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British Airways launches flights from Glasgow to Palma – with 160 tier points

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We have covered a few new BA route launches recently – to San Sebastian from City, to Portland in Oregon and to a range of new short-haul places from Heathrow.

British Airways is also launching a new summer-only service from Glasgow to Palma next year.  From the end of May there will be a weekly flight on Saturdays departing from Glasgow at 2.45pm, with the return from Palma at 7.50pm.

This is a ‘160 tier point’ route (80 tier points each way) according to BA’s tier point calculator.  If any good value Club Europe fares turn up then it would be a way of working towards, or renewing, British Airways Executive Club status.

If you want to know about other Avios redemption ideas from Glasgow, this HFP article looks at Avios flights from UK regional airports.

There will also be an extra weekly flight from Stansted to Florence starting on 3rd May.

Both of these services will use an Embraer 190, usually used at London City during the week, with 2 x 2 seating in both Euro Traveller and Club Europe.  Cash and Avios tickets are available now at ba.com.

Win in the BTN Christmas quiz

If you get a quiet 30 minutes over Christmas, you might want to take a look at the Christmas quiz over at Business Travel News.  You need to identify 40 aircraft or airlines, often by just their tail fins.

Malcolm, who runs Business Travel News, has put together a decent list of prizes including easyJet flights, Gatwick shopping vouchers, Heathrow Express tickets and Plaza Premium lounge passes.  It is very possible that no-one scores maximum points so don’t feel bad about entering if you can’t get them all, or even close.

The quiz is over at Business Travel News here. Entries close 4th January.

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

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

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 £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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 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.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (71)

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

  • Princess says:
    22 Dec22 December 07:00

    OT: thanks to Rob and anybody that with great comments contribute everyday to this website! I’ve back few days ago from my first business class trip followed by 5 nights stay at the Conrad Maldives! It was amazing and I wouldn’t have known how to do just a year ago!

    • Tom H says:
      22 Dec22 December 07:06

      Glad to hear it! I m going in May with 2 kids, any tips as HH gold. Flying BA J to DOH then QR J all on avios.

      • Princess says:
        22 Dec22 December 09:18

        Hi Tom,
        You and the kids will love it! For us was the first trip without the kids from when they were born 3 y and half ago, of course I loved the relaxing time but I also think they would have had a lovely time. I chose the water villa for the entire stay but we kids (depending on age) I would have probably preferred the beach villa with direct access to the beautiful calm water of the lagoon. They told us they were 90% full but on the beaches you could rarely see anybody so no worries to disturb other people.
        The kids club works from 9am till 6pm and is temporary located near the tennis court in the main island. They are rebuilding the official location near atoll restaurant
        In the afternoon I’ve seen them bringing the kids on one of the doni boat to go out for pirate ship fight with another boat they will meet out in the lagoon! They loved it! They were all wearing swimming safety jacket.
        Under 12 they eat free when an adult is eating at the restaurant if you choose from kids menu.
        We are at the Rangali bar, ufaa (Chinese), Vilu and sunset grill. Rangali bar should be the cheapest but we spent more or less the same as the other places and food was much better at Ufaa and sunset grill.
        Enjoy!!!

      • Princess says:
        22 Dec22 December 09:21

        I forgot: they removed the afternoon tea, but the afternoon drinks seem to now be open bar from 4:30 till 5:30, with several glass refill offered even without asking. Make sure to be there from the start

        • The Savage Squirrel says:
          22 Dec22 December 09:46

          Great summary, thanks! The idea of Conrad Rangali (and similar resorts) always thought would bore me witless, but this does make it tempting to take the family. Maybe time to dust off that Hilton credit card….

          • Princess says:
            22 Dec22 December 11:13

            I know! I’ve always thought the same!!!
            I’m now already planning how to combine maybe 10/15 days in India or Sri Lanka and then go back to maldives! All with my little ones!!!

  • S says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:14

    O/T: anyone had troubles with IHG 4x offer not tracking? I had the first three stays credit properly but fourth stay has only received elite bonus, no 4x. Its got to be a qualifying rate because same hotel at same price last week credited at 3x and I was expecting this one to take me to 4x. Call centre says waiting 60 days….

  • Tom1 says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:37

    O/t Amex referrals

    I saw tracking/delay issues mentioned a few days/weeks ago. Has anyone found a solution? Have Amex been delaying further or accepted the problem? I want to close my card but waiting for a chunk of points first.

  • Soloflyer1977 says:
    22 Dec22 December 09:52

    OT: I have booked a flight using avios (RFS) for my husband for a work trip for him (he’s self employed) . How do he value the avios when he processes the receipt/flight for HMRC? Many thanks

    • Bs says:
      22 Dec22 December 10:05

      There is extremely muddy waters:

      Either you accept when he flies on business that the air miles earned are used solely for the benefit of the business (and therefore when you spend them there is no personal cost, only business cost, so nothing to claim in this case), or
      You assign a value to Avios, and when you earn them on business you treat them as a benefit in kind and pay appropriate taxes. You can use this value to claim any personally earned Avios at that rate.

      You could also cheat and just purchase the number of Avios required as a business expense to get around it. But it sounds like you used a personal Avios stash.

      I know which one I’d do…

      • Rob says:
        22 Dec22 December 10:13

        He could pay you 1.6p per Avios from the business, BA’s standard purchase rate.

        Alternatively, buy them (currently 30% bonus). When I used Hyatt points in April for a conference I did that, even though I had the points anyway.

        • memesweeper says:
          22 Dec22 December 13:21

          Seems legit. Might provide me a way to obtain some value from my Virgin stash (currently selling at 1.5p each). I’ll be checking with the account first though.

      • Lady London says:
        22 Dec22 December 18:35

        I bought some to establish a value then ensured records were kept to prove all that set of Avios was used for named business expenses.

  • Tariq says:
    22 Dec22 December 10:06

    OT: checked out of my 50th night with Marriott last Monday, but unlike other stays which have posted quickly, this one still hasn’t posted and my status is still Gold. Is this a peculiarity at status boundaries, or just fluke? I realise that Marriott’s guidance is 10 working days for stays to post.

    • Stu_N says:
      22 Dec22 December 12:07

      Just pure bad luck – stays will generally post overnight on day of check-out, or occasionally 48 hours later.

      I’d suggest you email or phone the hotel and ask them if they can check they have closed out your stay and submitted the record to Bonvoy properly.

      Failing that, try Bonvoy customer services, if you search this site with comments that will bring up an 0203 customer services number.

  • BJ says:
    22 Dec22 December 11:08

    OT: If I trigger a Hilton Diamond extension will the extra year contribute to qualification for Lifetime Diamond or is it ignored? If it counts, can I just retain the extension and use it to trigger Lifetime status after nine qualifying year?

  • Martha says:
    22 Dec22 December 11:35

    New BA Avios pricing.
    To be clear, if you use the 241, you can’t choose how many avios you use?

  • Louie-m says:
    22 Dec22 December 11:41

    OT: recommendations for a cheap and cheerful hotel near Heathrow with parking please (for early Jan, Sat night). Will arrive late and leave early so not so bothered about frills.

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

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