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WOW: Spend Christmas in Cape Town with a new ‘Avios only’ BA flight

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Well, this is quite impressive.

British Airways has launched a new ‘Avios only’ flight. This is a flight where EVERY seat in EVERY cabin is bookable for Avios.

Frankly, it’s a cracker and I’m genuinely impressed Avios could pull this off. You could be spending Christmas and New Year in Cape Town.

Avios only flight to Cape Town

These seats are bookable now and will not last long, at least in premium cabins.

You can use British Airways American Express 2-4-1 Companion Vouchers and Barclays Upgrade Vouchers.

Here are the timings:

Outbound:

  • Saturday 20th December 2025
  • Departs Heathrow 18.25, arrives Cape Town 08.05 + 1

Inbound:

  • Friday 2nd January 2026
  • Departs Cape Town 20.55, arrives Heathrow 07.00 + 1

It is a four class service so First Class is bookable. It is a Boeing 777 so you will get Club Suite in business class.

The cost, per person, is (using the ‘most Avios, least cash’ option):

  • World Traveller: 70,000 Avios + £150 return
  • World Traveller Plus: 135,000 Avios + £355 return
  • Club World: 200,000 Avios + £475 return
  • First Class: 200,000 Avios + £900 return

First Class does not use Reward Flight Saver pricing, hence the odd comparison to Club World. Remmeber that you cannot mix Club and First on the same booking without paying excessive amounts of taxes and charges.

Get booking!

If you miss out, keep an eye on ba.com as a lot of people will book immediately and then ask their partner tonight!

If their partner isn’t keen, or they suddenly realise how expensive hotels are in Cape Town at this time of the year, the seats will be cancelled under the 24 hour cooling off period. Set up a SeatSpy seat alert if you have a subscription.

Comments (105)

  • Norfolk&Chance says:

    I guess this flight is essentially a marketing cost to BA as they get free press like this to promote avios, also reduce their avios liability to some degree

    • Rob says:

      Any idea what the fuel cost is of running a 777 to Cape Town and back, plus the cost of paying for it to sit at the airport for a day? Could have bought a lot of media coverage for that.

      • Norfolk&Chance says:

        Yes but they do write down the avios expended from their liabilities. Probably a tax benefit too

      • Norfolk&Chance says:

        And don’t forget the taxes which pay the fuel ‘surcharge’

        • Rob says:

          Club World co-pay is £475 return. The cash-out charges are £306 so BA only pockets £169 return.

  • Mordo_de_Maru says:

    It is not working for me. This is what I am seeing right now.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yh0bRdIQEwdN5gVU4FTiZdH9e_9ES9Yu/view?usp=sharing

  • apbj says:

    A single roundtrip on a 777 will “use up” almost 30 million Avios if my back-of-envelope calculations are correct? £300,000 worth.

  • Nic says:

    Thank you, 4 club suite seats using up 2 of my 241 vouchers. What a win!

  • jj says:

    These regular Avios only flights to peak locations on peak dates show the value of Avios compared with some lesser loyalty schemes. I’ll leave the seats to others, as I prefer Christmas at home with the family, but it’s an impressive deal for the many people who like to go away.

  • saintsman1980 says:

    Very interesting. They teased this a few days ago, and in Avios app they used an image of a beach in Turkey (from Google image search) to throw us off the scent.

  • RH says:

    I’d be tempted if I didn’t have business to Cancun over that period already booked for us! And the hotels booked on points! 😃

  • George K says:

    Priced this up for a family of three in CW with a 241 and a Barclays voucher at 335k avios and £1425, which is excellent value and almost impossible to find under normal circumstances. Might have to let this one go though as we’ve got another winter sun holiday booked for February half-term. Arg!

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