Bits: BA eBay’ing New Orleans flight tickets, LAN deal to Buenos Aires

News in brief:

Bid for BA tickets to New Orleans on a preview flight

British Airways is launching a new service to New Orleans on 27th March as I covered here.

On 24th February, however, there is going to be a one-off trial flight during Mardi Gras.  This may be a test trip to help with pilot and crew familiarisation or a local marketing exercise.

British Airways is selling tickets for this flight via eBay.  Each package offers:

• 2 x return, economy tickets to New Orleans
• Three nights accommodation based on one of three hotel options
• Gig in the sky with a celebrity on board performance
• Exclusive on board New Orleans cocktails and menu
• Access to a Mardi Gras parade stand, so you can get into the thick of all the festivities
• 10% of all auction bookings will be donated to the British Airways charity, Flying Start

The flight departs from Heathrow at 10.00 on Friday 24th February 2017 with return departing at 23.25 on Monday 27th February, arriving 14:10 on Tuesday 28th February.

No tier points or Avios will be given.

There are currently four auctions running.  You can find links to all of them at the BA eBay shop here.

Good LATAM deal from Spain to Buenos Aires – TODAY ONLY

If you have Buenos Aires on your bucket list, LATAM (the old LAN) has some excellent Business Class fares from Spain at the moment.

Remember that, as LAN is a oneworld member, you will earn Avios and British Airways tier points on these flights.

From Barcelona, the fare is £1,197 return with a plane change in Sao Paulo.  This is on a Boeing 767 where the seating is reportedly not great.   You are probably better paying an extra £4 and flying out of Madrid where you will get a new Airbus A350.

You must book TODAY and start your trip between 1st December and 31st March (28th February to 7th March excluded).  The LATAM site is here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.