Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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

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

5,000 Avios 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

25,000 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 a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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

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.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Comments (34)

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

  • MIchael C says:

    Did the Florence route not start, or has it been and gone?!

  • Anna says:

    On The Beach travel company is to provide free antigen & PCR tests for Spain and Greece for the rest of 2021 (though the season is nearly over except for the Canaries).

  • Paul says:

    BA just cancelled my Feb half-term mid-week flight home from Innsbruck to London. Inexplicable. Means my family ski holiday is screwed (we cannot go for a whole week…). Why on earth they’d ditch flights that are pretty much guaranteed to fill to 100% during that half-term I don’t know.

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

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