How BA’s new Inverness route can save you £118 in Air Passenger Duty per long-haul redemption
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British Airways announced a new route to Inverness yesterday. From 3rd May, BA will operate one flight a day from Heathrow to Inverness.
It will depart Heathrow at 9.55am, arriving at 11.30. The return will depart at 12.10, arriving at Heathrow at 13.40.
You may not be interested in this. You may be interested in the fact that this offers a clever way of avoiding Air Passenger Duty.
Air Passenger Duty is not levied on flights from Inverness or any airport further north. Up until now, it was difficult to take advantage of this. You would have needed to book a Flybe redemption from Inverness to an airport in the south and then (on the same ticket) book a long-haul flight from Heathrow or Gatwick. This was messy.
You now have an interesting dilemma. What would you do for £118?
£142 is now the maximum level of Air Passenger Duty in Club World or First. If you fly from Heathrow, long haul, you will pay this.
If you start your journey in Inverness, you won’t. You will, however, pay £24 in other charges so the saving is £118.
Domestic connections remain free on Avios redemptions.
Let’s imagine that you want to fly to New York return in World Traveller Plus. The taxes and charges from Inverness are £273. The taxes and charges if you start in Heathrow are £391.
A one-way ticket to Inverness is 4,000 or 4,500 Avios plus £17.50.
If you New York flight was, say, 6pm, you now have a choice. You can redeem from London, pay £391 of taxes, and turn up at Heathrow in time for the 6pm departure.
Alternatively, you could arrive at Heathrow for 9.55am, fly to Inverness on an Avios redemption, fly back on the same plane to London and then fly on to New York at 6pm. You will pay £273 of taxes (plus 4,000 Avios and £17.50 for the Inverness flight).
Is this worth it? Well, it depends on the value of your time of course. For novelty value, if I had nothing better to do that day, I may consider it.
If you live in Scotland, of course, this is an excellent result which suddenly makes your Avios redemptions far cheaper.
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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.
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