Most of us have a bucket list of travel destinations to mentally tick off. For Craig and his girlfriend, Mauritius was it.
Yet, like most of us, the tropical island was a little out of his price range even when using the BA flight checker for off-peak fares. The popular honeymoon island is known for its five-star hotels, stunning beaches and warm hospitality. It’s also 12-hours by flight from the UK, making it a far-flung destination that most of us can only dream of.
Lonely Planet estimates that a typical trip for two to Mauritius on a mid-range budget would cost around £3,680, and that’s without flights.
During peak-travel to the island, (August, September, February and March), travellers can expect to pay anything from £1,648 for return British Airways flights in economy.
This is where being a savvy-shopper comes in handy.
“I travel a lot for business and have been collecting loyalty points to use on reward flights,” said frequent flier Craig. “My girlfriend and I have pooled points on our BA Avios account and linked up our other loyalty cards on there as well. So, every time we buy groceries at Tesco’s, or shop online using the Avios e-store, we can top up our points.”
He continued; “We looked at British Airways flights, but they were costing as much as our accommodation – just over £1,400 per person and that’s just one way. So we decided to see what was available using our Avios points.”
With busy work schedules and not much time for holiday planning, Craig and his girlfriend found it a consuming process to trawl through the British Airways website to find BA reward flight availability, “So we turned to SeatSpy instead,” he revealed.
The new reward flight finder tool allows users to check seat availability on Virgin Atlantic and British Airways reward flights in just a matter of clicks. Users can check specific dates, or see a detailed view of BA reward flights over a 12-month period, for return or one-way flights.
“It was so simple to use, and allowed us to see all our options clearly and quickly,” said Craig.
In less than half an hour, the couple had chosen and booked their BA reward flights costing them a total of just £800 in taxes and 80,000 Avios points for return premium economy seats for 2 people (using an American Express Companion Voucher).
“Using SeatSpy opened up our eyes to reward flight availability and gave us more options than we could have realised.”
In doing so, the couple were able to save £2,640 on flights, and even managed to bag Premium Economy seats for their 12 hour journey, making it all the more sweeter.
“It took us no time at all to check flight availability and get booking,” said Craig. “We’ll definitely be using SeatSpy again. I’ve signed up as a member to receive alerts when new seats become available – it’s good to be in the know.”To book your own reward flights, or check what’s available, visit SeatSpy now.