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British Airways adds new Maldives services – Avios seats available

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If you’ve wanted to fly to the Maldives on Avios, today is your lucky day.

British Airways seems to have relaunched the Maldives as a year-round service, albeit in a limited way.

A new service has appeared in the timetable today.

British Airways Avios Maldives

It departs on Fridays, leaving Heathrow at 19.15, arriving into Male at 09.40 on Saturday.

It departs Male at 11.40 on Saturday, arriving back into Heathrow at 19.05

Avios seats are available

British Airways has only made the minimum number of Avios seats available – 4 in World Traveller and 2 in Club World.

However, they are available, at least at 5.45pm on Thursday.

If you can find a pair that work for you, either for 8 or 15 nights, I would jump on it ASAP.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

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

10,000 Avios (to 26th September) 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

40,000 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

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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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (32)

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

  • Matt says:
    25 Feb25 February 20:37

    Does Combine my avios work for you? BA page always keeps loading and expires, Iberia always throws an error

    • Matt says:
      25 Feb25 February 21:04

      Update – I’m in, but this is strange: You can only move Avios from British Airways to Iberia Plus – you cannot move your Avios back again.

      Any idea why pls?

      • Gtellez says:
        25 Feb25 February 21:40

        That happens if you have a family account with BA. You can move the avios through Avios.com if you have an account with Vueling or Aer Lingus; first from Iberia to avios.com and then to BA. I just did that to book two business flights for Sept; not amazing weather but well I hope we could have few hours a day of good weather

  • meta says:
    25 Feb25 February 22:31

    Thanks Rob for the mention.

  • Doug says:
    25 Feb25 February 22:46

    Only Sept available now, I don’t want to risk the weather and missing my potential second dose. I guess more opportunities will show up eventually

  • Tom says:
    25 Feb25 February 23:24

    More availabilityust be getting loaded. I’ve just managed to get the exact dates I wanted in August that weren’t showing until around 20 minutes ago.

  • TeesTraveller says:
    26 Feb26 February 07:42

    The Rockliffe lounge is shown in the photo which is being created in conj7nction with nearby Rockliffe Hall (5 star golf resort). Construction currently underway on both lounges at Teesside Airport and should be complete by the summer.

    The terminal is undergoing a full renovation right now with an extended check-in area, ultra-modern security scanners and new shops & bars

    Suspect you will be able to fly there on a BA code soon but let’s see…

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:
      26 Feb26 February 09:41

      Judging from the picture this looks like an excellent facility. I’m in Cheshire but I would absolutely consider flying from Teeside just to experience the reef and clear blue waters while waiting for my onward connection. It looks like a game changer.

      • Toppcat says:
        26 Feb26 February 10:22

        +1. Absolutely revolutionary. Teesside up there with Changi in the ‘top airport facilities’ stakes now. More airports should consider installing house reefs.

  • Anna says:
    26 Feb26 February 11:20

    Don’t laugh but the Holiday Inn Maldives looks to be a decent option if you’re on a budget! They do have overwater villas and different meal plans you can add, and rooms are bookable on IHG points. Someone posted on here a few months ago that it’s actually a decent place to stay.

    • chabuddy geezy says:
      26 Feb26 February 19:08

      The Intercontinental also has some reasonable food and beverages prices compared to other resorts.

    • Mrs_Fussy says:
      26 Feb26 February 19:40

      Anna – I have been to holiday inn, jumeirah, Niyama, taj and one & only. The food at Holiday inn was phenomenal, the rooms were a little run down when we went ( 2016) but beautiful white sand ( unlike niyama which was shingles ). The only problem is there is a local island next to it ( you could literally swim up there ) and that may not appeal to many. Otherwise perfectly reasonable stay esp if you are doing it as part of twin centre holiday. If you manage your expectations, it won’t disappoint

  • TripRep says:
    26 Feb26 February 19:22

    Rob I am awaiting the refund of a 241 voucher.from a flight I cancelled 2 weeks ago.

    Can I go ahead and book the outbound to MLE without using the 241 voucher and then phone up CS in a couple of weeks for them to apply the refunded one to the booking?

    • Anna says:
      27 Feb27 February 12:31

      If you come back to this, TripRep, I would suggest calling BA about that voucher, they normally come back as soon as you cancel (by phone anyway, I am also waiting for avios requested online a month ago!) I’ve never heard of BA applying a 241 to a whole booking, just to the return portion but others may have had different experiences.

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

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