Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Flybe to close or shrink four UK bases as it cuts back on jet aircraft operations

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Flybe has announced that it will close its bases at Cardiff and Doncaster Sheffield at the end of the Summer season in late October.

Flights using jet aircraft from Exeter and Norwich will also cease with only turboprop routes remaining.

Services from Norwich operated by Eastern Airways under its Flybe franchise are not impacted.

Flybe to close four UK bases

Some turboprop services at Cardiff and Doncaster Sheffield will continue but only where they can be served from a remaining base.

These four airports are seen as underperforming and not part of the plan by the new owners, Connect Airways, to primarily feed passengers to major hub airports.

Our article covering the full details of the Flybe takeover by the Virgin-led consortium is here.

You can learn about the closure of the Flybe Avios programme here.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 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 – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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

10,000 points bonus – plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Get up to 40,000 points as a sign-up offer 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 (187)

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

  • Bonglim says:

    O/t anyone want to give me a revolut code?

    • Grant says:

      I replied on the other article

      • Bonglim says:

        Thanks I used grants.
        It might not work as I downloaded app first, then deleted the app, then used the link.
        But it might.

        Thanks again

        • Grant says:

          I’m not actually sure there are benefits (for either party) for using a referral link.

  • Oli says:

    OT- I’m shocked a BA agent just called me after I filed a complaint on their website about my CW seat being broken last Saturday: she offered 80,000 Avios or a 400 e-voucher. The Avios posted 10 minutes later. Is this standard compensation? I’m a Blue member

    • Shoestring says:

      Blue status doesn’t really matter (though I guess Gold, GGLs etc get better service in these matters!) – you get more compo for Business/ First than for Economy, which makes sense given the relative cost of tickets. 80K sounds very fair verging on generous, how broken was broken?

      • Oli says:

        The motor did not work, so the crew had to recline the seat manually. I slept 8h of the 11h flight anyway

        • Shoestring says:

          pretty good result, then 🙂

        • Alan says:

          Wow, great result! Way more generous than I’ve had from them even when I was Gold. Also had more compo from Swiss for a damaged piece of checked luggage than I did from BA, despite the Swiss flight being short haul economy and the BA one F from Oz!

    • Rob says:

      That’s bizarre – and worryingly low Avios valuation. Do they know something we don’t?!

      • Oli says:

        Yes especially as the hit on their margin of the £400 voucher is even less than that…

      • Mr Dee says:

        Probably to do with the amount they charge for hotels/experiences/car hire so the person isn’t going to be missing out

      • Lawro says:

        Had a scaled up version of that amount but with the same cash v Avios ratio at the end of last year. While delighted with the compensation it certainly had me worrying about a devaluation.

    • BJ says:

      Wow, impressive. And I thought I did well this week getting 3000 IHG points and two drinks because room wasn’t ready at check-in 🙂

  • James says:

    OT sorry

    I already have a Amex plat card & now I’ve just received a supplementary card on my wife’s account.

    Can I add this new supplementary card into my main Amex login, or will I have to set up a new one under a new email address just for the supplemetary card?

    Thanks

    • Rob says:

      Can add to yours – my wife has supps and main cards together.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Sometimes you have to wait a couple days for it to add to existing accounts

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

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.