Excellent First Class reward availability to San Diego for Summer 2016

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British Airways announced yesterday that it is switching the San Diego route to a Boeing 777-300 from the start of the Summer timetable on March 27th.

The route is currently operated by a smaller Boeing 777-200. Why is this important? Because the 777-300 will feature First Class to San Diego for the first time.

Why is this especially important today? Because First Class Avios redemptions to San Diego are currently wide open for Summer 2016.

If you were thinking about a California holiday for next year, you should take a serious look at this. You are VERY unlikely to see such good availability to other parts of the region. It is easy to pick up connecting flights in San Diego to LA, San Francisco, Los Angeles etc.

On a handful of days there are FOUR First Class seats available for redemption. There are, admittedly, some days with none at all ….. but you won’t have any trouble finding two seats. At the time of writing, for example, there are four First Class seats going out on Saturday 11th June and returning Sunday 26th June.

The tax is £537 per person, return. It needs 170,000 Avios per person off-peak and 200,000 Avios per person peak.

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: