The Flybe credit card gets its own reward scheme. Is it any good?

With Flybe Rewards4All points being abolished (see my lead story today for the timetable), Flybe had a problem – what does it do with its branded credit card?  Avios seems to have put its foot down over making it the 13th UK credit card to earn Avios points.

The clunky solution has been to create a new reward scheme just for the Flybe credit card – Spend&Fly.

Full details on Spend&Fly can be found here.

The new reward scheme is very simple.  Flybe will track your accumulated spend and, based on your past spending, you can apply for free flight vouchers:

£4,000 of spend = Just Fly or Get More (with a suitcase) domestic return flight

£5,500 of spend = All In domestic return flight (changeable, food included, lounge access included, fast track security included)

£6,000 of spend = Just Fly or Get More (with a suitcase) European return flight

£7,500 of spend = All In European return flight (changeable, food included, lounge access included, fast track security included)

These spending targets are identical to the old Rewards4All scheme.  For example, under the old scheme you got 1 point per £250 spent and needed 30 points for an All In European flight.  30 x £250 = £7,500 which is what the same reward now costs.

The devil is in the detail so you need to go through the small print.  And this is what you find:

Your accumulated spend only runs for 12 months.  This means that you need to be redeeming for flights on a regular basis or you will find your ‘accumulated spend’ starting to expire.  The current Flybe credit card also works like this – Rewards4All points from the credit card expire after a year, whilst Rewards4All points earned from flying do not!

Flights to Spain, Croatia and Portugal are excluded.

You cannot book one-way redemptions for half of the spend target.

This is the kicker – “All Spend & Fly Bonus Flights are subject to availability at the time of booking and are limited per flight.  We reserve the right to limit, increase or decrease the number of Spend & Fly Bonus Flights available.  Members are advised to be flexible with the travel dates to avoid disappointment.”.  Since Rewards4All availability has historically been very poor there is little evidence that Spend & Fly will be any better.

The better news is that redemption flights can be booked online.  You input your voucher code on the website and it will highlight flights which can be booked.

And this – “Discounted web fares may occasionally be available at a lower cost (including taxes & charges) than equivalent Bonus Flights.   In such circumstances We will not be under any obligation to match the cost of the Bonus Flight with the full web fare on offer.  We recommend customers are flexible with their travel dates when searching for Bonus Flights in order to avoid disappointment.”

In plain English, this means that the taxes on your reward flight might be HIGHER than buying a cash ticket outright!  This is because Flybe artificially reduces their fuel surcharge on paid tickets at quiet times to generate a lower cash price.  If you try to redeem on the same flight you are asked for the full fuel surcharge.

The better news is that All In redemptions are potentially NOT capacity controlled.  Because you can make free changes to those flights, you can redeem for any random date – whether or not it is showing for redemption – and then change it for the date you want. 

No refunds are allowed.  If you cancel a redemption, you lose the accumulated spend.

What is good about the programme is the low level of spend required.  £4,000 of spend gets you a UK flight which would cost you 9,000 Avios – assuming the taxes and charges are the same, which is not certain, and assuming availability is the same.  These are fairly big assumptions at the moment especially given how restricted Rewards4All availability was and I think you would be unwise to assume that Avios availability = Spend&Fly availability.

Since it is not possible to check availability without getting the card, making some spend and redeeming a voucher, it may be a while before I get any feedback on how easy it is to redeem for Just Fly or Get More seats.  HfP readers have historically been very dismissive about availability.

In two ways this new scheme is worse than the old credit card programme:

Under the old scheme, you could also use your Rewards4All points towards an annual lounge pass.  Your only option now is flights with an opaque set of rules about what flights are available.

Since you can only earn Spend&Fly points from the credit card and not from flying, it will be harder to earn enough for a redemption before they start expiring under the 12 month rule.

Full details of the Flybe credit card can be found here.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

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

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

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

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

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review