British Airways launches more ‘Avios only’ flights for late 2023 and Easter 2024

British Airways recently launched ‘Avios only’ flights, copying a successful Qantas initiative.

Selected flights in the schedule are withdrawn for cash sale with every single seat opened up for Avios redemption.

The second batch has now become available for booking.

There is a subtle change for this second round of ‘Avios only’ flights.

For the first batch, only OUTBOUND flights were ‘Avios only‘. There were no dedicated return flights, although BA told us that they had increased Avios availability over the following week to hopefully allow everyone to get back.

This time, there is a dedicated outbound flight and a dedicated inbound flight. YOU DON’T NEED TO BOOK BOTH but you shouldn’t have problems getting back on the dedicated return date even if all other flights that week have no Avios availability.

Here are the options. Note that there is a concentration of flights over next Easter which will be attractive to many.

Route	Outbound date	Inbound date
London Gatwick to Las Palmas	15 November 2023	22 November 2023
London Gatwick to Lanzarote	4 December 2023	11 December 2023
London Heathrow to Barcelona	29 March 2024	7 April 2024
London Heathrow to Nice	29 March 2024	7 April 2024
London Gatwick to Tenerife	29 March 2024	7 April 2024

The Avios pricing for these flights is the same as usual – there are no surcharges or special conditions.

You can use British Airways American Express 2-4-1 vouchers or Barclays Avios Upgrade vouchers if you wish. The usual cancellation rules apply (£35 per person fee or the Reward Flight Saver fee paid, whichever is lower).

I still think that British Airways isn’t making the most of these offers. If it really wants to make a splash, let’s open up a full Boeing 777 to the Middle East over October half term. This would get people talking. It could also tie these flights into a special event, such as a European pride festival.

I also think there is also potential to do a deal with local hotels to offer special rates to anyone who books these flights. You could add a drinks reception midweek with BA representatives for all of the passengers, irrespective of where they stay.

It is still early days for ‘Avios only’ flights, however. If you want to book one of these trips, I would jump in quickly as the first batch sold out within 24 hours.

PS. The hotel image above is the Hyatt Regency Palais de la Méditerranée hotel, Nice which we recently reviewed

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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.