How to redeem Avios points for long-haul business class flights on Air Italy

Over the last few months, a new way of redeeming for Avios for long-haul business class flights has been taking shape – with Air Italy.

In late 2017, Qatar Airways acquired a 49% stake in Italian airline Meridiana.  Meridiana was a slightly bizarre airline, to put it mildly, being part-owned by the Aga Khan and having a weird route network primarily flown by old McDonnell-Douglas aircraft.

To add to the oddness, Meridiana used Avios as its reward programme but refused to take part in ‘Combine My Avios’, meaning that you couldn’t move points into or out of their scheme.

Qatar Airways rebranded Meridiana as Air Italy, using the typical Qatar Airways colour scheme, and moved its hub from Palermo to the more practical choice of Milan.

The Air Italy website is here.

Air Italy’s long-haul route network

Using a number of A330 aircraft leased from Qatar Airways, until newly ordered Boeing 787 planes are delivered, Air Italy has expanded its long-haul route network in recent months.

It now offers flights from Milan Malpensa to:

• New York
• Chicago (starts May 2019)
• Los Angeles (starts April 2019)
• Miami
• San Francisco (starts April 2019)
• Toronto (starts May 2019)
• Bangkok
• Accra
• Lagos
• Delhi
• Mumbai
• Dakar

The Air Italy Business Class cabin

On Air Italy’s A330 you will find the old Qatar Airways seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. These aren’t the best business class seats in the world, to put it mildly, as they angle downwards towards the floor.

(For the benefit of younger readers, these seats were very common until just a few years ago.  They allowed airlines to fit in more business class seats per cabin than a fully flat bed allowed, and also created a point of difference with First Class.  The majority of leading airlines have now abandoned this model, luckily.  They weren’t known as ‘wedgie’ seats for nothing.)

You can read a full review on One Mile At A Time here which is far more positive than I would have expected.

How to book Air Italy with Avios

The good news is that Air Italy business class seats can be booked on ba.com with Avios.

The other bit of good news is that Air Italy appears to be following the Qatar Airways pattern of opening up FOUR redemption seats in Business Class.

Here is the bad news:

Flights come with BA’s crazy surcharges attached.  A business class return redemption from Milan to San Francisco comes with £588 of taxes and charges, for example.

Because Milan to North America is further than London to North America, some routes require more Avios.  San Francisco is 180,000 Avios in Business Class vs 150,000 Avios on BA from London on a peak date.  New York is 150,00 Avios vs 120,000 Avios on a peak date from London with BA.

Flights to India price up at 120,000 Avios – the same as BA charges – but of course you need to factor in the cost of getting to Milan.

The one minor upside I can see is that one-way taxes TO North America are not bad.  A one-way business class redemption to New York from Milan requires £210 of taxes on top of 75,000 Avios.  This compares to £446 + 60,000 Avios for a one-way peak date Club World redemption direct from London on BA.  The cash saving is wiped out by the extra Avios needed and the cost of a one-way flight to Milan, however.

Conclusion

Air Italy seems, unfortunately, to be a bit of lost cause for UK residents looking to spend their Avios.

The combination of:

requiring more Avios on many routes compared to flying direct from London

having to position yourself in Milan to connect to your Air Italy long-haul flight, and

the stupidly high taxes and charges being added by BA

…. come together to mean that it is unlikely that you would ever look at booking such a redemption unless you specifically had to be in Italy beforehand.  Realistically I can only see it being useful if you are travelling at short notice and this is the only availability you can find.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 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.