Lufthansa’s Eurowings to launch flights to Spain from Manchester and Birmingham

A few years ago, Lufthansa moved all short-haul flights which did not use its Frankfurt or Munich hubs to its low cost subsidiary Eurowings.

The logic was that these flights would not have any passengers connecting to long-haul Lufthansa flights and so there was no need to offer a full service.

Eurowings continues to be a bit of a mess. It was losing substantial sums of money even before coronavirus hit, and had struggled to integrate the airberlin assets it acquired. As part of Lufthansa it was saddled with a cost base far ahead of pure low cost carriers.

Eurowings dominates the market between Germany and Mallorca. It has now decided to enter the UK market.

In Summer 2021, it will operate direct flights from Manchester to Mallorca and Birmingham to Mallorca.

Services are due to start from the end of May, initially with two flights per week. Further expansion announcements are promised for the next few weeks.

This page of the Eurowings website shows the earning and spending rates in Miles & More. At 23,000 miles return plus taxes and charges, a redemption is unlikely to be a good use of your miles.

You can read more about the new flights here.

Loganair to add two new routes

Loganair has announced two new routes, as it continues to reshape its network for a post-coronavirus future.

Starting on 24th May, Loganair will fly from Teesside International to Bristol. The service will operate daily during the week.

On the same day, it will also launch flights between Derry and Liverpool. This follows a decision by Ryanair to drop the route. It will launch with four flights per week, on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a view to going daily by late June.

Our review of the Clan Loganair frequent flyer scheme is here.

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (December 2024)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review