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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 (December 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

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

Barclaycard Avios card

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.

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

Huge 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees 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.

Comments (58)

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

  • Steve says:

    Is anyone else having trouble actually finding SEZ on ba.com….?

  • John says:

    10 days!! I think 3 would be too many for me though my tastes seem to be in a minority on here

    If I ever go to the Seychelles it will probably be a side trip from Kenya or Madagascar, or a back-to-back trip to start an RTW ticket

  • Phil says:

    The BA site is being very glitch (for me at least) today. I can’t book any Avios flights on it currently. Seems to be the new site.

  • Darren says:

    Whens the best time to go to Seychelles? Always been on the bucket list so will be very tempted for next year, maybe Nov.

  • Gavin says:

    I cancelled yesterday’s booking and rebooked to change dates take advantage of the May bank holiday. Also saved a few Avios by going for two off peak dates. FYI the refunded Avios and 241 voucher were both returned to my account instantly, although had to log out and in again to see the voucher.

  • Jorge says:

    Seychelles is well worth it. I bagged a £250 ticket a couple of years ago with Etihad – error fare 🙂
    Try La Digue Island, it’s brilliant!

    OT – How long does it usually take for the BA241 to show up on the BA account after the spending has been triggered with Amex?

    • Jas Gill says:

      OT – How long does it usually take for the BA241 to show up on the BA account after the spending has been triggered with Amex?

      My better half triggered the voucher yesterday and it landed in her account this morning.

    • Richmond_Surrey says:

      I flew on Air Seychelles from CDG for 360 euro a year ago (fuly flexible Y tarriff – error fare). I don’t think I would want to pay £700 for direct flight in BA economy. 3 days were enough to see the main island, stayed in private accommodation via booking.com for 70 euro per day. Driving is a bit dangerous, especially on weekends when locals are out and drinking. Roads are unlit, people and animals walk on the roads, they are deep ditches on the sides or ocean, no security barrier.

      It looks like paradise if you don’t leave the resort, but real life is not that perfect.

      • pauldb says:

        That’s fair enough for main island which the busiest – it’s the most convenient to stay if you just want a week in a resort but I wouldn’t stay there otherwise (unfortunately the early return departure probably means you have to on your last night). But Praslin is closer to paradise – 8000 inhabitants and more obvious sights (beaches, boat trips, Vallee de Mai); La Digue has virtually no cars except a handful of taxis; Silhouette (with not much besides the Hilton) has virtually no roads! 🙂

  • Kai says:

    OT – Does BA do status soft landing? I’m currently silver and the membership year ends in November, by which time I would have probably only 20 tier points Will I be downgraded to Blue or soft-landed to Bronze?

  • Rob says:

    Hi,

    I am going away next year for a wedding (family of 4). I have saved up around 150k points. I’m currently earning around 25k per month.

    I want to book a hotel and flights (full holiday) using points.

    What is the best way to do this?

    Any advice? Is it best to use the Avios website? Or booking flight and hotels separately?

    Thanks,
    Rob

    • pauldb says:

      Although the website will try and sell you flights and hotels together, you are essential buying the two things at their individual prices. In other words it doesn’t really matter how you are booking.
      Using avios for hotels is typically poor value (if you mean avios points specifically) – I believe you only get around 0.5p/avios and you are probably paying more than that to acquire some of your avios. Might be better to save avios for another trip, and/or devote some of your earning (or Amex points) to hotel points.

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