Lots of one-way British Airways Club Suite Avios seats to Sydney on 23rd / 24th December

This is an odd one which I can’t easily explain, but the seats are definitely there.

ba.com is currently showing a LOT of one way business class Club Suite redemptions between Inverness and Sydney for 23rd December and 24th December.

(EDIT: the comments show that Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow also work, albeit you pay Air Passenger Duty)

If you fly on 23rd December you will land at 7am on Christmas Day.

This is why it is weird:

• you can only book if you have a British Airways American Express Premium Plus 2-4-1 voucher – one of the new-style vouchers, issued after 1st September 2021 (these vouchers unlock extra Avios availability)

• there is no availability from London, only from Inverness (think about how you will get to Inverness in mid December before you book!)

• there is no easy way to get back in Club Suite – you’d need to find a route back in Economy or Premium, or hope for a last minute Club seat, or come back on another British Airways partner using Avios

Whilst there are a LOT of seats available, you can only book for one or two people using the voucher. You cannot access the extra availability to add a 3rd or 4th ticket at full Avios price. (Obviously if you have two vouchers you can book for four people.)

Here is proof they exist – the lack of a ‘4 left’ or whatever notation under the words ‘Business Class’ means that there are at least NINE seats available:

Taxes and charges are £850 for two people plus 150,000 Avios for the two tickets. A solo traveller would pay 75,000 Avios (one person travels for 50% off using the new-style vouchers) and £425:

Remember that this is one way only …. Christmas on the beach in Sydney could cause you issues later if you need to get back for work in January!

The seats may do also show if you try other connecting points to London. However, one benefit of Inverness is that there is no Air Passenger Duty to pay which is why the taxes and charges number is so low.

PS. If you want to know why this is happening …. the extra seats in Business Class made available to British Airways Premium Plus American Express cardholders are triggered when roughly 8-10 heavily discounted tickets are available for cash. BA is not discounting this route for cash from London (it thinks there are people around who will pay more) but IS discounting it from other starting points – assuming you call £2,500 each way to be ‘discounted’. This is why the extra seats do not appear when searching from London.

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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.