BREAKING: Cape Town Avios only flight, Book Priority Pass free with Amex and extra Qatar flights

British Airways announces Avios-Only flights to Cape Town over Christmas

Cape Town has just been announced as the latest British Airways long-haul Avios-Only flight destination. This route is traditionally one of the hardest to get business class tickets on, so it is good to see this as the latest Avios-only flight. That simply means that every single seat on the aircraft can be booked with Avios ande on thisw flight there were more than 500 seats now available to book withAvios on. Members of The British Airways Club can travel to Cape Town over the Christmas period, from as little as 70,000 Avios and £150 in economy.

Here are the details: 

Avios-Only seats are sold as normal Reward Seats, which means that you will also have the option to use your Companion Vouchers. These  entitle Members to a second seat for just the taxes and charges, or one seat for half the amount of Avios.

Rob McDonald, Chief Commercial Officer at IAG Loyalty, said: “We know how popular Avios-Only flights are with customers and we’re incredibly excited to work with British Airways to offer the next long-haul Avios-Only flight to Cape Town, operating over the peak Christmas period. This will allow customers to take full advantage of the value Avios unlocks on an incredibly popular route.”

You can book the Avios-Only flight in any cabin as you normally would through ba.com.

Free Priority Pass bookings with Amex Platinum announced and workaround for glitch

If you have tried to use your Priority Pass without pre-booking recently at major airports such as Gatwick or Heathrow, the chances are you have been met with a “sorry we are full”. Even when trying to pre-book a week in advance for Gatwick, I could only book one lounge as the rest were already reserved. I also begrudge having to pay a fee to use a card I have, in effect, paid for through having an Amex Platinum. So, as I am now experimenting with Easyjet Plus (review coming soon) rather than BA, the latest news is extremely welcome. 

American Express® Platinum Cardmembers and American Express® Business Platinum Cardmembers will now get eight free UK Priority Pass pre-bookings per year. Recently, Amex experimented with giving these free reservations for a set period of time. This has now been incorporated into the card benefits from now on. I have sometimes questioned whether it is worth the monthly fee for the Amex Platinum if I then have to pay extra for lounge reservations, so this has definitely confirmed that I will continue with the card for now. I usually find that with all the perks and money-off vouchers, I make a profit on the card. 

Cardmembers will receive 4 complimentary lounge pre-booking entitlements from 30 July to 31 December 2025. Then, from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, Cardmembers will get a total of 8 complimentary lounge pre-booking entitlements per calendar year. Note, not all UK lounges are available for pre-book, such as Plaza Premium. At the moment, Clubrooms, which usually cost £15pp to pre-book, are fully covered as they were during the trial.

Additionally, Cardmembers will continue to have access to over 1,300 Priority Pass lounges around the world.

To pre-book at one of the eligible UK lounges, you will simply need to log into the Priority Pass app or website. You need to search for the lounge you want to visit in the UK and then when you are on the lounge page it will show a pre-book option. Once you’ve entered your flight information, you’ll have the option to apply any available pre-book entitlements. If you choose not to use your entitlements, you will need to pay the remaining amount. 

However, as of 31 July at 4pm there are multiple reports of it not working, which is poor given they have publicized it so widely. I can concur that it has not worked for me, as there is no credit option. Some people have managed to get around it by then amending the booking. I did not actually change my booking, but having gone into amend the booking and gone to the checkout again, which said zero was due to change it, I then received a refund of the fee immediately afterwards. So it is worth a try until they fix it. 

Each pre-book entitlement can only be used for one person which is a bit annoying as you can take a guest free into the lounge. (For example, one Cardmember and their one guest pre-booking a lounge visit would require two pre-book entitlements for that visit). 

Pre-book entitlements must be cancelled at least 48 hours in advance of the time booked for the lounge visit. If a pre-booking is cancelled less than 48 hours in advance of the visit or there is a no show, any pre-book entitlements used will not be reinstated.  However, a reinstatement will not be applied if the validity period of entitlement has expired at the time of cancellation. The Cardmember must book and travel with any guests.

You can pre-book up to 3 (three) months in advance of your lounge visit. Pre-book entitlements must be booked, and the visit completed between 30 July 2025 and 31 December 2027. You can’t roll over unused credits. If you haven’t activated a Priority Pass online account, visit prioritypass.com/activate-your-account.

In addition, there has previously been no Priority Pass lounge access at London City Airport, but now American Express® Cardmembers who have Priority Pass can use Juniper & Co restaurant in the airport and will be entitled to £18 credit off their total bill. For Cardmembers eligible to bring a guest, both the Cardmember and the guest will receive £18 (£36 in total). Cardmembers must present a valid Card and Boarding Pass with confirmed same-day travel before placing an order.

Qatar adds additional UK and worldwide flights for winter

If you have been looking for Qatar Avios flights, now could be a good time to book as they have announced extra flights for this winter period.

Qatar Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Thierry Antinori, said: “Qatar Airways is consistently witnessing a steady rise in demand for our 5-star services to some of the most prominent destinations in the world, most notably for London, Dublin, Cape Town, and São Paulo. This winter, in partnership with Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia will launch flights from Melbourne to Doha, increasing capacity to three daily flights between the two cities. Qatar Airways will also restart services to Canberra, reinforcing its commitment to enhance connectivity between Australia and the world.

“The latest increase in flight frequency is testament to our continual and unmatched enhancements of experiences for our passengers travelling through the Best Airport in the Middle East – our hub, Hamad International Airport.

Here is the full list:

• Abu Dhabi – increased from five daily flights to up to six

• Berlin – increased from 18 weekly flights to up to 21

• Cape Town – increased from 10 weekly flights to up to 12

• Casablanca – increased from four weekly flights to five

• Dublin – increased from 14 weekly flights to 17

• Frankfurt – increased from 18 weekly flights to up to 21

• Johannesburg – increased from 14 weekly flights to 18

• London Heathrow – increased from eight daily flights to up to 10

• Madrid – increased from 14 weekly flights to 17

• Maldives – increased from three daily flights to up to four

• Manchester – increased from 21 weekly flights to up to 24

• Phuket – increased from three daily flights to up to four

• São Paulo – increased from 14 weekly flights to 18

• Sharjah – increased from three daily flights to up to seven

• Tokyo Narita – increased from 11 weekly flights to up to 14

• Toronto – increased from five weekly flights to seven