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Bits: BA drops Kos, good BA luxury European deals, upstairs on a BA 747

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News in brief:

British Airways drop Kos

British Airways has decided to cancel the Kos route next year.  This is unfortunate, because tickets have been on sale for 5 months ….

The service was due to run between 5th May and 29th September 2018.

Cash passengers will be offered a re-route via Vienna, changing onto the Austrian Airlines service to Kos.  There is also an option to fly to Athens and then change to an Aegean service.  In both cases, business class passengers will be downgraded to economy for the second leg as they are ‘one class’ flights.

Note that Vienna is an 80 tier points route and Athens – like Kos – is a 160 tier points route.  If you have booked in Club Europe then it is easier to go via Athens if you want to be sure of your tier points.  BA should ‘make you square’ if you go via Vienna but it is likely to require a few emails back and forth.

Avios passengers will not be re-routed.  Your Avios will be refunded and you will have to make other arrangements at your own cost.

Passengers who are on a codeshare and not travelling on BA-issued tickets (ie a ticket number which does not start 125-) will also not be re-routed and will have to claim a refund from the airline with which they booked.

British Airways launches short haul Club Europe holidays sale

If you are planning a short break over the Winter, BA Holidays has launched a ‘Club Europe holidays’ short break promotion.

The special deals are listed here on ba.com.

These offer excellent value for money compared to the cost of booking flights on their own.  You will also get at least 80 tier points each – more for longer routes – which makes this a cheap way to help your plans to earn or retain your British Airways Executive Club status.

This article lists the BA Club Europe routes which earn 160 tier points return.

You need to:

book by midnight on Monday 23rd October

travel between 1st November 2017 and 18th March 2018

These are the headline prices being promoted by British Airways Holidays, although there is no guarantee this price will be available on the dates you want.  All hotels are four or five star.

  • Bilbao business class flights + 3 nights hotel £272 pp
  • Paris business class flights + 3 nights hotel £284 pp
  • Amsterdam business class flights + 3 nights hotel £286 pp
  • Istanbul business class flights + 3 nights hotel £299 pp
  • Athens business class flights + 3 nights hotel £420 pp
  • Palermo business class flights + 7 nights hotel from £308 pp
  • Larnaca business class flights + 7 nights hotel from £585 pp
  • All inclusive Malaga business class flights + 7 nights hotel from £421 pp
  • Palermo business class flights + 7 nights hotel £308 pp
  • Malaga business class flights + 7 nights hotel £370 pp
  • Mallorca (Palma) business class flights + 7 nights hotel £374 pp
  • Larnaca business class flights + 7 nights hotel £585 pp
  • Krakow business class flights + 3 nights hotel £311 pp
  • Berlin business class flights + 3 nights hotel £340 pp
  • Prague business class flights + 3 nights hotel £345 pp
  • Vienna business class flights + 3 nights hotel £353 pp
  • Budapest business class flights + 3 nights hotel £383 pp

Take a look at BA Holidays here for more details.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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 card

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (130)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • John B says:
    21 Oct21 October 05:51

    I agree, upstairs on a 747 is by far my favourite BA experience. Quieter in many ways and feels more exclusive than downstairs. Luckily the route I travel has themon more often than not, much prefer it to the 777 they otherwise run.

  • Maciek says:
    21 Oct21 October 06:03

    Shockingly bad service for the passengers on redemption tickets. But hey, what else could we expect from Cruz…

    • Bohemia says:
      21 Oct21 October 07:54

      Shameful BS from BA. They absolutely have to offer you a rerouting, even on a redemption, under EU261. There’s plenty of time to play this one out: take them to CEDR, or book yourself a refundable alternative and MCOL them a large bill to really give them a lesson.

      • Tim says:
        21 Oct21 October 09:18

        Exactly. The rules are there for a reason – to create a level playing field. And low cost airlines such as BA can’t dodge them. Especially in circumstances such as these which are crystal clear. Re-route or refund. Passenger choice.

        • the real harry1 says:
          21 Oct21 October 09:45

          yep, redemption passengers can insist on a re-routing under EC261 & if BA won’t take action to help you, get this in writing (which will help your MCOL case) then pay for a new ticket elsewhere & get your money back via a MCOL claim

          it’s a black & white situation, BA won’t contest your claim

  • aceman says:
    21 Oct21 October 06:12

    I’m curious, do any of the european destinations for the xmas deals have a decent F lounge?

    • Gavin says:
      21 Oct21 October 08:19

      Paris has a very good Cathay lounge

      • Lady London says:
        22 Oct22 October 00:10

        With Paris though you have to be sure you’re flying out of the exact terminal the lounge is in.

        • Rob says:
          22 Oct22 October 06:33

          I reviewed it last year if you do a search. Anika should be in it today, coincidentally, but I doubt we’ll bother covering it again.

  • Mark says:
    21 Oct21 October 06:59

    When does the free night post from the last promotion of staying two weekend nights? Mine still hasn’t posted.

  • Nick says:
    21 Oct21 October 07:03

    I used the 747 upper deck regularly for numerous years on the BA Boston and Kuwait routes and have always tagged seat 64A when I could, which, although back facing, is like being in your own little cocoon. It’s got to be one of the most private seats available, which I miss now.

  • Paul W says:
    21 Oct21 October 07:15

    Seems to be the first time I’ve known a BA offer a rerouting. Years ago I booked a LGW – KEF flight before they pulled the service and was told a refund only which was unhelpful as you can imagine Icelandair flights from LHR were more than already double the price.. Some serious complaining got £20 in High Life vouchers – ironic really since they were cancelling the route and offered no alternative.

    • Rob says:
      21 Oct21 October 07:40

      They do offer them these days, perhaps under EU261 pressure. Hope Aegean and Austrian have enough seats.

  • JamesB says:
    21 Oct21 October 07:30

    I loved the 747s, the only nice plane Boeing has ever built in my opinion. A great pity the 748 series does not work. Looks great, the apparently slow and graceful landing of a plane so large is amazing. I have had the pleasure of flying them with BA, LH, UA, NZ, QF, TG and CX. UD LH old F was a bit of an odd experience as the seats were so close that it felt like being in a double bed with a stranger if flying solo. One TG first flight in the nose felt surreal as everybody changed into their purple TG PJs, it was like something halfway between the teletubbies and startrek. In addition to the UD, the front two seats in the nose are also a great flying experience. Sadly, the 747s have now come to symbolise what is wrong with BA – two icons in decline.

    • Lyn says:
      21 Oct21 October 08:27

      Nostalgia – the only time I’ve been in the UD on LH I was the only passenger upstairs because of a last-minute equipment/flight change. And there were only two of us in the nose of an Air Mauritius flight from Orly to Munich on my strangest flight ever – I’d asked our company travel agent to look out for flights from Orly instead of CDG because it was much closer to the Paris office. He was very proud of being able to book us but neither Air Mauritius nor German immigration knew what to do with us. Air Mauritius because they didn’t normally have business class passengers only on the Paris – Munich leg, and they had to improvise their service, and immigration because the plane was only supposed to pick up Mauritius-bound passengers in Munich, not let them get off. It was touch and go for a bit if we were even to be allowed off the plane.

  • Andrew says:
    21 Oct21 October 07:45

    A nice little film by United on the retirement of their 747s
    https://youtu.be/QUbabyFKUvQ

    • Rob says:
      21 Oct21 October 11:54

      We were invited on the retirement flight from London to SanFran next Saturday but both of us are away …..

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