Good £1,500 Johannesburg deal, for peak season, with Rwandair – and it earns Avios

It’s rare to find a good flight deal to Johannesburg in the peak (European) winter, so this opportunity from Rwandair is worth a look.

It involves an aircraft change in Kigali, which will be something different for most HfP readers.

Rwandair is a Qatar Airways partner so you can earn Avios in Qatar Airways Privilege Club.

The fare is £1,520 return. Whilst advertised as ‘Business Saver’ you get all of the expected bells and whistles (eg free seat selection) although the fare is not refundable.

The deal is available for the entire schedule, to January 2026, although there is little in July and little between Christmas and New Year.

Here’s an example for late November which is a great time, weather wise, to visit South Africa:

The key issue is aircraft. Looking at this review, Rwandair has three long haul A330 aircraft of which one does not have fully lie flat seats. It would be surprising if this was put onto London Heathrow but the risk is clearly there.

The short-ish connection from Kigali to Johannesburg is a Boeing 737 which should be 2×2 in business class. This is ‘proper’ 2×2 style and not a BA-style ‘blocked middle seat’.

As far as Avios earning goes, you will need a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account. You can transfer the Avios across to British Airways if you have linked your BA and Qatar accounts.

Assuming that your flight tickets into A or P class, you will earn 125% of miles flown. You will not earn tier points. Full details are on the Qatar Airways airline partner pages here.

This is an exceptional price for a peak season business class flight to South Africa. Rwandair is keen to join the oneworld alliance at some point, and the airline is 49% owned by Qatar Airways, so it is a serious carrier.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (March 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