Cheap Avios flight deals on airberlin may be over as the end beckons

Ever since it joined the oneworld alliance, airberlin has offered some exceptional bargains for Avios collectors.

As I wrote in this article, you have been able to fly to the USA and Abu Dhabi paying only minimal taxes.  Since that article was published, airberlin has added a raft of new US routes on top.

A one way airberlin Avios redemption in business class from the US to Germany costs just £4 in taxes and charges.  A return is a bit more because of German airport taxes but you will pay under £100 return.  Berlin and Dusseldorf are also easy to reach from many UK regional airports.

The service isn’t shoddy either – here is Anika’s review of her recent New York to Berlin Avios redemption in business class.  Etihad, the 49% shareholder in airberlin, oversaw an upgrading of its business class with new fully flat seats.  The food is very Germanic but apart from that ….

Is the end nigh for airberlin?

Back in September, I wrote about how Lufthansa is taking over a third of the airberlin route network.

From 31st March 2017, all airberlin and NIKI flights which do not feed into the hubs of Berlin or Dusseldorf will be transferred to Eurowings.  This includes flights out of Vienna, Stuttgart and Palma, where airberlin is the biggest airline.

The deal is a ‘wet lease’.  The planes and crew remain with airberlin but Eurowings will pay a fixed fee to lease them.  Eurowings will keep all of the revenue from the services and therefore takes all of the economic risk.

40 planes are involved, of which 35 will be branded as Eurowings with the other five passing to Austrian.  airberlin is also having discussions with TUI about the remaining NIKI operation based in Austria. This is, in theory, a six year deal although it is difficult to imagine the operation of the routes ever passing back to airberlin.

I saved a four figure sum using Avios to fly from Palma to Innsbruck on airberlin / NIKI last summer.  Taking the same trip this year will be very expensive.

For airberlin, the deal makes sense.  It will have no impact on their long-haul operation.  It is no different to what British Airways did a few years ago when it span off its regional operations into BA Connect which was merged into Flybe.

It is now beginning to look as if this is only part of the story, however …..

Lufthansa may be acquiring the rest of airberlin

airberlin has been losing money for a number of years, despite major capital injections from 29% shareholder Etihad.  There are even rumours that Etihad CEO, James Hogan, may lose his job after losing $2.6bn on investments in airberlin, Air Serbia and Alitalia.

airberlin has a decent long-haul network  but short-haul has been hit by competition from Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz etc.  I thought that retrenching to a hub and spoke network, with its remaining short haul flights providing feed to the long haul flights out of Berlin and Dusseldorf, would keep airberlin afloat.  It now seems not.

Reports in the German media have said that the German Government would be supportive of Lufthansa taking over the rest of airberlin – ie the long haul routes and the feeder flights.  airberlin has just fired its CEO and the replacement is reportedly being appointed with a ‘to do’ list consisting of just one item.  They are not concerned about competition issues – the German Government has spent years trying block the ‘Middle East 3’ from getting established at Frankfurt and Dusseldorf in order to protect Lufthansa.

For Lufthansa this would be a smart move.  Once Berlin Brandenburg airport finally opens, it will have a brand new facility with enough space to ramp up operations.  Lufthansa was at serious risk here, having put all of its long-haul eggs in the Frankfurt and Munich baskets with no long haul presence from the national capital.

At a stroke, taking over airberlin will give it dominance of the long haul market from Germany and pole position at the new airport.  It won’t complain at gaining a major presence at Dusseldorf either.

For Avios collectors, this would be a blow.  You can say goodbye to those low tax redemptions out of Germany.  With Aer Lingus also increasing its taxes and charges sharply following the launch of AerClub, 2017 may not be a good time to Avios rich but cash poor.

It isn’t clear what will happen to existing Avios redemptions on airberlin in this scenario.  You might think existing bookings would be protected, but there are many examples in the hotel sector where a property rebrands from one chain to another and all existing redemption bookings are cancelled.  We would need to wait and see.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.