Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Korean Air to launch Heathrow’s first Boeing 747-8i route

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There is a lot of talk about the Airbus A380 not meeting its sales targets, but that pales into insignificance alongside the Boeing 747-8i.  This is the updated version of the classic 747-400 with a longer upper deck.

At the moment only three airlines are flying them as passenger, as opposed to freight, aircraft.  One is Lufthansa.

Korean 747-8

I am booked on a 747-8i to New York in June and I am looking forward to giving it a go.  The second is Air China.

If I’d waited, I could have got one nearer home.  The only other airline flying them is Korean Air, which ordered 10.  From 26th March, one of the two daily Heathrow services will switch to a 747-8i.  This is the first time that the aircraft has been used at Heathrow.

If you have any SkyTeam miles via Flying Blue, Delta etc and want to give it a go, Korean Air reward availability is generally claimed to be good.


best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (July 2025)

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?

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card 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 Credit Card

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 American Express Premium Plus 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 Credit Card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher 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 (53)

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

  • ankomonkey says:

    Amazon offer is great! Planned to buy a case of lager I discovered on a recent holiday. Just used the offer and bought 3 cases instead! Thanks for the heads-up.

  • rams1981 says:

    Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    any idea why my post is receiving this?

  • Max says:

    I’m flying first class on the 747-8i with KA on April 11th. I can do a quick review if you guys are interested

  • Crafty says:

    OT: What rights if any does one have when an airline changes the time of a booked flight? Has happened for both outbound and return of a LCY-DUB in June. Is there any way I can gain some advantage out of this?

    • the real harry1 says:

      Depends if it’s over 2 hrs I think, in which case you can cancel for free

      also depends if they give you adequate notice of the change

      I don’t think you’d get any points compo just for a change notified to you well in advance where you still intend to take the flight

      • Crafty says:

        It gets me to my destination later than I need to arrive. It’s a non-refundable fare, but surely this changes the terms of what the airline has agreed to sell me? I want (and will ask) them to move me to an earlier flight, but would rather first know how hard I can push it based on others’ experiences.

        It is City Jet if that makes any difference.

    • Anna says:

      You may be entitled to cancel but if it’s BA they are unlikely to offer anything beyond the original booking terms. They’ve cut my summer holiday short by 2 days by cancelling our return flights (only 4 per week to our destination) but we’re entitled to nothing in terms of compensation. I think compensation only kicks in within 2 weeks of the flight date anyway.

  • Fenny says:

    Not that I really need 3 more bottles of GIN to add to my collection, but at those prices, I’d be silly not to!

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

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