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Book today for Good Friday 2016 Avios flight redemptions

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The experienced Avios collector will already have today marked in their diary.  For the rest of you, you should know that today is 355 days until Good Friday 2016 (Friday 25th March).

Why is this important?  Because, at midnight last night, British Airways made Avios redemption seats for Good Friday 2016 available.

If you want to lock in an Easter break for next year – and pay the current, cheaper Avios rates – you should book ASAP.

British Airways 350 2

Don’t make any rash decisions.  It will cost you £35 per person if you later choose to cancel your flights so booking something completely at random could prove expensive.

You can only book your outbound Good Friday flight today.  You would need to book your return flight later when it becomes available.  This incurs added risk, of course, since if you cannot book the return flight for some reason (perhaps someone beats you to the seats) you may have to cancel the outbound and pay the cancellation fee.

If you want to use a British Airways Premium Plus American Express 2-4-1 voucher, that is not a problem.  You can book a one-way outbound and then ring BA to add the inbound when it becomes available.  You will be charged the £35 per person change fee (and possibly a telephone booking fee) but the alternative is to risk losing the outbound seats.

Have a wander over to ba.com and see what you can find.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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 card

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (60)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Andrew says:
    6 Apr6 April 11:39

    Yes I had thought the same – Raffles I thought that the advice here was to book a same day return, and then change this when availability for correct dates opens….. Is the advice now to book 1 way and then call up?

    • Rob says:
      6 Apr6 April 13:27

      The call centre is now switched on as to how to turn a one-way 241 into a return so it doesn’t seem to matter.

      • Liz says:
        6 Apr6 April 16:13

        Does this method apply when phoning Avios to use the Lloyds upgrade voucher – I want to book in Sept for Sept 2016. If I book the outbound flight using the upgrade voucher will Avios adjust the taxes etc if I phone back 3 weeks later to book a return flight?

      • Andrew says:
        6 Apr6 April 18:19

        Great, thanks

      • Melvin says:
        7 Apr7 April 14:06

        OK I’m confused.

        Can I make a one way (outbound) redemption via ba.com on the day the flight is available and then make another one way (inbound) redemption via ba.com a week or so later or can this only be performed by calling the service centre?

        • Rob says:
          7 Apr7 April 16:42

          You can obviously book 2 one ways and keep them separate, unless it is a 241. However, BA often charges more in surcharges on 2 x one way than for a return do it may be cheaper to merge into one ticket.

    • vonnie says:
      6 Apr6 April 18:52

      Do i have enough time to hit the 10k limit and get my 2-4-1 before deadline day? How long does it take to get the voucher?

      • Rob says:
        6 Apr6 April 19:23

        Usually 48-72 hours after the transaction clears with Amex. This means, effectively, 7 days from the day you make the purchase, given that it takes 3-4 days for the transaction to appear on your Amex account.

        • vonnie says:
          8 Apr8 April 08:25

          Thanks Rob,should just have enough time! Now to find a place to go…

  • Jason says:
    6 Apr6 April 15:35

    OT, does anyone know if flying to Dubai via Doha, whether you have to collect your bags at Doha ( staying overnight at the airport hotel) whilst in transit or will the bags be checked through to Dubai?

  • kevino says:
    6 Apr6 April 17:36

    The point about adding a return later on 241 had never occurred to me

    Doing it that way, does the return have to be the same route, or could I book LHR to DFW, and then return to LHR from ATL say?

    • Rob says:
      6 Apr6 April 19:24

      The open jaw rule is this: if you want to fly A-B and C-A, the distance between B-C must be shorter than A-B or C-A. Apart from that, anything goes.

  • opal says:
    7 Apr7 April 10:00

    slightly OT: Is anyone able to book (or at least look up) a redemption flight on Iberia? I’ve been trying for a week now and no luck at all…

  • Marc says:
    7 Apr7 April 13:10

    OT. I have a 2-4-1 voucher that expires 28th September 2015, however I want to use it on 4th October 2015. Am i able to book outbound flights from Manchester on the 28th September & then have a ‘stopover’ in London for a week until the date that I actually want to fly?

  • Anthony says:
    7 Apr7 April 15:03

    I don’t think this is covered above in the comments (apologies if so!). I have booked the outward leg of my BA/Amex 2-4-1 voucher to get the Good Friday departure next year. The return leg is planned for April 2016 and so the return dates will not come up on the BA system until May (after the new Avios rules come into play). Should I be booking any return leg before those rules come into force (and maybe get charged the fee) and then change them again (incurring another fee) to preserve the lower Avios miles needed? Or can I just book the return leg in the new Avios system and keep the old miles needed? Hope that makes sense!

    • Rob says:
      7 Apr7 April 16:40

      Good question. The return will definitely be priced at new rate. I would book before the 28th and move the date, assuming £70 of fee is cheaper than the extra Avios.

  • Waribai says:
    7 Apr7 April 20:57

    Just a quick one. I know the 241 rules state that journeys must start in the UK but I distinctly remember using one last year online for my wife and child on a one way from TYO-LHR. Was the software awry at the time?

    • Polly says:
      8 Apr8 April 00:03

      That’s interesting, we all presume it must start in the UK on a BA metal. I wanted to use ours starting in dub for HNL but didn’t think it would work.

  • linda says:
    8 Apr8 April 09:36

    Have just managed to book 2 x Club return for Vegas using my Lloyds Avios rewards voucher, for Easter weekend returning on the 28th March to UK. Sorted.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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