If you have an active avios.com account, you may have received an e-mail this week with a personalised coupon offering you (and however many other people you want to take with you) £100 off a British Airways Club Europe return flight.
You might think that business class prices are outside of your price range. However, this £100 voucher makes some routes extremely attractive. You could even get a business class return for about the same as you would pay with a budget airline! And British Airways Club Europe offers you lounge access at both ends (with copious free food and drink), fast track security lane access, wider seats, a bit more legroom, better – albeit still not great – food and all the free champagne onboard that you can drink. You will also earn at least 1,500 Avios from the flight.
BA has a handy Low Fare Finder guide on ba.com. Click and select Europe, Business Class and return flights. This will show you the cheapest options available. In general,
- You MUST include a Saturday night away to get a low price, and
- The cheapest fares are generally on flights from Gatwick, not Heathrow
The cheapest routes, after deducting the £100 voucher, are under £200 return. This includes (prices as of Wednesday):
- Amsterdam £185
- Bari £148
- Dubrovnik £148
- Geneva £191
- Jersey £160
- Verona £149
My pick of the bunch would be Dubrovnik, a beautiful Croatian city which is just the right size to cover on a short weekend break and where the weather should be OK even when it is still chilly here.
All flights booked using the voucher must be booked at ba.com by 31st August, but you can fly at any point between 16th September and 31st May.
About Head for Points
Nice post! Never realised the deals available in Club.
I don’t think any of these are worth it (except Dubrovnik) unless you need the TPs.
If you’ve not lounge access usually, these are very good prices indeed for a nice weekend break. You’re not paying much above a low-cost carriers price, the 1500 Avios are worth £15, and you can get through a decent amount of food and drink in the lounge, plus say 2 mini-bottle of champagne each way on the journey!
I wonder how they decided which members would receive a voucher and which would not?
Alan
You must stop this Raffles ……. just booked a few days in Dubrovnik for 300 quid for two ……
Dubrovnik is fantastic, I have no compulsion in recommending it to you. Just make sure you stay in or very near to the walled old town. The Hilton is in a decent spot but plenty of independent hotels as well, often tarted up communist eyesores which are now a lot prettier inside.
Hi all,
If you have not received the voucher, of you get thr code from someone else, would that still work?
Yes, it has in the past with these promotions
Hi,
Anyone not using their vOucher code and willing to pass it on?
Email is
[email protected]
Thanks so much
Raffles, you are a genius. I love this site however stop making me spend money :)!! I am just about to book a weekend break to Dubrovnik using this voucher for mid December. Always flown economy so this is a first for me. Flight departs Gatwick @ 11.10am. It is our birthdays 13th/14th, we fly on the 13th. How can we get the most from club europe benefits? Is alcohol served at that time? What lounge do we get access to? Any tips for any part of the trip would be most welcome
You have access to Fast Track security at Gatwick (assuming it is open at 11am, hours vary). The BA lounge at Gatwick is OK, not as good as Heathrow but plenty to nibble at and drink, and excellent magazine and newspaper selection. Champagne is always available in CE, served in mini bottles – it is on the trolley but you need to ask for it, you can have all you want as long as its drunk onboard. Min morning meals are always a bit odd with BA, not sure what that flight would offer. Enjoy!
Thanks Raffles, much appreciated. Just 1 other question, when booking with BA, should I be quoting my BAEC number or Avios number or does it matter? I know there is that quarterly bonus etc when collecting via BA.com for Avios. Not sure which is best. Thanks
Makes no difference if you have no BAEC status, as the avios.com quarterly bonus promo ends in November. If that is extended for 2013, though, avios.com would be better than BAEC.