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BA adds London City / Southampton to Salzburg – bookable with Avios for February half term

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British Airways has added new routes from London City Airport and Southampton to Salzburg this morning.

If you were looking at a ski holiday this Winter, you may want to check it out.

Importantly, and slightly amazingly, Avios seats are (as at 11am) available for the key February half term weekend. You would normally expect to pay £500 return in Economy for Sat to Sat flights over this period.

British Airways Salzburg

The London City service launches on 10th December with flights on Friday and Saturday. It will drop to ‘Saturday only’ from 19th March.

The Southampton service launches on 11th December with flights every Saturday.

Flights on both routes will end on 16th April.

As you’d expect with BA CityFlyer, these will be Embraer E90 services with two-class cabins. Seating is 2×2 throughout the aircraft.

Austria is now imposing extra restrictions on anyone who received their 2nd covid vaccination more than 270 days ago, which could be an issue for those who were vaccinated in the first wave. The rules are likely to change before the ski season however.

If you have small children who want to learn to ski, my family and I recommend this place near Salzburg where we have been a number of times.

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

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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

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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

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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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 (34)

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

  • Richie says:
    8 Sep8 September 11:06

    It appears there’s also a Southampton flight on Saturdays to Salzburg.

  • Alex B says:
    8 Sep8 September 11:18

    Got anywhere for large adults who want to learn?

    • Rob says:
      8 Sep8 September 11:30

      No 🙂

      Elmauhof is a family hotel which has a very close relationship with kids ski school in the town. They run a shuttle service to and from the ski school, and for very young kids the ski school actually takes place at Elmauhof, so you don’t need to leave the premises.

      There are a couple of other HfP readers who I have converted to Elmauhof over the years and tend to be there when we are there.

      They have an older wing which is only used in peak season where the rooms are very ‘woody’ and not five-star, but the food and the way it runs is definitely at the high 4 / low 5 star level (with the caveat that its a family run hotel which caters for families in a ski resort, so no suited porters etc).

  • fred says:
    8 Sep8 September 12:19

    Unrelated question. For return flights, When the return flight is cancelled is the compensation date measured from your outgoing, or the actual return flight.

    Also, what if the return flight is cancelled AFTER you’ve taken the outgoing…. but before the 14 days?

  • Barnaby100 says:
    8 Sep8 September 12:42

    My short February weekend trip to Salzburg ended up with a train trip to France at 6am when BA cancelled the flights due to bad weather. Wouldn’t recommend as a birthday experience

    • Barnaby100 says:
      8 Sep8 September 12:43

      Germany not France

    • Rich says:
      8 Sep8 September 14:03

      Sounds grim.

      Years of ski trips have taught me to expect delays in winter – the snow is the reason we’re going, after all. GVA is a pretty reliable airport in all weathers; CMF is to be avoided at all costs. I don’t know about SZG, but INN is pretty spectacular mountain airport – again, a sitting duck for bad weather.

      • Barnaby100 says:
        8 Sep8 September 16:12

        It was LHR with the weather. All the other airlines made it to Salzburg!

      • Phil W says:
        8 Sep8 September 19:05

        SZG used to be one of the key airports used for SIM training due to it being more complex than your average landing.

  • Rich says:
    8 Sep8 September 13:58

    Wow. Expiration of vaccinated status adds yet another layer of complexity – especially for mixed-age groups!

    I’m mid-40s, got my jab as soon as I was allowed, and I expire on 19 March 2022 in Austria. Friends in their late 50s would miss most of the season; those in their 30s wouldn’t have a problem.

    Like you say, there will be half a dozen changes between now and then, so not worth thinking about in too much detail.

  • pauldb says:
    8 Sep8 September 14:14

    That’s not half term week in Southampton. 🙂

  • Michael says:
    8 Sep8 September 15:42

    Hi Rob, if I am interested to book Elmauhof, are you able to negotiate a better price than what was available on their website?

    • Rob says:
      8 Sep8 September 17:05

      No. It is what it is (in the context of the German / Austrian system, ie you request the right to make a booking, they send you a letter containing an offer of accommodation, you decide whether to accept the offer or not).

  • Anna says:
    8 Sep8 September 15:58

    Why do BA fly from Southampton but not Manchester?!

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:
      8 Sep8 September 16:12

      They do

    • Lady London says:
      8 Sep8 September 17:44

      More money around Southampton/Bristol area – a huge catchment area which can also include South Londoners and West Londoners eg excellent train access.

      Not having to deal with MAG either

      • Anna says:
        8 Sep8 September 18:34

        We have Cheshire and the Lakes. Also northerners are generally obsessed with going on holiday due to our dreadful weather.

        • Nick says:
          9 Sep9 September 01:16

          BA Cityflyer (as opposed to BA, which of course it isn’t) has decided SOU offers more profitable opportunities for their aircraft than MAN. And this is despite their own HQ being based in beautiful Didsbury. That should tell you enough about the economics of operating out of MAN. It’s a combination of potential customers not being willing to pay good enough yields for BA/BACF and much increased competition from all the locos and charter outfits.

      • pauldb says:
        8 Sep8 September 20:35

        Bristol?

    • Phil W says:
      8 Sep8 September 19:07

      Because it’s not really British Airways anymore, it’s South East England Airways.

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

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