Earlier I wrote about one of the best Avios redemptions you can make – flying Loganair within the UK. Out of the many good reasons to use Avios, why am I plugging a 1-hour flight in economy for 6,500 miles (when I otherwise wouldn’t advise using miles to book flights in economy)? That’s because Loganair connects London and other larger UK cities with many unique destinations in the UK, including the Isle of Man, the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Outer Hebrides, and a few other unique destinations. These aren’t usually serviced by low-cost airlines, so redeeming Avios on Loganair can be a good deal, since these are usually quite price-inelastic flights.
I had a day to spare earlier this week. You can’t do the Shetland or Orkney Islands in the UK for a day, though I did visit Derry in Northern Ireland. This was my first time in Northern Ireland, and I was glad to have the chance to visit Ireland’s first planned city (now part of Northern Ireland). For the record, in this case I was able to take a bus down to Belfast and take a Ryanair flight home, though it’s not so easy to do that from other Loganair destinations.
Loganair operates to many unique destinations, such as Derry
I figured I’d write a quick post with my first impressions, as well as covering the option. I’ll then write a separate post with a full flight review. For full disclosure, this post was written in conjunction with Singaporean open-loop loyalty programme HeyMax, where you can convert Max Miles to programmes such as Qatar Airways Avios (which converts to British Airways Avios, which converts to Loganair Avios).
When should you take a trip on Loganair?
Loganair will generally be useful if you want to get around the UK, specifically as it opens up many destinations that wouldn’t otherwise be easily reachable. These are typically based either in the Scottish Highlands or Northern Ireland (I was flying to the latter today).
Generally, Loganair has more attractive Avios pricing than British Airways. It costs 6,500 Avios one-way to fly a shorthaul flight within the UK, whereas it’ll cost you 9,250 Avios on British Airways. Loganair generally operates flights that aren’t otherwise operated by easyJet or Ryanair (such as between Southampton and Manchester/Edinburgh), though I wouldn’t seek out these flights unless I was specifically looking to travel directly between two cities that a Loganair flight operates. However, I wouldn’t consider this to be the best value redemption you can get on Loganair.
Generally, I think it’s best to redeem Avios on Loganair if:
- you specifically need to travel between two cities that aren’t operated by Ryanair/easyJet (or low-cost airline pricing is >£75)
- Loganair also flies some niche routes from England/Scotland to Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, and Esbjerg in Denmark; in all cases, redeeming miles can be a good deal, as cash prices can routinely go from £130+ one-way.
- you’d like to visit a new area of the UK, especially if it’s in the Scottish Highlands: I would try and fly to Edinburgh or Aberdeen using a low-cost airline if possible before flying Loganair up to the Scottish Highlands, since you need to pay 6,500 Avios per segment if you’re connecting
Since you’ll have to fly Loganair back in the other direction, as a headline you’ll be able to visit super interesting destinations in the Scottish Highlands and Northern Ireland for 13,000 Avios per person roundtrip.
As the slogan(air) suggests, the most fit-for-purposes use of Loganair is as Scotland’s airline
Booking Loganair from London to Derry
Generally in order to get Loganair Avios, you’ll need to convert via British Airways. Even if you’re earning Qatar Airways, Finnair Avios etc., you first have to convert to British Airways, then to Loganair. You also can’t book Loganair directly using British Airways Avios. This means that you will need accounts with both British Airways and Loganair (as well as the account you’re transferring Avios from), and they need to share the same date of birth, name, and email address.
Luckily, transfers are instantaneous, assuming you don’t get the dreaded lock-out out of your British Airways Avios account. Once you’ve transferred your Avios to Loganair, you can then go on the website and find a flight between your origin and destination of choice, remembering to click “Spend Avios”. It doesn’t matter whether the flight costs £79 or £209 – it’s a flat 6,500 Avios per segment. In my case, taxes and fees came to £32 on top of the Avios cost.
All fares come with 15 kg of hold luggage and 6 kg of hand luggage, and you can also purchase extra. You will most likely have to gate-check any carry-on bag that doesn’t fit in the seat in front of you, though.
My experience flying Loganair to Derry
While Loganair’s onboard experience isn’t particularly inspiring, it is quite unique, especially if you like flying.
Even though my flight was operated by a 49-seater Embraer ERJ-145, it operated out of Heathrow’s massive Terminal 2.
Loganair operates their tiny little planes out of Heathrow’s massive Terminal 2
If you hold a Priority Pass membership or an AmEx Platinum card, you can even head to the Plaza Premium Lounge at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 – not the best lounge in the world, but certainly a fun way to spend time before a short flight on a regional jet.
