British Airways launches six new Heathrow ‘Summer sun’ routes – Avios flights bookable now
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British Airways has announced six new ‘Summer sun’ routes from Heathrow, including Pristina and Podgorica.
These routes are all available for booking now, with the guaranteed six Avios seats per flight available.
Some of these are brand new whilst others are re-instatements of previously cancelled routes. They all offer you additional options for your 2020 holiday.
The most intriguing, and somewhere that I have never been, is Kosovo. British Airways will operate Saturday-only flights to Pristina from 4th July to 29th August.
This is obviously a low-risk way of testing the market, with only around 1500 seats in each direction over the season. I got an error message when trying to book this at 12pm but it should appear soon.
BA is also entering Montenegro, although not to the more obvious holiday option of Tivat. Instead, there will be a weekly flight to Podgorica. The operating dates are identical to Pristina.
Heathrow will also see flights to Perugia in Italy. Services will run on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2nd July to 31st August.
Turkey is also seeing expansion. British Airways already flies to Dalaman from London Gatwick but is adding an additional Heathrow service too.
Bodrum is also back on the BA map.
Both routes will be Saturday-only, operating between 23rd May and 24th October. Remember that British Airways is also launching Antalya from Gatwick from mid April.
Turning to Greece, there will be a new service between Heathrow and Rhodes. This will operate on Saturdays between 4th July and 29th August. The existing service between Gatwick and Rhodes, pictured below, will remain.
Corfu is also gaining an additional two flights per week from Gatwick on Fridays and Sundays between 1st May and 23rd October. Domes of Corfu is pictured above.
Frequency increases have also been announced on 16 routes including Larnaca, Brindisi, Nice, Ibiza, Tenerife, Split, Olbia, Kefalonia and Preveza. Unfortunately we were not given a full list. If you previously tried and failed to find Avios space on these routes for the Summer you may want to check again.
Seats should be bookable on all these routes, for cash or Avios, at ba.com.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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 £12,000 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.
Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
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.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) 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.
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