British Airways launches a new route to Austin, Texas

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British Airways dropped a surprise last week when it announced a new route to Austin, Texas. This is certainly not one that was on the radar for new routes.

More surprisingly, the route will be launched with a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner (assuming it isn’t having some further emergency engineering work done!)

British Airways 787

Starting in March 2014, the route will run five days per week, stepping up to a full seven day service in May.

I have never been to Texas and can make no comment on whether it is a good place to burn your Avios! (Dear BA, if you’d like to invite me on your press launch flight for this one, I will come! I’m less bothered about Chengdu …. although I could be tempted ….) However, at the time of writing I was struggling find Avios seats so they may not have been loaded yet.

At the same time, BA also announced, from the end of March 2014:

Seoul – increases from five per week to seven per week

Ghana – increases to ten per week from the Winter 2013 timetable and gains a 747 (replacing a 767) from March 2014

Tel Aviv – Boeing 777 introduced to the route, and a terminal switch from T1 to T5 at Heathrow

Jeddah – Boeing 777 introduced to the route, bringing First Class for the first time

Seattle – increases from 10 to 11 flights per week

Entebbe – increases from three to four flights per week

Lusaka – flights suspended from October 27th

Some odd Moscow changes were also announced. This is now starting to look like a confusing mess:

One flight will be a four class Boeing 747

One flight will be a short-haul A321 plane, albeit fitted out Club World seats up-front

One flight will be a three class Boeing 767, except for one day a week when it will be another A321!

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus: