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British Airways adds extra Dubai flights, wide open for Avios at October half term

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British Airways has added a new Dubai flight to its schedule this afternoon.

This means, as per the usual Avios policy, that the full 14 guaranteed Avios seats are available for redemption on each flight.

Seats are wide open, obviously, including half term in October which is the prime Dubai week of the year (and hotels are priced accordingly).

This availability was correct as of 16.00 today but will go quickly.

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

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Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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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

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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

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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

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American Express Business Gold

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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 (33)

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

  • Gringo says:
    6 Sep6 September 16:18

    Another 787 🙁

  • Babyg says:
    6 Sep6 September 16:30

    sadly no extra flights added for the month of December – fingers crossed!

    • Paul says:
      7 Sep7 September 11:38

      Hopefully down the line there will be! Eyes are peeled for that availability myself.

  • ChrisW says:
    6 Sep6 September 17:02

    What do H4P readers think about the likelihood of another ban on leisure travel this winter? I know we have vaccinated most of the population but presumably cases will go through the roof when the weather cools down and people move inside the socialise.

    October should be fine but I’m nervous about booking anything long-haul for January.

    • Babyg says:
      6 Sep6 September 17:12

      it depends where you want to travel and it seems politics plays a huge role in what countries go onto/off red lists etc…. but with FTVs etc the risk of booking flights is minimal… eventually the world will just accept the risks associated with covid (which look to be diminishing with every jab)…

    • JDB says:
      6 Sep6 September 17:15

      Who knows, but politically getting trickier as growing number of Tory MPs are anti covid restrictions, but problem is Labour always love pressuring the government for travel bans. We have three red list trips booked for Nov, Feb and Apr, so just hoping for the best, particularly as there are brilliant and cancellable hotel deals.

    • Rob says:
      6 Sep6 September 17:22

      Depends who you think is banning you – the UK or your destination.

      We now seem to be in ‘if you want to be unvaxxed and die then that’s fine by the rest of us’ territory so I doubt much will change there. Whether other countries feel it is too risky letting in Brits if we’re at 100k cases per day is a different question.

      • ChrisW says:
        6 Sep6 September 17:40

        Dubai was welcoming unvaxxed Brits with open arms last November / December from memory.
        I’m thinking more Carribean. I imagine some islands will take the approach that they can capture more tourists by having more relaxed entry requirements.

        • Babyg says:
          6 Sep6 September 18:24

          im booked to go to barbados in Feb… they currently require everybody to be double vaxxed, and if it goes red ill stay in Portugal or somewhere else for 2 weeks before coming back to the UK…

          • Paul says:
            7 Sep7 September 14:57

            Barbados does not require everybody to be double vaxxed – but they do impose a 5 day quarantine period for unvaxxed people.

        • John says:
          6 Sep6 September 19:55

          Practically nobody was vaccinated last December.

          Most of the world that wasn’t in some form of lockdown was welcoming tourists last (northern hemisphere) summer.

        • Rich says:
          7 Sep7 September 07:28

          Re the UAE that was pre Delta variant though. A lot has changed in 12 months.

    • Jeff Greene says:
      6 Sep6 September 22:46

      Probably worth having a look at previous predictions on here…

      If you did I doubt you’d ask as they’ve mostly been shockers

  • KBuffett says:
    6 Sep6 September 19:51

    Can some please confirm half term dates, so that I can avoid

    • Asim says:
      6 Sep6 September 20:03

      16 Oct to 31st Oct

      • KBuffett says:
        6 Sep6 September 20:45

        Thanks

      • Degsy says:
        6 Sep6 September 23:01

        Do most parts of the country now have two weeks in Oct? We moved to it this year (in South Nottingham) – I was hoping we’d be in the minority and be able to capitalise on cheap hols and plenty of avios/VFC availability during the first week, but this hasn’t really played out the way I hoped.

        • FatherOfFour says:
          7 Sep7 September 00:16

          No, most parts have 1, but it could be the earlier week, or the later week of the 2 in the range highlighted by Asim

  • Asim says:
    6 Sep6 September 21:01

    Any genuine exceptionally good deals on 5* hotels in Dubai?

    • ChrisW says:
      6 Sep6 September 22:11

      If you go during their summer you can get extremely cheap deals

      • Rob says:
        7 Sep7 September 07:45

        But at October half-term you should expect £500 per night for a decent 5-star hotel with a beach.

    • fivebobbill says:
      7 Sep7 September 06:43

      Currently in Conrad Dubai, 5 nights for 76,000 points, upgraded to suite as a diamond. Can’t complain

  • Harry T says:
    6 Sep6 September 21:38

    Has anyone figured out how far this new flight extends, date wise? I’m trying to get availability in December. Thanks!

  • Ali M says:
    6 Sep6 September 22:49

    Even found more avios availability for Islamabad!! I know this as have checked a few days back and nada…Thanks…made me look and I booked

  • Duncan Orr says:
    7 Sep7 September 09:58

    Can anyone confirm what the Covid entry rules are now (post 5th Sept) for single vaccinated (Pfizer) 16 year olds trying to enter Abu Dhabi?

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