New airberlin options for low-tax Avios flight redemptions
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
German airline airberlin offers one of the best options for spending your Avios points without incurring high taxes.
Whilst little known, airberlin is a full member of the oneworld alliance alongside BA, Qatar, Cathay, Qantas etc. All of its long-haul aircraft now offer fully flat beds in business class.
I have flown airberlin business class from New York and I was perfectly happy with it. Given the tax was under £2 for a one-way ticket, it would have been churlish to complain.
Abu Dhabi services from Berlin doubled
On October 26th airberlin introduced a 2nd daily flight from Berlin to Abu Dhabi.
This is fantastic news as this is one of the best value Avios redemptions available. Because Berlin to Abu Dhabi is just under 3,000 miles, a return flight in business class is only 50,000 Avios plus £51 of tax. Economy is only 25,000 Avios return.
airberlin also flies to Abu Dhabi from Dusseldorf but that is 80,000 Avios per person.
It is also about to launch services from Stuttgart (1st December) and Vienna (24th November) to Abu Dhabi using short-haul aircraft. These will be 50,000 Avios and under £50 of tax return in business but I have not yet seen what seat will be used. The Vienna flights will be under the NIKI brand.
Etihad is a 29% shareholder in airberlin if you were wondering why it flies to Abu Dhabi so heavily.
Other US routes improved
airberlin has also announced increased frequencies to the USA. Dusseldorf will see its New York services increase to daily during the Winter timetable and twice a day from the Summer 2015 timetable.
Services to Los Angeles from Dusseldorf next Summer will increase from four to six per week.
To provide the aircraft for this, the Miami to Berlin service is being dropped from next Summer. Miami to Dusseldorf will remain.
Here’s the full schedule
You can learn more about redeeming on airberlin in my ‘Avios Redemption University’ article.
This is the full list of airberlin long-haul routes together with approximate taxes. The Avios prices are for return flights in business class. Halve the Avios number for economy redemptions.
This list was put together a few months ago so may contain some errors – I will update it when I re-run our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series soon. Some of the holiday routes were due to be losing business class seating this year.
Abu Dhabi from Berlin – 50,000 Avios + £51
Abu Dhabi from Dusseldorf – 80,000 Avios + £52
Abu Dhabi from Stuttgart (starts 1 December) – 50,000 Avios + £48 (short-haul plane)
Abu Dhabi from Vienna (starts 24 November) – 50,000 Avios + £46 (short-haul plane)
Cancun from Munich – 120,000 Avios + £88
Cancun from Dusseldorf – 100,000 Avios + £86
Chicago from Berlin – 100,000 Avios + £65
Curacao from Dusseldorf – 100,000 Avios + £46
Dominican Republic (3 airports) from Munich, Dusseldorf – 100,000 Avios + £105
Fort Myers, Florida from Dusseldorf – 100,000 Avios + £66
Los Angeles from Dusseldorf – 120,000 Avios + £66 (Summer only)
Miami from Berlin (stopping Summer 2015) – 100,000 Avios + £65
Miami from Dusseldorf – 100,000 Avios + £66
Mombasa, Kenya from Munich – 80,000 Avios + £82
New York from Berlin – 80,000 Avios + £65
New York from Dusseldorf – 80,000 Avios + £66
Varadero, Cuba from Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf – 100,000 Avios + £53
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 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.
Nick 
goglobalnz 
Rob 
Andrew (@andrewseftel) 
James 
PGW 
Dave 
friendofbiffin 
Andi Hawes 
Lady London 
Michael 
Nick 
Comments (21)