NEWS & OFFERS: British Airways part pay Avios FLASH SALE & Singapore to trial quarantine free travel

British Airways part pay Avios FLASH sale

As well as booking a normal Avios redemption, you can also use Avios as part payment on a cash booking. For this weekend only your Avios could be worth up to four times more than usual, meaning that it is well worth a look if you are sitting on some Avios. 

You must book before midnight Monday 23 August 2021 to take advantage of various savings options on one-way and return flights in any cabin. These range from exchanging 250 Avios for £5 off per person on a one-way or return flight, up to a maximum of 5,000 Avios to save £100 on a return flight. 

You need to be logged into your Executive Club to be able to see the discount options. Club Europe is probably the best value for the options as in most cases it will nearly half the price. If you fly one of the longer routes that gain 160 tier points return, then the Avios you get back will be close to the outlay if you have high status. There’s no limit on travel dates so you could book for next summer. Routes with the extra tier points include Malta, Turkey, Greece, Catania and Madeira.

So is it worth doing? Well, there are some advantages and disadvantages to pay with Avios.

• If you were to buy a pure Avios ticket you can get a refund up to 24 hours before. With Part Pay with Avios, it means it’s the same as a cash ticket so in most circumstances it will mean you have to take a voucher.
• You can’t use pay with Avios with an e voucher which is a big drawback for many. 
• However, even if you pay partly with Avios, you still earn tier points and Avios as usual on the booking. Some of these options can earn the Avios you spent on the booking back, depending on the cabin and your status. 
• There does not need to be availability on Avios which can make a huge difference on popular routes. 
• Normally using Avios to part pay is a poor deal, but when they are used at this rate it makes it a lot more attractive if you have a lot of Avios hanging around but want to gain some tier points. 

You can find the offer page here.

Singapore to trial quarantine free travel

According to Bloomberg, Singapore will pilot quarantine-free travel for vaccinated passengers from Germany and Brunei from 8 September. I have no idea why they have chosen these two seemingly random places since Germany still has a fair number of cases. They are described by the Singapore government as having “manageable” levels of cases. However, if it is successful this could pave the way for other countries such as the UK. The country will also open up to visitors from Hong Kong and Macau. Prior to this, the country has been heavily restricted to travellers.

Recently they announced their strategy for zero Covid would change to a more pragmatic stance now they have vaccinated the majority of vulnerable residents. It will be interesting to see if other countries follow suit. After all, there is no way to maintain a zero Covid strategy forever, unless they want to permanently isolate themselves from the world and severely damage their economy in the process. 

“As the saying goes, we are feeling the stones as we cross the river,” said Lawrence Wong, co-chair of their Covid task force. “Each time we make a move we will monitor the data, we will look at the evidence and ensure that our hospital system is able to cope with the infection situation before we take the next step.”