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Flybe launching flights from London Heathrow to the Isle of Man

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Flybe has announced a new service from Heathrow to the Isle of Man.

Starting on 21st April and using a 78-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft, it is initially scheduled to run for the Summer season to 26th October.

It will, apparently, be the first direct flight in nearly 20 years between the two airports.  The service will operate daily, leaving the Isle of Man at 13.50 and landing at Heathrow at 15.10.  The return flight departs at 17.05 and arrives in the Isle of Man at 18.25.

It is not clear where the slot is coming from, but it is presumably a Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France or KLM slot which someone else had been slot sitting on their behalf.

Flybe lanches Isle of Man to Heathrow

Flybe will also be flying from the Isle of Man to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester this Summer and is currently running a seasonal ski service to Geneva.

Tickets are available now at flybe.com.  I’m not sure if they will be made available for Avios redemption or not, given that the Flybe partnership with Avios ends on 30th April.

You will still earn Avios on cash flights to the Isle of Man as long as both the outbound and return legs are completed by 30th April.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

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

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Barclaycard Avios card

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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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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

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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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.

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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.

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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

General

Comments (63)

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

  • Louise says:
    29 Mar29 March 09:07

    Wow that’s shocking, something not right here!

  • Scottydogg says:
    29 Mar29 March 09:20

    Good news about IOM to Heathrow , until now we could only Fly to City or Gatwick , and with most BA flights going out of Heathrow , getting a good redemption was tricky
    Just hope Flybe price it right so that the route survives

    • Craig says:
      29 Mar29 March 09:29

      I’d certainly want to be doing any connection as a single booking, not sure I would want to rely on FlyBe until we see how things settle down?

      • Richard says:
        29 Mar29 March 09:57

        FlyBe will be fine for at least the next 2 years given the financial weight of Delta and Virgin behind them now.

        • Rob says:
          29 Mar29 March 11:15

          …. but they are implying big timetable changes from the Winter switchover on 26 October.

      • john says:
        29 Mar29 March 10:07

        Flight times might mean an overnight stay at LHR if you were planning longhaul, particularly if going west

  • ankomonkey says:
    29 Mar29 March 09:25

    So the Finnair slippers are made from recycled PET bottles. I wonder if they cost as much as the swimming trunks made from the same materials…

  • Kathy says:
    29 Mar29 March 09:51

    Do sales ever come up for Hong Kong – or is it one of those destinations that are just expensive all the time? I’m going in November.

    • Andy says:
      29 Mar29 March 10:26

      Me too … I’m going in Nov and Hong Kong seems even more expensive than usual for that time. Might just be that it’s too soon to book anything reasonable. Usual hotels seem stratospheric in price!

      • Kathy says:
        29 Mar29 March 10:58

        Oh well, that’s useful to know I’ll hang on a bit.

        • Andy says:
          29 Mar29 March 15:48

          Yes…if worst comes to worst could always use points…the Hilton Garden Inn in Mong Kok isn’t bad..location is slightly inconvenient but its fine for 30,000 Hilton Points a night. Breakfast is adequate. Much prefer the Novotel Kowloon on Nathan Road but looks too expensive at the moment

    • BP says:
      29 Mar29 March 10:28

      I stayed in the Langham for £120 a night including breakfast. Good prices do come up sometimes!!

  • krys_k says:
    29 Mar29 March 13:35

    Re Hilton offer. A couple of questions please.
    1. Can this be combined with any current Hilton offers. I’m unclear.
    2. Timely offer as I need to book three nights in Singapore – and therefore Conrad seems a good choice. Anyone been recently, has it been spruced up. My stay a couple of years ago in an Executive Room felt like a visit to an 80s Bond villain’s boudoir.
    3. How are they with upgrades for Hilton Gold? (from standard to exec)
    Much thanks.

    • Matt B says:
      29 Mar29 March 14:24

      3. I’m 3 for 3 at the doubletree near one of my offices for what its worth.

      Doesn’t already to be much difference over a normal room, just a desk and use of the minibar which just has a coke, fanta and strangely a tin of pringles

    • Crafty says:
      29 Mar29 March 16:48

      Wouldn’t stay there again myself. Feels dated. No real Platinum recognition. Dismissive staff. Great lounge (for our needs) though.

  • Steve says:
    29 Mar29 March 14:42

    Emirates still offering amenity kits on day flights, got them on F DXB-LON and DXB-LAX, on both saw them offered to J passengers too. Although on my DXB-LON flight I had to ask for it as they’d missed me out when I’d gone to the bathroom

  • Lee says:
    29 Mar29 March 15:16

    OT – has anyone had issue with AMEX online account today? Won’t let me log in at all.

    • Lev441 says:
      29 Mar29 March 15:18

      Yep. Also offers not showing up ‘not available’ is often coming up which is frustrating.

    • Andy says:
      29 Mar29 March 15:42

      Yes! I’m trying to pay my balance and the app and website is full of errors! Grrr

    • Tom W says:
      29 Mar29 March 17:23

      Same for me. App and Website glitchy to say the least. Was working fine this morning.

  • Shoestring says:
    29 Mar29 March 18:05

    O/T Worldremit – this outfit is a new force in sending money abroad, online:
    [With WorldRemit, you can send your money to over 140 countries worldwide. Depending on where you’re sending your money, you can send it in up to four ways:
    Mobile Money
    Bank Transfer
    Cash Collection
    Airtime Topup]

    I did the simple bank transfer from UK to our bank in the place in the sun. Paid on debit card.

    ***They offer attractive first time customer bonus*** – currently £50 bonus when you remit at least £100.

    WR were happy to allow myself, my wife & my son to all become customers, for 3x bonus, we sent money on the same debit card to the same foreign bank a/c.

    Not all of you will have an a/c abroad for a bank transfer – but you might want to look into the other 3 methods.

    • Shoestring says:
      29 Mar29 March 18:07

      Forgot to mention another important bit: the FX rate offered was unbeatable by HIFX (now XE)/ Moneycorp by a big margin – and therefore better by a country mile than any rate you’ll find on the high street.

      • pablo says:
        29 Mar29 March 20:10

        I tend to use western union. Fee free to a bank account and rates close to spot when sending over £1001

        • Shoestring says:
          29 Mar29 March 20:19

          Do they give you £50 bonus for your first remit? And another £50 for your wife’s first remit? And another £50 for your son?

        • pablo says:
          29 Mar29 March 20:59

          I’ve used up those offers already in the past. Can only be used once.

        • Shoestring says:
          29 Mar29 March 21:00

          Sí, claro 🙂

    • Craig says:
      29 Mar29 March 18:15

      I’ve used them a couple of times, mostly to take advantage of a certain rebate from the site that shouldn’t be named. Both times it worked flawlessly.

      • Alan says:
        31 Mar31 March 15:53

        Ditto! Was great deal with offer. Used my N26 EUR account to receive funds.

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