Bits: Bremen scrapped, bonus Heathrow Rewards points, Aer Lingus to Newquay (and Vegas?)

News in brief:

British Airways drops Bremen

SUN-AIR of Scandinavia, a British Airways franchise partner, has announced that it is dropping its BA-branded flights from London City to Bremen and Manchester to Bremen from 25th February.

In a cynical but economically sensible move, SUN-AIR / BA has managed to avoid paying €250 in EU compensation to every passenger.  Cancellations made 14+ days in advance do not qualify for compensation, and this move was made exactly 14 days in advance.

Customers impacted can rebook to Hamburg or Hannover.  Manchester passengers will find this especially galling as they must now fly Manchester – London – Hamburg / Hannover – train to Bremen which will add at least four hours to their travel time.

Refunds are also available but cheap replacement flights will be difficult to find at short notice.

New Heathrow Rewards fashion promotion

Heathrow Rewards is offering bonus points on fashion purchases at the airport between now and 14th April.

This applies to purchases at Accessorize, Bottega Veneta, Bulgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Harrods, Hermes, Hugo Boss, Jack Wills, John Lewis, Kurt Geiger, Lacoste, Michael Kors, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Prada, Reiss, Smythson, Sunglass Hut, Thomas Pink, Ted Baker, Valentino and Zara.   It specifically excludes Harrods Signature stores and Louis Vuitton.

The bonus is awarded as follows:

500 points when you spend £125 – £199.99
1,000 points when you spend £200 – £299.99
1,500 points when you spend £300 – £399.99
2,000 points when you spend £400 or more

Registration is not required.

This offer should double up with the ‘3,000 points for joining and spending £150 in one day’ promotion AND the current ‘50% bonus when you convert your points to Avios’ offer.  The standard conversion rate to Avios is 1:1.  You can also convert to Virgin, Lufthansa, Emirates and Etihad.

Aer Lingus boosts Newquay – and promises Las Vegas

Aer Lingus, BA’s sister airline, is expanding its service from Newquay to Dublin to seven flights per week for Summer 2017.  This will allow passengers to connect more easily to North American long-haul services.

Whilst this can be booked on Avios, the high taxes quoted via avios.com (£98.10, plus 8000 to 9000 Avios depending on date) may make a cash booking on aerlingus.com more attractive.

The Aer Lingus CEO, Stephen Kavanagh, has also announced plans to fly from Dublin to Las Vegas.  No start date has been announced and the airline has not decided whether to run it as a Winter-only route or year-round.

This would be a welcome Avios redemption, offering very low taxes and the impressive new Aer Lingus business class seat pictured above.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards. Both have increased sign-up bonuses until 2nd November 2021:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

The 30,000 points bonus on Amex Gold runs to 9th November 2021. The 60,000 points bonus on The Platinum Card runs to 2nd November 2021.

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:

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies. This card has a limited time offer of 60,000 Avios when you sign up:

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)