BOOK NOW: Wide open Avios seats to The Maldives, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Buenos Aires

British Airways has started to roll out its Summer 2023 schedule with a number of new routes announced today.

As usual, this means that Avios availability on these routes is wide open. You will find 14 Avios seats (four Business, two Premium Economy, eight Economy) bookable now on all of these flights.

When I say ‘now’, I mean as at 11.45am on Wednesday. Snooze and you WILL lose, especially for The Maldives.

The Maldives

British Airways is bringing back Heathrow to The Maldives as a year round service. Flights were due to end in late March at the end of the Winter flying season.

Outbound flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with the return the following day.

This SeatSpy screenshot show days with 2 x Club World business class seats bookable for Avios, as of 11.15am.

Seats are wide open from the end of March until mid August, which is as far out as you can book at the moment.

Las Vegas is back!

The popular service from London Gatwick to Las Vegas is also resuming for Summer 2023, which in airline terms means from the last week of March to the last week of October.

Flights will depart three times per week, on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, returning the same day.

The outbound departs Gatwick at 11am, landing at 1.50pm. The return leaves Las Vegas at 3.40pm, landing the next day at 9.40am.

Here is SeatSpy availability for two Club World seats as at 11.15:

Vancouver is launching as a new London Gatwick route

This is a surprise one. British Airways is launching flights from Gatwick to Vancouver next Summer, complementing the Heathrow service.

This starts later than the other routes, from 19th May. Flights will be daily except Tuesday.

The outbound flight leaves Gatwick at noon, landing at 1.35pm. The return leaves Vancouver at 3.25pm, landing in Gatwick at 8.40am on the following day.

This is from SeatSpy this morning for days with two Club World business class seats for Avios:

Buenos Aires returns as a direct service

Finally, British Airways has announced the return of direct flights to Buenos Aires from Heathrow.

This has, for a while, operated via Sao Paulo whilst loads were too low to justify separate flights to each city.

The new service will operate five days per week.

Here is a screenshot from SeatSpy for two Club World seats:

Happy booking! Remember that seats only open up 355 days in advance, so the latest you can book today will be mid August 2023.

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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.