Book now: BA adds extra Dubai flights over Christmas and New Year, wide open for Avios

British Airways has announced an extra Dubai service this morning. It starts on 8th December and appears to run until 9th January.

Because this service has just been added to the booking system, Avios seats are wide open.

At the time of writing (11am) you will have no problem getting seats for Christmas or New Year.

Here is a SeatSpy screenshot showing dates with at least TWO Club World seats available:

Outbound is on the left, return flights are on the right. The darker circles are peak dates in terms of Avios pricing.

There is also plenty of available in World Traveller Plus. There is no First Class availability.

What aircraft do I get?

The new service is showing as an A350 so you would get the new Club Suite in Business Class. Whilst BA plans to use one on the Dubai route from 5th December, it looks like it will not be swapped onto this service.

This new flight is timetabled to leave Heathrow at 19.55, arriving in Dubai at 06.55.

The return leaves Dubai at 09.25, arriving into Heathrow at 13.10.

If you’re looking for a hotel, Rhys has just returned from nine nights in Dubai checking out various Marriott Bonvoy properties. A series of reviews will follow in a couple of weeks.

I would strongly consider buying hotel points over this period, as we did for our Waldorf Astoria The Palm Dubai trip last Christmas. We cut our bill for 5 nights from £3,200 to £1,250. IHG has a bonus running to 8th October and Hyatt has a bonus running to 31st October – although neither has a beachside hotel in Dubai. A Marriott ‘buy points’ bonus is upcoming and Hilton is more than likely to be back in the game within the next month.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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.