More Avios redemptions ending – Flybe in Scotland and Disneyland Paris tickets

There are two stories here, with the tenuous link that both have reduced the options you have for redeeming your Avios points.

Flybe and Loganair end franchise deal in Scotland

Loganair operates flights to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, primarily from Glasgow, Inverness and Edinburgh.  It is probably best known for its service from Glasgow to Barra, where the plane lands on the beach and the flight times are adjusted to the tide table (photo below).

Between 1993 and 2007, Loganair operated as a British Airways franchise.  In 2007, it switched to being a Flybe franchise.  It remained a British Airways codeshare partner, however, and because Flybe is a BA and avios.com partner you have been able to redeem Avios for these services.

Loganair and Flybe are ending their franchise agreement on 1st September 2017.  From the date flights will operate under the Loganair brand.

It is reported that the British Airways codeshare will remain in place allowing you to book through tickets from, say, Heathrow to Sumburgh in Shetland via Edinburgh.  Unless Loganair signs up as an Avios partner, you will not be able to redeem Avios any longer on these routes.  You WILL be able to continue to earn Avios and British Airways tier points as long as you book revenue tickets under a BA flight code.

More information on this story and other goings on in Orkney can be found here.

I have always been intrigued by the Barra flight and I may try to give it a go next year whilst I can still redeem.

Disneyland Paris park tickets disappear as an Avios redemption

I have written a couple of pieces recently about the ending of Avios earning on package holiday bookings and the end of the ability to spend Avios on Eurostar tickets.

Both of these changes take effect from 1st January.  However, it seems that another change was quietly slipped through recently with immediate effect.

It appears that you can no longer redeem Avios for Disneyland Paris park tickets.  We did this a couple of years ago – it was reasonable value although I lived to regret it in the end.  Avios do not send you tickets – they send you a voucher which you have to exchange for a ticket.  And the queue to exchange the voucher for a ticket was 45 minutes long …..

You can still earn and spend Avios on Disneyland Paris hotel breaks until the end of 2016 via this page.

If you spot any other redemptions missing from avios.com, please let me know.

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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.