British Airways launches flights to San Sebastián from London City, now bookable on Avios

Slightly closer to home after the big news that British Airways is launching Portland, Oregon is the announcement that BA is also launching San Sebastián next year.

The flights are set to take place over the peak summer season from July to September, twice weekly. Here is the schedule:

BA7335 Monday and Friday, departing London at 9:10am and arriving at 12:10.

BA7334 Monday and Friday, departing San Sabastian 13:13 and arriving in London at 14:25.

The flights will be from London City with BA CityFlyer. The aircraft used is an Embraer E190, with a 2-2 configuration in both Club Europe and Euro Traveller (there is no blocked seat in Club Europe).

Unfortunately – unlike my Portland piece yesterday – I cannot give any personal recommendations for San Sebastián. Do leave a comment if you have any particular recommendations.

The city is nestled in the Basque region of Spain, in the crook of the arm where France and Spain meet. It is just over an hour from Bilbao (home of the Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum) and just under an hour from the French border.

San Sebastián is famous for its high concentration of bars. Peter Downes, the Aviation Director at London City writes that “As well as the beaches and bars, San Sebastián is a food and cultural capital – home to pintxo delicacies, a multitude of Michelin-starred restaurants and an international film festival. It will also serve as the perfect gateway to popular tourist spots such as the Basque region, Cantabria, Pamplona and the Pyrenees.”

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, San Sebastián is also home to the Hotel Maria Cristina, which is part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection. For a week night in July you are looking at over €500. A redemption is 70,000 per night, so you are getting 0.7p+ per point.

This flight is now bookable on ba.com here – just make sure that you enter either a Monday or a Friday to see availability! Redemption availability should also be good as these flights have just been loaded into the timetable. Here are the Avios pricing options in economy one-way:

• 6250 Avios + £10.50
• 4500 Avios + £15.50
• 3300 Avios + £35.50
• 2800 Avios + £40.50
• 2500 Avios + £45.50

The ‘traditional’ Reward Flight Saver fare is highlighted in bold and is the best value option of the five if you value an Avios at 1p. This compares with a hand baggage-only fare of £90 one way, or a return for about £120.

This article in our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series looks at how Avios Reward Flight Saver works on short-haul British Airways flights.

You can see more on the British Airways website.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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:

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

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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.