NEW AVIOS ROUTES: British Airways returns to Sharm El Sheikh and extends Malta

Two new British Airways routes have just been added, and they are available now for Avios bookings.

First up is Egypt. British Airways is returning to Sharm El Sheikh this Winter.

This will be a London Gatwick route. Flights start on 3rd November and there will be four flights per week initially, dropping down to three per week from December.

It is a day flight in both directions, leaving Gatwick at 8am (lands 3.20pm) and leaving Sharm at 4.20pm (lands 8pm).

Flights will initially operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

There is a snag though … British Airways is operating this flight on a short haul A320 aircraft.

The outbound flight has a ‘block time’ of 5 hours and 20 minutes. The inbound flight is blocked at 5 hours and 50 minutes.

This is a l-o-n-g time to spend on an A320 in Economy, given the leg room on British Airways short haul aircraft. Leg room isn’t much better in Business, of course, but at least you have the empty middle seat.

One upside is that this will be a relatively cheap way to pick up 80 tier points each way in Business in British Airways Executive Club.

Avios and cash seats are now bookable on ba.com.

Gatwick to Malta flights are now loaded for the Winter

The second ‘new’ route is the loading of Malta flights from London Gatwick for the Winter 2023 season, ie November onwards.

Flights operate six days per week, with Wednesday being the odd one out.

Like Sharm, Malta also offers 160 tier points for a return flight in Club Europe. Remember that this would double to 320 tier points if you booked via BA Holidays and stayed for 5+ nights before the end of the year.

Again, Avios and cash seats are now bookable at ba.com.

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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.