Avios sale – £1 Reward Flight Saver routes launch and are bookable now

Today sees the launch of one of the most interesting parts of the 2014 Avios ‘sale’!

(Don’t forget, though, that until noon today – Monday – the previous offer is still running.  Until 12pm, you can still book a hotel in Vienna, Dubrovnik, Prague, Copenhagen, Berlin, Budapest, Istanbul and The Algarve for 50% off!  The 50% discount applies whether you pay by Avios or by cash, and you can stay up to 30th September.  Full details are in this article.)

These flights are already bookable – at least for some routes – as at 8am on Monday!  Until noon on Wednesday, the taxes on Reward Flight Saver tickets will be dropped from £35 to just £1.

The following routes are included:

Amsterdam

Barcelona

Dublin

Jersey

Lisbon

Madrid

Nice

Rome

You will need to fly between 31 January and 31 May.

Only economy seats are available.

One way flights are available for 4,500 Avios plus 50p.

It works OK with UK connections as well, so a one-way Manchester-Heathrow-Amsterdam is still just 4,500 Avios plus 50p.

Remember that avios.com has greater reward availability than ba.com for economy short-haul flights.  (I think avios.com can access G availability, if these things mean anything to you!)  You should therefore look via avios.com and not ba.com, and use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move your points across.

ba.com should only be used for open-jaws (if allowed) or stopovers (if allowed in London on regional departures) which avios.com cannot handle.  The only exception to this is for BA Executive Club Gold card holders, who get additional economy seats made available to them and will therefore be better off looking at ba.com.

Remember, though, that you can only book Reward Flight Saver tickets on avios.com if you have ‘earned’ an Avios point in that scheme in the last 12 months.

There is little point opening an avios.com account today (with the intent to make a transfer of Avios from ba.com) because you will not be able to book Reward Flight Saver tickets. Unless, that is, you spend £31 to buy 1,000 Avios in avios.com to activate the account – although this may make sense if you want to make a number of bookings and can see availability at avios.com which is not at ba.com.

The avios.com flight booking page is here.

If you need to cancel, the standard £25 fee should not apply as long as you cancel online.  You will only lose your £1.  All your Avios points will be returned.

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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 Mastercard

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

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.