Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Flyr launches flights from London Gatwick

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Flyr is a low-cost Norwegian airline operating to a range of European destinations from Oslo.

If you don’t know the name, you may know the name of founder Erik G. Braathen who owned the now-defunct carrier Braathens.

The carrier launched in late 2021 and has a fleet of 12 Boeing 737 aircraft.

Flyr is planning to launch flights from Gatwick to Oslo for the Summer 2023 season, starting in late March. These will compete with Norse Atlantic, albeit Norse Atlantic has a very attractive Premium cabin which I reviewed here.

There will be six flights per week (no Saturday services) with generally early evening departures from London, arriving late into Oslo.

If you are planning a visit to Oslo I’d suggest you fly out on Norse Atlantic (noon departure from London) and back on Flyr (4pm-5pm departure from Oslo) if you want to maximise your trip.

Note that Flyr has financial issues at the moment which you may want to consider before booking. You should definitely use a credit card for extra protection if you do book.


best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Comments (23)

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

  • AnotherUser says:

    “The minimum purchase to trigger the bonus is a surprisingly high 30,000 points.” Think this must vary from account to account. I bought just under 30,000 ihg points a couple of days ago and did get the 100% bonus

    • aDifferentSimon says:

      yeah, it’s 5k minimum for me.

      • DAVE says:

        26K and above for me.
        Strangely the drop down menu suggests anything after 5K gets 100% bonus but this isn’t true. Best to work out the rate yourself before making the purchase.
        Bonus ends at midnight Eastern Time, which I think is 5am our time, so still a few hours left.

  • ADS says:

    An evening departure from London to Oslo will be useful for people flying to Svalbard the next day, as flights tend to depart Oslo in the morning, so you can’t normally get into Oslo early enough for the LYR flights

  • Gavin says:

    I don’t usually use IHG hotels but considering the instant 3 month Diamond upgrade, their black Friday promotion, and the 100% points buying bonus I’ve had excellent value for several different stays the past couple of months in Europe and Thailand.

  • Richie says:

    How long does it it take for IHG points to credit to your account and be available to spend?

    • Rob says:

      In general with points.com they are instant unless they have concerns about your credit card in which case there may be a delay. Not sure what flags this – new points account, first time buyer, zero balance?

      T&C says 24 hours I think?

  • ianM says:

    IHG points def good value at 0.4p

    • ed_fly says:

      Agreed, especially for mr and mrs smith redemptions, which are usually around 0.6-0.65p per point

  • Alex Sm says:

    Why not to fly good old Norwegian to Oslo from LGW? Plenty of legroom, cool planes and service, low fares and amazing loyalty programme!

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

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