Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Now it’s Dubai – wide-open business class Avios availability in January, February and March

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Earlier today we ran an article on the huge dump of Business Class Avios availability to the Maldives in January and February 2025.

The same thing has now happened for Dubai.

There are literally only four days between September and December 2024 where you can get two Business Class Avios seats to Dubai. (4th September, 30th October, 31st October and 1st November, before you ask!)

Head to next year, however, and British Airways has opened the floodgates for January, February and March 2025.

Avios seats to Dubai

Here is, courtesy of SeatSpy, availability for 2 x Business Class seats from Heathrow to Dubai for January, February and March 2025.

It is actually laughable. Here is 13th January – there are 9+ seats available on EVERY flight that day (when ba.com doesn’t tell you how many seats are left, there are more than nine):

Business Class Avios availability to Dubai

Premium Economy is also wide open.

I’ve double-checked the availability with ba.com and it is accurate as of 1pm Tuesday.

Outbound flights with Avios seats are on the left, inbound on the right:

Avios availability to Dubai

Headline Avios pricing in Business Class is 160,000 Avios + £350 return on off-peak dates and 180,000 Avios + £350 return on peak dates.

Other cash and Avios combinations are available, if you are willing to pay more cash, although the headline rate is the best value if you have a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher to use.

Aircraft types vary depending on which daily flight you take. Avoid the A380 and look for a Boeing 777 if you want to maximise your chances of Club Suite.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (97)

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

  • Super Secret Stuff says:
    30 Apr30 April 19:06

    If you look at Secret flying, there’s been some surprising drops in hotel prices over the last week, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bali

    • TGLoyalty says:
      30 Apr30 April 19:10

      Hopefully London to follow 🙏🏽 I can already see the rates dropping in other cities around the UK

      • Rob says:
        30 Apr30 April 19:57

        London is already well down. I booked Aloft at Excel for £102 last week (got free breakfast thrown in as Plat) and that’s a fairly decent 4-star with a pool etc. I doubt we’ll see my favourite HIX Wandsworth, next to the council tip, hit £500 this year.

        • tony says:
          30 Apr30 April 20:24

          Sadly Tuesday and Wednesday retain comedy pricing. I was offered a Premier Inn for £350. Ended up in the O2 IC for £300 but the £75 Amex offer at least made it vaguely respectable…

          • Gordon says:
            1 May1 May 10:16

            @Tony – Have you looked at the HIX and the Radisson Red in Greenwich, basically very close to the O2. I pass these on a regular basis. The Radisson red is a fairly new hotel, with limited parking, but you can park anywhere along Tunnel avenue, the road the hotel is situated free.

          • tony says:
            1 May1 May 13:28

            @Gordon, must admit no I haven’t. However I wouldn’t normally venture that far over but prices were silly in town and the £75 off made the IC acceptable. However I was using public transport and the hike from the tube to the IC was enough to put me off thinking about doing that again.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:
          30 Apr30 April 20:48

          That’s comical they were able to get that high, it does seem like they’re coming down substantially everywhere

        • TGLoyalty says:
          30 Apr30 April 21:51

          Midweek? The excel and Heathrow hotels have always been £100-120 if you book early enough for weekends.

          The central hotels are still charging absolutely ridiculous rates vs 2019 2/3x in fact. Random midweek W Edition etc are all 500-600 a night. Courtyard LCY £325!! Moxy Stratford £200 aloft £380 etc this isn’t well down pricing …

          • Rob says:
            30 Apr30 April 22:09

            Last Thursday, yes.

          • Throwawayname says:
            30 Apr30 April 22:10

            I paid less than £90 at Novotel Brentford last Thursday – free upg to executive room too (ALL Gold). Prices do fluctuate quite a bit though, even for the same dates at the same hotel – I tend to book a flexible rate and keep checking for price drops.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            30 Apr30 April 22:55

            As always it’s all depending on occupancy but this Thursday is £400+ next £191 most in June are £220ish I don’t think one random night at a single hotel shows the bottom is falling out but rather looking at the trend across many hotels. Prices are holding up strong (for now)

          • SBIre says:
            1 May1 May 10:43

            Courtyard LCY was £87 the night before last (Monday). Aloft Excel was £102 the night before

        • Mouse says:
          1 May1 May 14:36

          It is one of the better council tips in London though, to be fair Rob

    • BBbetter says:
      30 Apr30 April 19:19

      Brilliant news.

  • TGLoyalty says:
    30 Apr30 April 19:09

    Some tasty cash fares would be nice

  • RH says:
    30 Apr30 April 19:59

    Just booked Dubai, for a change to Maldives. Thanks Rob!

  • CamFlyer says:
    30 Apr30 April 20:21

    Except that it flies to NCL!

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
    30 Apr30 April 21:18

    The key offpeak dates for a pre-Ramadan trip sold out. I got in early but was hoping a swap might come up as I’m returning on the A380 dormitory 🙁

    • RH says:
      30 Apr30 April 22:13

      Is there any issues going during Ramadan? I have been in March before and don’t recall any apart from the prayer sounds in the evening?

      • Travel Strong says:
        1 May1 May 07:10

        Not anymore. Pre-2021 it was quite different, with restrictions on eating/drinking in effect. All that is gone now – I was astounded to see such a difference in such a small space of time. It now makes no real difference.

        • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
          1 May1 May 07:47

          Really nothing? TripAdvisor suggested no eating or drinking in outdoor hotel grounds, and in malls the restaurant capacities are reduced because they curtain off the tables from sight

          • JDB says:
            1 May1 May 08:38

            I’m afraid I still can’t cope with the idea of eating in a shopping mall and calling that a holiday.

          • Rhys says:
            1 May1 May 08:50

            You might change your mind when you realise it’s 40C outside (in the shade)…

          • Gordon says:
            1 May1 May 11:41

            I still can’t believe that people actually travel to the Middle East for a holiday, when the weather is around 40C, only to shelter indoors, not the idea of a holiday to me, the rates might be cheaper, but that’s for a very good reason! That’s why I only visit Las Vegas for example, when it’s cooler.

        • Ruralite says:
          1 May1 May 10:34

          Maybe in Dubai but in Abu Dhabi there are still differences during Ramadan. No it’s not like 10 years ago with nothing available during the day/small areas curtained off to cater for a few but there are still reduced visiting/opening hours in places, less staff and daytime some hotel facilities are still reduced/not available. You can still have an enjoyable holiday there depending on what you want but I think AD has a different clientele to Dubai generally as it’s normally quieter anyway. This year though (as a resident) I didn’t see the usual big drop in room prices either during Ramadan which is usually the compromise for reduced service & to attract visitors.

      • Dollar says:
        1 May1 May 10:19

        Was in Dubai during Ramadan 2022.
        Some popular local restaurants only opened in the evening and were not serving lunch.
        I didn’t see any restrictions in the food court. It was filled with people around lunch time.

        Just no belly dancing during the Desert Safari trip as it is considered Haram.

  • Namster says:
    30 Apr30 April 22:48

    February and March are the monsoon season expect a little rain or flooding 🙂

  • FatherOfFour says:
    30 Apr30 April 22:51

    LAX looks pretty open next Jan Feb Mar too. Checked for 6 seats, availability most days.

  • FCP says:
    1 May1 May 05:47

    Look at Qatar, 90,000 Avios return standard cost. Save the 2-4-1 voucher.

    • Namster says:
      1 May1 May 08:10

      Don’t see the avaliablity on qatar for business @90,000 assume it’s not QS

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

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