Reward Flight Demand is Soaring

Reward Flight Demand Takes Off

Reward Flight Finder has seen a dramatic surge in reward flight searches since authorities eased testing restrictions, for those returning from abroad to the countries of the United Kingdom, earlier this month.

Routes to Dubai, The Maldives, Caribbean destinations and the USA are seeing the highest increase in searches.

What are new covid testing rules?

The need for pre-departure tests has been removed entirely for fully vaccinated travellers and those under 18s. Pre-departure tests have been scrapped for fully vaccinated travellers and those under the age of 18. Travellers in these groups are no longer required to self-isolate on arrival into the UK, nor must they take a “day 2” PCR test.

Instead, since January 9th 2022 the expectation is for them to take the simpler and cheaper lateral flow Covid-19 test. The free NHS lateral-flow tests, offered to UK residents, aren’t allowed to be used for travel. However approved lateral-flow test kits can be bought for around £20, compared to private PCR tests which typically start at around £60 per person.

Those receiving a positive result will need to self-isolate, until getting a negative result, but will not need to take a confirmatory PCR test. Unvaccinated passengers, returning from overseas, must still take a pre-departure test, PCR tests on day two and day eight, and self-isolate for 10 days

How has this changed demand for flights?

British Airways reported that searches for holidays on its website increased by nearly 40% compared to as soon as the test rules were changed. Virgin Atlantic said searches on its website were up 150%.

Low-cost airline EasyJet has reported a 400% jump in bookings since the simplification of testing rules and says Brits are planning more holidays than usual in 2022. A press release from the company announced that a third of 2,000 people it surveyed are planning to spend around £1,000 more than usual on holidays and travel this year, after being stuck at home thanks to travel restrictions.

Sophie Dekkers, chief commercial officer at EasyJet, added that this summer should see the airline "return to 2019 levels of capacity and beyond".

Tour operator Kuoni agrees, their CEO Derek Jones has predicted that travel will be “90 per cent back before the end of spring”.

What about Reward Flights?

Reward Flight Finder has seen a 110% increase in reward flight searches, compared to January 2021, and we are only halfway through the month!

Reward Flights are the ideal way to book travel right now. Since a reward flight ticket is booked entirely with loyalty points (plus taxes), travellers who are nervous about changes to their future travel plans, should the pandemic situation change again, don’t need to worry about making a large up-front payment or deposit in cash.

Reward flights are also easy to cancel, re-book and rearrange with either British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.

However, whilst BA has increased the guaranteed number of reward flight seats it makes available and Virgin Atlantic has reinstated more flights, reward seats are limited. The increased demand has seen available seats, that can be bought by points redemptions, snapped up quickly.

Thankfully there is some good news for those still looking to use their Avios for a holiday deal.

Tips To Find Reward Flight Availability Of course, our first piece of advice is to become a Reward Flight Finder member!

Our Gold membership offers a 14-day free trial and then it's only £4.99 a month, for anyone who signs up during our limited-time promotion.

Reward Flight Finder makes it easy to search the current availability of BA reward seats across multiple routes, dates and cabin classes. If you can’t see availability for your chosen days and destinations, British Airways normally makes more seats available for BA Executive Club members to book with Avios, over the weeks ahead of a flight departing. But unless you can watch multiple browser tabs, 24 hours a day, it can be a bit of a lottery trying to discover new availability on the airline website before it's gone.

Thankfully Reward Flight Finder Gold members can make unlimited reward flight searches, use a map tool - to discover where in the world their Avios could take them - and set up to 20 reward seat availability alerts simultaneously, for a different route and date combinations across cabin classes.

We constantly search availability for their chosen dates, routes and cabin classes, then alert them by text message and email as soon as we find new seats matching their needs. So our premium members stand the best chance of securing reward flights to their preferred destinations. Sign Up Now!

If you really like the idea of saving money by booking flights with points it’s worth researching a range of destinations and cabin classes. Long haul flights are operated with larger planes that are harder to fill, which means the likelihood of new reward seats becoming available is higher. Further flung destinations also offer better savings than short-haul hops, when you compare the cost in points to the price in cash. Those savings can be even greater if you look for availability in Business Class or even First.

Many people don’t even look at availability in premium classes, assuming that they won’t be able to afford the tickets. However, since you are only paying the taxes and fees, business class tickets are more affordable when booked as reward flights. Yes, you will use more points, but the overall value you get for your points is far higher.

Business travel hasn’t recovered as quickly as the leisure market, so there’s a strong chance of getting a posh seat for a budget price.

To improve your chances of finding reward seat availability, consider destinations that are served by very frequent flights or which fewer people are likely to search for.

If you fancy flying to New York, look at Newark as well as JFK. US cities that are less familiar to Brits have a lot to offer and frequently benefit from better reward flight availability than more popular destinations such as San Francisco.

If you can’t find reward flight availability to your chosen European city take a look at flights to Greece, Bulgaria and Croatia. Destinations in these countries offer beautiful resorts yet tend to have more available seats than those in Spain, Italy and southern France. Of course, Reward Flight Finder members always have the option to set up alerts if they don’t see the available seats they need straightaway.

What are the most popular destinations for Reward Flights?

Reward Flight Finder has been operating since 2014 and whilst some routes are always in high demand, the pandemic seems to have had an effect on the most searched for destinations so far this year, as have new TV shows.

Dubai In the first week of January, London to Dubai was the most searched for a route on Reward Flight Finder. The BBC launched its new TV series Inside Dubai: Playground Of The Rich this month, showcasing the glitzy attractions of this jewel in the desert and we saw searches soar as soon as it went on air.

Barbados Barbados is our second most researched destination this month, suggesting that Avios collectors are searching for some sun, after months of zoom calls and working from home.

Further evidence of this trend can be seen with our third most searched for a route: London to Malé. The Maldives are a very special place and are more accessible than ever when flying on points.

USA As always, New York, San Francisco and Orlando are among the most searched for places to fly on points this year. Most Brits couldn’t visit the US at the height of the pandemic, but now that travel restrictions have eased they’re making up for lost time.

Asian Opportunities Unfortunately, many Asian destinations are seeing a little less interest than usual this January, due to the strict travel restrictions that are still in place in many popular locations, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Since it is easy to change flights booked using airline points there is a case for booking a reward flight bargain to Tokyo, for later in 2022, then changing your ticket later if restrictions make the journey unfeasible. At worst you may have to pay a £35 change fee should you be unable to travel to Japan, but the thousands you could save if restrictions are eased could make this a worthwhile bet.

Be the first to find reward flight bargains: Join Reward Flight Finder today!

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