Bits: Norwegian launches Buenos Aires, two Avios wine deals ending

News in brief:

Norwegian launches Buenos Aires from Gatwick

If you follow our Instagram feed, you’ll know that Anika is currently in New York testing out Norwegian’s Premium cabin.  We should get that review up in the next couple of weeks.

If it turns out well, you may be tempted to try out Norwegian’s latest route launch – Buenos Aires. 

The service is due to launch in February 2018.  There will be four flights per week on a new Boeing 787, and the lead-in economy fare is £299 each way.

This will be the second non-US route for Norwegian from Gatwick following the recent announcement that flights to Singapore will begin in late September.  It takes their total number of long-haul routes from London to nine.

Perhaps the British Airways paranoia about Norwegian is not entirely misplaced, although the airline is still losing money (albeit you would expect that as new routes take time to build up) and it remains to be seen how it would survive a return to high oil prices.

Two Avios-earning Laithwaites wine deals about to end

Both British Airways Executive Club and avios.com are running generous Avios-earning deals with wine group Laithwaites at the moment.  Both deals end on 30th June so you need to jump in now if you want to take advantage.

The deals are slightly different depending on what freebies you want.

The avios.com deal is here.   You receive:

A 12-bottle wine case, chosen from seven options between £52 and £58

2 Dartington wine tumbers worth £15

1,000 Avios points (250 Avios points if you are an existing Laithwaite’s customer)

Free delivery

The British Airways Executive Club deal is here.  You receive:

A 12-bottle wine case, chosen from seven options between £52 and £58

3 free bottles of rioja worth £36

1,000 Avios points (250 Avios points if you are an existing Laithwaite’s customer)

Free delivery

The only difference is whether you take the free rioja or the free tumblers.  Remember that you’ll need to give a BAEC number if you take the rioja and an avios.com account number if you take the tumblers.

Either way, there is one snag you need to deal with.

By ordering, you are signing yourself up to Laithwaite’s Wine Plan.  Every 8-12 weeks they will automatically send you another 12-bottle wine case.  It is very easy to stop this happening – simply amend your account online or give Laithwaite’s a call to cancel your Wine Plan membership, there is no penalty – but you must trust yourself to remember.

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.)