Looking at the flights from UK airports, we all curse the airlines for charging too much, but it doesn’t take a detective to reveal where lots of the money goes. UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) is the highest rate of tax on air travel anywhere in the world. This impacts all departing passengers from the UK. On some routes, APD represents up to 50% of the ticket price. Most major economies do not tax air travel, and countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium have abolished their equivalent tax after recognising the negative impact it had on their aviation sector and connectivity. The APD was brought in by the UK Chancellor Kenneth Clarke in 1994 at a rate of £5-10, but it has rocketed since then (the APD on premium economy, business & first will increase to £224 from 1st April 2025). Flying business class or premium economy is not just for the rich. Many people who are large, or have mobility problems need bigger seats and more legroom.
For many UK families, choosing a budget-friendly European holiday over a traditional UK seaside resort makes financial sense, especially with rising costs in domestic travel and accommodation. Traditional spots like Blackpool or Brighton have become super-expensive during peak seasons. £15 for fish and chips and £5 for a candy floss?
Meanwhile, European destinations such as Spain or Greece often offer cheap hotels, meals and drinks, making them vastly more affordable. UK summers can be rainy and miserable, leaving many seaside plans a wash-out. In contrast, southern European countries ensure a more dependable holiday experience. All-inclusive resorts also offer families the chance to party on a fixed budget. So let’s pack our bags and save hundreds of pounds???? No…… try finding flights in half-term, Easter or Summer holidays. The £30 flight to Malaga suddenly rockets to £300. The UK Government is partially to blame thanks to its Air Passenger Duty and “green” taxes, but simple supply & demand leaves British families without a hope of flying cheaply.
Everyone deserves a holiday, but how can a family fly cheaply?
- Book early.
- Use Google Flights and search the “Date Grid” or “Price Graph” on the results page to get the best price. Once you find a flight, double-check with Skyscanner.com or trip.com to make sure it’s the best. Your local travel agent may also be able to get a better deal if you tell them the exact flight.
- Join an airline loyalty scheme. The more you fly with one Airline, the more rewards you receive. Read about ‘Avios points’ later on in this article.
- Focus on Airmiles and collect points like a Ninja!
- Several credit and debit cards offer good air miles and point deals. Simply doing the weekly shop or buying essentials can generate thousands of air miles and some free flights over a year.
- Look out for deals, vouchers and coupons.
- The main carriers are sometimes cheaper than the budget airlines.
- Consider Eurostar and ferries.
- Consider hiding children in checked luggage.**
** may result in an airport fine or the loss of a loved one.
Avios airline points
Avios points can be used to get cheap flights on British Airways flights, and other Oneworld airlines (such as Qatar Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia and American Airlines). Just sign up for the British Airways Executive Club (free) and download their app. You’ll receive a membership number and you are ready to start building points.
If you are spending money on everyday things such as petrol, food, takeaways, trains, clothes etc, you might as well research and get as many points as possible. There are some excellent deals on points but they do vary wildly.
There are lots of ways you can accumulate Avios points throughout the year, including going shopping at hundreds of stores. The deals come and go and often change, so it’s always worth doing your own research.
You can currently fly to Europe on a BA Reward Flight Saver for £0.50 + 9,250 Avios. These reward flights can also be booked during school holidays. BA’s destinations are Worldwide. American Airlines does reward flights to the USA and Qatar offers flights to the Middle East, Asia and beyond. The good news is that the APD tax does not apply to children under 16.
Here are some of the ways to earn Avios points:-
- Fly on a BA flight, or one of its partners such as Qatar.
- Convert Nectar Points to Avios (250 Avios for every 400 Nectar points).
- Paying with a credit/debit card that rewards Avios (there are several cards with sign-up bonuses). Revolut does not do any credit checks when you open an account and you can get lots of Avios.
- Book a hotel or room with AirBnB or Avios Hotels. You can get up to 10 Avios for every £1 spent.
- Shopping with BA partner stores. You could turn your everyday spending into Avios points. There are some shops that will award 20+ Avios points per £1 spent. There are hundreds of BA shopping partners, and common examples include (these vary day to day):-
- Boots (5 Avios/£1 spent).
- TK Max (5 Avios/£1 spent).
- Currys (2 Avios/£1 spent).
- M&S (4 Avios/£1 spent).
- Sainsbury’s (5 Avios/£1 spent) and the nectar points can be converted into Avios.
- Trainline (1 Avios/£1 spent).
- Uber (1 Avios/£1 spent).
- Just Eat and Deliveroo (3-7 Avios/£1 spent).
- H&M (5 Avios/£1 spent).
- Ebay (3 Avios/£1 spent).
- B&Q (4 Avios/£1 spent).
- Booking.com, Agoda and Hotels.com (6-9 Avios/£1 spent).
- AO (2 Avios/£1 spent).
- Travel Insurance (20+ Avios/£1 spent).
- Insurance (10+ Avios/£1 spent).
- Wine shopping (large bonuses + spending awards).
- Fuel: Converting BPme (Fuel) reward points.
- Boosting your Avios balance. You can do a 1x, 2x or 3x boost of your Avios balance and it works out at 0.9pence per Avios. Eg, if you have 2500 BA Avios, you can boost and get 7500 more for £68. This would be 10,000 in total which is enough for a free flight.
- Using the Revolut card (nice because you can only spend what’s in your account without borrowing). You get between 1 and 4 “RevPoints” for every £1 spent depending upon what card you get. These RevPoints convert 1:1 into Avios by linking to the BA programme. Everything you spend will earn Avios. If you do some BA Shopping and pay with Revolut, you will get BA Avios + RevPoints. Revpoint can be converted to several Airline schemes covering Avios and Flying Blue. You can also use the Revolut App to do some Revolut Partner shopping, and there are some brilliant ways to earn Avios on everyday shopping (they do vary):-
- Morrisons (x15 point multiplier)
- Just Eat (x20 point multiplier)
- Dell (x20 point multiplier)
- Xiaomi (x20 point multiplier)
- Apple (x10 point multiplier)
- O2 (x20 point multiplier)
- Body Shop (x20 point multiplier)
- Tesco (x2 point multiplier)
- Waitrose (x7 point multiplier)
The Morrisons one is an interesting example of getting Avios points for something that you would be spending anyway. If you did a £150 weekly shop online and paid with the Metal Revolut Card (1 Avios/£2 spent), you would get 75+(15×75) = 1200 Avios per week. Or 62,400 Avios per year. So your Morrisons shopping could get you 6 free flights! You can accelerate your points if you order for friends and family.
BA Shopping partner with over 2000 businesses, so it’s likely that you can get points for just about any spend.
