Revealed …. the peak and off-peak Avios redemption calendars for 2018
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Both British Airways and Iberia have released their peak and off-peak Avios redemption calendars for 2018 which you can see below.
There is a permanent link to this article under ‘Key BA links’ in the HFP sidebar on desktop and tablet.
This came as a bit of a surprise as we thought that they had given up on publishing the full year in advance. Recently you only found out 355 days in advance, when tickets came up for sale, whether a day would be peak or not. Releasing the full year makes planning a lot easier.
There are substantial differences between the two calendars. Especially when travelling during school holidays on a route served by both by BA and Iberia, it may well be cheaper to book on Iberia.
If, for example, you want to travel on British Airways in April 2018, you will be paying the peak Avios price until 15th April. However, if you look at the Iberia calendar, you can see that their peak prices only start towards the end of the month and 1st-26th April is off-peak. (Easter Sunday is 1st April in 2018.)
There are also differences around February half-term. For example, Saturday 10th February is peak for BA and off-peak for Iberia. On that day, a Club World return from London to New York would be 120,000 Avios. In comparison flying from Madrid to New York would be only 68,000 Avios. The tax would also be £369.44 lower on the Iberia ticket as long as you book it via the Iberia website (£528.65 v £159.20).
The summer holidays peak season starts earlier on Iberia (22nd June) and ends only two days before BA which means you won’t be able to save much here.
The days around Christmas are also interesting as BA sees the full second half of December as a peak travel time whereas Iberia has got a couple of off-peak dates the week before Christmas and before New Year.
There is a separate article with the Aer Lingus 2018 calendar which is here.
British Airways calendar
(blue=peak, green=off peak / click to enlarge if necessary)
2017
2018
Iberia calendar
2017
2018
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £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
25,000 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 £12,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and unbeatable travel benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
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.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
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
40,000 points bonus and a £200 Amex Travel credit every year 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.
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