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Kate
Last Updated: 23 Sep 2026
Here at Reward Flight Finder (RFF), we love to hear how our members use their British Airways Avios to travel on their dream holidays, and how they use our tools to find reward seats on flights. Gold RFF member, Kate, told us all about her recent trip to Barbados using Avios - one of the most sought-after BA reward seat routes.
Barbados is, without question, one of the most popular long-haul reward seat destinations using Avios on British Airways flights. Though BA flies direct to multiple Caribbean destinations, it seems that every Avios collector wants to bag Business Class seats to this luxury holiday spot.
It’s also a really popular destination for those collectors looking to use their British Airways Companion Vouchers because it represents some of the best Avios reward seat value. Whenever we look to book reward seats to the Caribbean we make sure to set up RFF Alerts because availability can be hard to come by, and we don’t want to miss out!
The island tends to be known for its West Coast, where the soft-sand beaches are overlooked by some of the Caribbean's most luxurious and expensive hotels, such as Sandy Lane and Cobblers Cove, over-the-top multi-million dollar villas and the smartest restaurants. It is the West Coast that gives Barbados its glamorous, mega-expensive reputation. Gweneth Paltrow, Elton John, Simon Cowell and Hailee Steinfeld are all big fans of Barbados’ laid-back vibe.
On the Platinum Coast, fly and flop isn’t the only activity to enjoy. Shoppers will want to head to Limegrove Lifestyle Centre, a small but perfectly formed mall with high-end brands as well as a cinema that offers food and drink service right to your seat. For a more Bajan-inspired shopping experience, there’s Chattel Village, a unique style of the retail complex that has been built to reflect the traditional Barbadian wooden homes, known as Chattel Houses.
The East Coast is by far the most rugged part of Barbados with hills inland and dramatic coastal scenery. It is undeveloped and sparsely populated, with few hotels. Here you’ll find the "Soup Bowl", a popular spot for surfing. It’s even the location for an annual international competition, hosting thousands of enthusiasts a year. At Ragged Point, you will find the East Point Lighthouse and you can explore Culpepper Island, a little island 100 yards from the mainland, that you can get to at low tide.
We chose to start on the South Coast. It is the most developed area of Barbados, vibrant and lively with accommodation ranging from small intimate inns, guesthouses and hotels to large all-inclusive resorts, and high-end luxury residential condominiums. The Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet there, resulting in lively waves, beautiful expanses of white sand beaches, lush tropical vegetation, and inshore tidal pools crammed with marine animals. A new boardwalk punctuated with restaurants and watering holes have proved popular.
We wanted to see more of the real Barbados so we decided to stay on the South, East, and North Western Coasts, for a week each, staying in hotels/inns with fewer than 20 rooms. On other Caribbean islands, you end up spending most of your time holed up in the sanitised compound of an all-inclusive resort and rarely venture out except on organised excursions. Barbados is not like that - the island feels safe and friendly and is ideal for exploring.
We had always wanted to go to Barbados. We knew Jamaica well and had been to Grenada, Tobago and St Lucia but Barbados had always been this special place in our minds. Regarded as the jewel of the Caribbean, Barbados is a small island, 21 miles long by 14 miles wide, with a population of under 300,000. First colonised by the English in 1627 but independent since 1966, it is a historically rich nation. Parts of Bridgetown, the busy capital, are on Unesco's World Heritage List, along with the nearby Garrison district. The interior boasts handsome Anglican churches, colonial-era plantation homes and beautiful botanical gardens.
My husband and I both tested positive for Covid on Boxing Day in December 2021. We had flights booked to go to Madeira on New Year’s Eve but had to cancel them, so in mid-January, we started getting itchy feet again. We are Gold Annual members of RFF, so we set up 7 alerts for the Caribbean, Canada and the Maldives, hoping to use one of our British Airways Companion Vouchers (we have 5 to use!).
We were delighted when after a week or so RFF notified us of availability in Business Class for Barbados in April - a real surprise as this was over the Easter holidays and Barbados is very popular then. We moved like greased lightning to snatch the seats.
Reward seats cost 125,000 British Airways Avios plus £1202 for both of us, and the cash price alternative was about £4300 each. So we saved about £7400 on the cash price and effectively travelled in Business Class for the price of Economy tickets.
Find available reward seats with British Airways and Iberia.
We explored all the historical sights and the island’s colonial past. We drove completely around the island. Nothing is more than 45-60 minutes away depending on the state of the roads and the traffic.
Beyond all the beach activities, you can have a lot of fun in Barbados. On our first Friday evening, we headed over to Oistins Fish Fry. The weekly foodie street party was packed with locals and tourists mingling happily. We sat at communal tables and tucked into tuna, swordfish and mahi-mahi grilled on an open-air barbecue, and served on plastic plates with typical Bajan accompaniments of rice and peas and macaroni pie while trying to make ourselves heard over the deafening music. It was great fun!
During our stay, we also stumbled upon a monthly “organic” food market held on a big farm, packed with locals and not a tourist in sight. There was so much wonderful produce, and lots of tables to sit at and meet the locals. There were even games laid out for the visiting children. Hopscotch anyone? Games of marbles? Rope-skipping competitions?
During our time on the South Coast, we stayed at Little Arches Boutique Hotel. It has just 10 rooms and is family run. It’s right beside Enterprise Beach, with an excellent restaurant, Cafe Luna. It cost us approximately £300 per night for the Ocean Deluxe Room.
We chose The Atlantis Historic Inn on the East Coast. It’s a gorgeous wooden, colonial-type building, with huge rooms feet away from crashing waves. The sound was amazing. It cost us £275 per night.
On the North Western Coast, we opted for Little Good Harbour. It's a charming location with wonderful staff, and to our mind, the best restaurant in Barbados, The Fish Pot. We stayed in a huge 2 bedroom suite right on the water costing £450 per night, with its own kitchen, lounge and huge terrace. Take a look at some of Sandals best resorts and offers for a luxurious stay in the Caribbean
We already have a trip booked to New York in October using another British Airways Companion Voucher. That’s another popular destination for Avios collectors, so using RFF Alerts to find available seats was a must! Now we are hoping to go to New Zealand in January 2023 and have set 6 Alerts for Singapore, Hong Kong and Doha. Fingers crossed!
Find available reward seats with British Airways and Iberia.
If you collect British Airways Avios to spend on reward seats then you will need to know which flights have reward seat availability.
You can check the availability of British Airways reward flights for the coming 12 months in one place using our own BA RFF.
New reward seats can be released at any time, so to avoid missing out you can sign up to RFF and set up Alerts. Take a look at our Pricing page.
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