Avios South Africa increases its Reward Flight Saver fee – no arbitrage any longer

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an interesting arbitrage which let you book Reward Flight Saver redemptions for £26 instead of £35. 

This involved booking via Avios South Africa, where the sharp fall in the currency this year had left the taxes figure (ZAR 440 for, say, London to Paris in Economy) a lot lower than the UK figure.

Unfortunately, this has now changed.

Avios South Africa has increased their ‘taxes and charges’ charge on Reward Flight Saver redemptions from ZAR 440 to ZAR 550.  At this price, the rate is fundamentally identical (give or take a couple of £) with the UK scheme.

Well done to anyone who managed to book something before the price was pushed up.  I am a little surprised by this move, to be honest, because it won’t go down well locally – the scheme has only been running for a few months and they have just pushed up some taxes by 25%!

I will keep my eye on Avios South Africa for other possible earning opportunities ….

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 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 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:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)