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British Airways launches new route to the Seychelles – more Avios seats released

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British Airways has confirmed the rumours we discussed yesterday about a possible (re)launch of a direct flight from London Heathrow to the Seychelles.

It was lucky that we were able to post the rumour yesterday, as much of the Club World reward availability was snapped up immediately – judging by the emails we received, many went to our readers.

The key information is:

launch date is 24th March 2018

there will be two flights per week from 24th March until October

the aircraft used will be a brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner which will include First Class

BA is the only airline offering non-stop flights from the UK to the Seychelles.  If you’ve not been, it is a group of 115 individual islands in the Indian Ocean and a popular honeymoon and holiday destination.

The flight time will be 10 hours, instead of 13 hours when connecting in the Middle East, the most popular routing at the moment.

Here is the timetable:

As the flights are on Wednesdays and Saturdays they are perfect for a 10 day holiday.

If you are paying cash, return fares start from £699 in World Traveller, £999 in World Traveller Plus, £2499 in Club World and from £3499 for First.

Seats are now available for booking at ba.com. More importantly, so is Avios availability.

Unfortunately, with under 60 flights scheduled, there are under 60 pairs of Club World seats available for Avios under the guaranteed availability rule.

Many of these were snapped up yesterday.  It is worth having a search to see what is left but it may not be much.

You have better luck in World Traveller, with at least four World Traveller seats available on every flight, but the taxes generally make these poor value redemptions.

If you are interested in the route keep an eye open, especially for signs of any First Class Avios seats coming available.  There will also be Club World seats for September 2018 and October 2018 released every few three or four days under the ‘355 days in advance’ booking rule.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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 card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

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Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

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 £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.

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

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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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 sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

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

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (58)

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

  • Tony says:
    20 Sep20 September 06:24

    Additional reward seats have been loaded since yesterday. First class is also available now at the expected 85000 off peak and 100000 peak.

  • Jack Smith says:
    20 Sep20 September 07:04

    How to book, on BA.com, can not find SEZ.

  • Anna says:
    20 Sep20 September 07:16

    It’s worth noting that when prices inevitably increase in the school holidays, WT tickets become more if a bargain.

    Looking forward to a review of one of these holidays!

  • Boi says:
    20 Sep20 September 07:29

    Slightly OT:

    We are planning a 6 week holiday next July/August. I was thinking of a safari, beach combo then go to see family in Botswana. Seychelles or Mauritius were my beach choices (can’t decide which one to go for). What routing will people recommend with good avios availability? Don’t mind city stop overs. Just looking forward to having a fantastic holiday as it is first and probably last time we both get that much time off.

    • Kinkell says:
      20 Sep20 September 08:47

      Seychelles might be a bit warmer as its further north. We love Mauritius and stayed a few times in different places. However, in July/August, its their ‘winter-spring’ so not as warm . If you choose MRU stay on west side. Or SW. Tends to be windy on east side. Our favourite place s the Oberoi, but its pricey. Good value s the Heritage Awali in the south , and the south is more scenic.
      Our oneand only visit to SEZ was in Oct a few years ago…..hot, humid, and we stayed at Constance Ephelia, on Mahe. I did not like the hotel although its location was lovely. Horrible rooms, disappointing food and cluttered beaches with some rubbish. I’m sure there are better places
      We did emirates to SEZ and sometimes to MRU. and different BA 241 routes to MRU via JNB
      Enjoy the hols.

  • TripRep says:
    20 Sep20 September 08:26

    Any HFP’ers stayed or planning to stay at the Hiltons there?

  • Oonagh Cacioppo says:
    20 Sep20 September 08:54

    Massive thanks Rob! Changed Club for First in June 18 .. 241 no charge to change either ..so very happy!!

  • Tom says:
    20 Sep20 September 08:59

    Still looks like reasonable availability (I’m Gold tho’ so that might have some bearing). Booked 2x WT+ on BA app late last night, using 241 voucher. Then rang up this morning and asked to upgrade using my GUF2. And also changed/extended the stay to 10 days.

    A pretty big saving. Used 65,000 Avios plus around £1200 total, using the two different vouchers. Compared to around £5k if booking by cash.

    This is the second time I’ve used the 241 and GUF2 simultaneously.

    Not been to SEZ before so any hotel/island recms most appreciated. I see there are some comments. May use my Hilton Gold to ‘secure’ a spot somewhere, with the possibility of an upgrade. Will also look at AMEX FHR though I guess it’s all going to be a tad pricey.

    Thanks to Rob yet again. Hope others are also lucky in finding a slot.

  • Scott says:
    20 Sep20 September 09:03

    They have dumped a good few seats overnight. Now seeing ‘Available’ on some flights in club which means there are at least nine seats available. Also up to 4 seats in First on some flights. Very generous!

    • Rob says:
      20 Sep20 September 09:13

      Hmmm …. getting tempted if I can book 4 …..

    • Kathy H says:
      20 Sep20 September 20:16

      Some flights had 6 F seats showing for Avios bookings which is suspicious and now it won’t let you do a dummy booking including a domestic connection. Suspect a rabbit up here. Not complaining as I booked 2 J seats yesterday and upgraded today foc. Taxes very high from Ncl £1350+ compared to LHR at £900 for 2.

      • the real harry1 says:
        20 Sep20 September 20:35

        I suspect F on redemption is accounted for internally as if somebody had paid full fare, so it is one easy way to fill up half the expensive seats and make a new route successful very early on – at least as far as the bean counters will see it in year 1

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