people who have made their way up by hard work & study, such that they should be in positions where their company pays for their expensive travel on serious business – whereby they earn points – & give up their weekends & other time – should have to donate those points to a pool (or ‘cesspit’) where lazy so-&-sos can get some of those points just for ‘being there’ or ‘turning up’

  • Lady London says:

    I can recommend the Holiday Inn which is right at the entrance to the airport. Well run, decent pricing, also 15,000 points. Get there early if you’re parking though, the hotel carpark can get totally full and even hotel guests sometimes can’t park.

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

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