British Airways Adds Avios-Only Flights to Reykjavik and Tenerife for October Half-Term

British Airways has just announced its latest batch of Avios-Only flights, and this time there is a choice between autumn sunshine and the Northern Lights. Two dedicated services - one to Tenerife, one to Reykjavik - go on sale from later today (3 June), timed for the October half-term break. As ever with these flights, every single seat in every cabin is bookable only with Avios, which is the whole point of them.

The headline numbers look tempting: Euro Traveller from just £5 plus 33,500 Avios return, or Club Europe from £40 plus 60,000 Avios return, with checked luggage included. But before you go all-in, it is worth doing the maths - because the value here is not quite what the £5 fare makes it sound. Let me explain.

Both services run out of London Heathrow over the half-term week. The Tenerife flight (BA410 outbound, BA415 return) departs on Saturday 24 October 2026 and comes back on Saturday 31 October. The Reykjavik flight (BA800 outbound, BA801 return) departs on Sunday 25 October 2026 and returns on Saturday 1 November. You can check the cabin layout on either aircraft using Flight Seatmap before you choose your seat.

Avios-Only flights launched back in 2023, and British Airways says it has now run more than 50 of them across Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East. They exist to solve a specific problem: standard Reward Seat availability dries up fast on popular leisure routes during school holidays. By dedicating an entire aircraft to Avios bookings, BA guarantees there is space - which is genuinely useful if you have been hunting fruitlessly for a half-term redemption.

Here is where I want to be honest with you, because the £5 fare is doing a lot of heavy lifting in the marketing. At 33,500 Avios plus £5 return, the economy redemption is actually higher than what a standard off-peak Reward Seat to either destination would normally cost. Both Reykjavik and Tenerife sit in BA's short-haul reward band, where a standard return economy Reward Seat typically lands somewhere around 27,500 to 30,500 Avios at peak pricing, plus low taxes. So on a pure points basis, you are paying a small premium over the normal rate for the privilege of guaranteed availability.

On the cash comparison, BA's own economy fares to Reykjavik can be found for as little as £85 to £150 return outside peak periods. October half-term is not an off-peak week, though, so cash fares will be inflated - which is exactly the window in which these Avios-Only flights start to make sense. If the alternative cash fare on your dates is £250 or more, then redeeming 33,500 Avios to avoid it gets you comfortably above 0.7p per Avios in value, which is a perfectly respectable redemption for a short-haul leisure trip.

The takeaway: you are paying a modest Avios premium for a guaranteed seat. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on what the cash alternative costs on your exact dates.

Run your own numbers before committing. Our how many Avios for a flight tool will show you the standard Reward Seat cost for the same routes, and it is worth checking whether a normal Reward Seat is still available on adjacent dates before you commit to the Avios-Only premium. If you would rather search across multiple airlines and dates at once, Award Travel Finder does the legwork for you.

This is where the proposition gets genuinely interesting for some readers. If you hold a British Airways American Express card with a Companion Voucher, you can use it on these Avios-Only flights. That means a second seat for no extra Avios, just the taxes and charges - or, if you are travelling solo, 50% off the Avios fare. For a family of four heading to Tenerife for half-term, a Companion Voucher effectively halves the Avios outlay, and that completely changes the value calculation. Suddenly two people fly for the points cost of one, and the small premium over standard reward pricing becomes irrelevant.

If you are not sure which BA Amex earns a Companion Voucher or how the spend thresholds work, our best UK Avios credit cards guide breaks it down.

Reykjavik in late October is a proper bucket-list shout. October is one of the better months for Northern Lights thanks to the lengthening dark and often clear skies, and you have the Blue Lagoon, Hallgrimskirkja and the dramatic volcanic landscape all within easy reach. Tenerife, by contrast, is the reliable autumn-sun play - Teide National Park, the Anaga hills and the beaches at Playa del Duque, all while the UK is turning grey. Both are strong half-term options for very different moods.

One practical note: the October half-term week is one of the busiest of the year at Heathrow. Worth checking Flight Queue for live security and passport queue estimates before you leave for the airport, and if you have lounge access, Airport Lounge List will tell you what is open and what amenities to expect.

I will be candid: on the bare points maths, these are not the screaming bargains the £5 fare implies, because you are paying slightly more Avios than a standard Reward Seat would cost. What you are really buying is certainty - a guaranteed seat on a sold-out school-holiday week when standard reward availability would normally be long gone. For families locked into the half-term dates, that certainty is worth a lot, and a Companion Voucher tips the whole thing firmly into worthwhile territory.

If you are not tied to those exact dates, I would check standard Reward Seat availability on the days either side first - you may well find the same trip for fewer Avios. But if half-term is non-negotiable and you have a Companion Voucher burning a hole in your account, Reykjavik for the Northern Lights at this price is a lovely way to spend it. Seats go on sale from later today via ba.com, and the popular ones tend to disappear quickly, so do not sit on it if you are keen.

Will you be booking one of these - and if so, is it Northern Lights or beach? Let me know which way you are leaning.

If these breakdowns are useful, share Smart With Points with a fellow points collector. Refer friends below and you can earn rewards as a thank you - and they get the same honest, no-fluff take on every Avios deal worth knowing about.