Flight news: Titan aircraft returning for British Airways, Cathay Pacific adds Rome flights

News in brief:

Titan Airways aircraft popping up at Gatwick for Euroflyer

There has been surprisingly little talk this year of ‘wet leasing’. For the last few years British Airways has been leasing aircraft, together with crew, to cover short haul routes over the summer peak. We’ve even occasionally seen it on long haul.

There are good wet leases and bad ones. Finnair has been a popular source of wetleased short haul aircraft in the past and I enjoyed the couple of flights I (accidentally) ended up taking with them.

A reader dropped me a note to say that his Tenerife flight from London Gatwick in March is now showing as operated by Titan Airways. Interestingly, he has not yet received any confirmation from BA.

The key things to know about wet leases are:

• you get your expected Avios and tier points

• you get the standard BA meal service in Club Europe and the standard snacks in Euro Traveller

• the crew will not be British Airways employees

• the aircraft may be in better or worse shape than a British Airways aircraft, although the chance of it having wi-fi is low

• BA may give you the option of switching your flight to one still operated by BA

Titan is a well regarded operator – it is heavily used by football teams and touring musical groups – and I wouldn’t have any issues flying with them if my flight was swapped.

Cathay Pacific returns to Rome, bookable on Avios

Cathay Pacific has announced its return to Rome as it continues to rebuild its network post-pandemic.

Flights will start on 5th June and will operate for the summer season until the end of October. There will be three flights per week.

This does NOT replace the existing Milan to Hong Kong route, which in fact is being expanded to offer a daily service this summer.

As a British Airways partner in the oneworld airline alliance, Cathay Pacific flights can be booked with Avios via ba.com. You cannot use an American Express or Barclays voucher on Cathay Pacific redemptions, however.

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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.

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.

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