Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

New British Airways policy just issued for flights to Italy

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

This morning we published a major article summarising the current British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flight changes.

Things are moving quickly, however.  British Airways has just issued new guidance for anyone with tickets to Italy,

Here are the rules:

Rules apply to anyone travelling to Milan, Venice, Turin, Bergamo, Bologna, Verona

If you are booked for travel until 4th April, you can rebook for free for dates up to 31st May

You can also request a diversion to Zurich or Geneva

Here is the new bit added today:

Anyone with tickets to Milan, Venice or Bergamo for travel by 4th April can now request a full refund

This guidance does not yet appear on the BA Travel Trade website page for Italy but is showing on ba.com.


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.

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.

Comments (58)

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

  • Rma says:

    The following article was published on the Moscow Times
    “March 7, 2020 – Russia has confirmed the 14-day self-isolation regime for foreign nationals visiting Moscow has been extended.
    This extension was approved by the Rospotrebnadzor department for Moscow on March 6, 2020, requiring visitors entering Russia’s capital of Moscow from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K, Norway, and the USA to stay inside for 2-weeks, under self-isolation guidelines.”

    We are booked to go to Russia for 10 days in about two weeks time, but will see what BA say tomorrow. Not hopeful.

  • Bentoni says:

    OT, I remember the travel insurance on the platinum charge card states that it would also cover tickets purchased on Amex issued personal credit cards. Is it still the case?

    If it is still the case, then would the platinum travel
    Insurance cover the scenario below?

    – Alice has a supplementary platinum card
    – Alice has also has a Amex personal credit card under their name
    – Alice purchased a plane ticket using their Amex personal
    credit card

    Just thought with all the airline related drama, it would be good to take the advantage of the S75 protection.

  • Lady London says:

    Dont they have to refund you if ask? They did not provide the travel paid for.
    Or, look in the calendar and tell them you want it on a date that happens to be really expensive instead.
    They would 100% have been on the hook for everything including hotel if you’d stayed over and got a flight, even if the 08.30 was gone theyh would have put you on another one and until then you’d have been claiming.

  • Boi says:

    If you have Hilton barclaycard you can revolutionalise points

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.