Excellent USA BA Club World fares from £860 out of Germany and Switzerland
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British Airways has launched a strong Club World sale out of Germany and Switzerland for flights to the USA. If you happy to take a little detour on the way, you could pick up a Club World flight for an exceptionally low price.
Couple it with the current ‘triple Avios’ promotion and you are looking with a very tempting deal indeed.
You are restricted in when you can travel but you can’t have everything.
Before we get into the fares, let’s look at the rules:
You must book by Monday night, 12th September
Your OUTBOUND flight must be between:
22nd to 29th November
10th February to 15th April 2017
If you want to tie this in with the ‘triple Avios’ deal then you need to be flying out between 22nd – 29th November.
You need to depart from an airport in Germany or Switzerland to specific destinations in North America. You can book on ba.com and will be offered a variety of options across BA and other oneworld airlines – you don’t need to fly BA.
A search from Berlin to Chicago through up routings on Iberia via Madrid, Aer Lingus via Dublin and BA via Heathrow. Any of these routes would qualify for triple Avios on the transatlantic leg, although only a BA flight would give you triple Avios on the short-haul connection.
Looking at Flyertalk analysis, the best fares appear to be to Chicago although pretty much everywhere in the US is good value compared to flying out of London.
Here are some examples, travelling 23rd to 30th November:
Berlin to Chicago – €1,018 (£861)
Geneva to Seattle – CHF 1,477 (£1,141)
Zurich to New York – CHF 1,234 (£953)
Berlin to San Francisco – €1,833 (£1,551)
Dusseldorf to New York – €1,399 (£1,184)
Frankfurt to Washington – €1,302 (£1,102)
Prices seem to be even cheaper if you want to travel in 2017 – Zurich to Chicago seems to drop below £800 at some points.
Factoring in triple Avios ….
Let’s look at the Berlin to Chicago deal (£861) with triple Avios points via the current promotion.
For a Blue member, you would earn:
(869 + 5930 + 5930 + 869) Avios plus a bonus of (579 + 3953 + 3953 + 579) and (579 + 3953 + 3953 + 579) for a total of 31,726 Avios
….. which isn’t bad going for £861 plus the cost of positioning in Berlin. Don’t forget the 360 tier points as well.
Tier point running
These prices are for relatively simple ‘one connection’ flights.
If you want to turn this into a British Airways tier point run, try looking up prices on aa.com instead. You may be offered a wider range of connections. Bookings on two class American Airlines aircraft (First and Economy) trigger First Class tier points when booked as an AA flight number via the American site – booked via ba.com you only receive Business Class tier points.
Remember that a flight needs to be over 2,000 miles to be treated as long haul and earn 140 tier points each way instead of 40 tier points.
For most HfP readers, this will be more complex than they are looking for. If a simple ‘one connection’ flight is what you’re after, pop over to ba.com and see what you can find.
Remember that:
You must book by Monday night, 12th September
Your OUTBOUND flight must be between:
22nd – 29th November
10th February to 15th April 2017
For new readers, you should be very clear in your mind that you MUST take the first flight out of Germany or Switzerland. You CANNOT turn up at Heathrow and hope to jump on the second leg. Your flight will have been cancelled as soon as you ‘no showed’ for the first leg.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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