You can even spend time at the Plaza Premium Lounge at Heathrow’s Terminal 2
My flight was leaving at 8:45 AM, and I headed over to one of Terminal 2’s bus gates, gate A5. Loganair flights seem to quite consistently leave out of gate A5, and my boarding pass was scanned – I could even use my driver’s license to verify my identity (as Northern Ireland is within the United Kingdom).
The gate area wasn’t empty on this Monday morning flight – people were either commuting to Derry for work, heading into one of the city’s universities, and a small fraction were travelling like I was. I was happy not to be travelling for work.
Boarding at a bus gate at Heathrow Terminal 2
All passengers on our flight fit on one single small bus to the aircraft, with plenty of room to spare. The actual plane was a 26-year-old Embraer ERJ-145, and it was fun to see this tiny plane parked at Heathrow. I didn’t manage to get a great picture of the plane at Heathrow, though here it is at Derry Airport.
Loganair ERJ-145 at Derry Airport
If you’d like a sense of perspective, here’s a view of a Qatar Airways A350 from our tiny little aircraft:
Hello, massive Qatar Airways A350!
The interior itself is nothing special – certainly not a Qatar Airways QSuite or even a JetBlue Mint Suite. However, the ERJ-145 is such a compact plane that it doesn’t feel like a commercial jet, with its seats in a 1-2 configuration. It was so wild to think that I had redeemed Avios for an experience like this.
Loganair’s compact cabin interior
If you’re flying from Heathrow/London City Airport to Dundee (Scotland) or the Isle of Man, or if you’re flying one of the airline’s few international routes, you’ll get one of the airline’s ATR turboprops (as I’ve reviewed here). This is still a very small plane to be flying out of Heathrow, though they are slightly more cavernous than the ERJ-145s.
Loganair’s ATR 42 interiors
We left Heathrow more or less bang on time, taking off west from runway 27R (passing Heathrow Terminals 3 and 5 as shown below) before turning right to head northwest to Derry.
Taking off from Heathrow Airport
While Loganair’s inflight service isn’t set apart from other carriers, it still feels closer to a full-service carrier than a low-cost carrier, with the absence of a buy-on-board menu. There was tea, coffee and drinks available, as well as a complimentary Scottish Tunnock’s wafer biscuit and shortbread. Both were much appreciated, and the little water containers were a throwback to many years ago as well.
Loganair’s very Scottish refreshments
These planes don’t have power ports or WiFi, though they don’t operate flights of more than two hours. It was a very smooth landing into cloudy Derry.
Landing into Derry Airport
Amelia Earhart landed in Derry (instead of Paris as intended, due to bad weather conditions) in 1932, and that’s still celebrated today, with red Lockheed Vega 5B models painted all around the city. As you’d expect, the tiny Derry airport has a model aircraft hung onto the ceiling as well.
Derry Airport departures/arrivals hall
While I would consider the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and Outer Hebrides to be more “interesting” destinations, I was very glad to visit Derry, a pretty city with a very fun food scene.
It was great to visit Derry on 6,500 Avios one-way
Is flying Loganair a good use of Avios?
While Derry is within reach of other cities with cheaper services to/from London, Loganair is a great use of Avios as you can reach areas of Scotland/Northern Ireland unserved by any other airline. The Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, and Outer Hebrides come to mind, and you can even fly the world’s shortest commercial flight (this isn’t bookable through Avios).
I’d be cautious about flying too many segments on Loganair, since the 6,500 Avios per segment cost does add up. For example, say I were to fly to Sumburgh and visit the Shetland Islands. You can book from Manchester to Sumburgh via Aberdeen on Loganair, though personally I’d consider taking the train up to Edinburgh, before picking up a Loganair flight from there. That train costs around £50 without a railcard, though the cost otherwise would’ve been a further 6,500 Avios. Similarly, while you can fly on a direct flight to Kirkwall (Orkney) from London in the summer, I’d consider flying up to Edinburgh and taking the train up to Dundee in order to save my Avios.
It may be worth minimising the number of Loganair segments you take if there’s an alternative
Conclusion
Loganair is a fabulous use of Avios, as its 6,500 Avios flat rate allows you to fly to many interesting destinations in the Scottish Highlands and Northern Ireland. The flight itself is pleasant (and in many cases an avgeek’s dream), though the USP is that you’re connected to lots of interesting destinations that you can’t otherwise get to on a low-cost carrier.
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