Green list responses: Virgin Atlantic adds extra Caribbean flights, BA Holidays launches a sale

Both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways came out with announcements yesterday as travel begins to look a little easier for Summer and Autumn 2021.

Let’s start with Virgin Atlantic.

Whilst the removal of Amber List quarantine for the fully vaccinated won’t be a huge help to Virgin until the US begins to accept UK travellers again, it is using its aircraft capacity to boost flights to the Caribbean.

The changes are a mix of additional services and earlier launch dates. This is what is coming:

• London Heathrow to Antigua will increase from 1x weekly (now) to 3x weekly from 15th July

• London Heathrow to Barbados will increase from 2x weekly (now) to 4x weekly from 15th July and then daily from 25th July

• London Heathrow to Grenada via Barbados will operate twice weekly from 16th July

• Manchester to Barbados will restart three times weekly from 7th August

In even better news for Barbados passengers, the Heathrow service will swap from a Boeing 787 to the new Airbus A350 from August for five flights per week. This will allow Upper Class passengers to enjoy the new A350 Upper Class Suite which we reviewed here. All other routes above will be on a Boeing 787.

You can find out more about Virgin’s Caribbean services on this page of their website.

BA Holidays launches a new sale

BA Holidays has responded to the news that fully vaccinated visitors to Amber List countries will not need to quarantine on return with a new sale.

Book by 20th July and you can:

• Save £25 with a minimum spend of £500 per booking
• Save £50 with a minimum spend of £1,000 per booking
• Save £100 with a minimum spend of £2,500 per booking
• Save £200 with a minimum spend of £5,000 per booking
• Save £300 with a minimum spend of £10,000 per booking

You must travel between 19th July and 30th September.

Participating destinations are Albania, Andorra, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Grand Cayman, Greece, Grenada, Jamaica, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Poland, Portugal (including Madeira), Spain (including mainland, Balearics and Canary Islands), St Lucia, Turks & Caicos and UK domestic routes.

You can find out more on the BA Holidays website here. The discount is not on the home page at the time of writing but does come up when you search for a trip.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.