British Airways strategy news from their Capital Markets Investor Day
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Every year, British Airways parent company, IAG, holds an investor day for the financial community to update it on what is happening.
The slides from this are always made available to the public, and you can access them here (look under the IAG tab). It is less painful than sitting through the entire five hour conference call!
Here are a few highlights from the slides:
BA profit expected to reach £1.3 billion in 2015
Passenger numbers are still 10% lower than they were in 2001
Additional seat rows are to be squeezed into short-haul aircraft by introducing thinner seats
British Airways will consolidate in Heathrow T3 and T5 by Summer 2015, leaving Terminal 1
The Boeing 747 fleet will continue to shrink, reducing to 39 by 2015 and 31 by 2018 (currently 49)
The seven (leaky!) long-haul Boeing 767s will all be retired by 2018
Three new short-haul aircraft are on order to expand London City
The Boeing 737 aircraft at Gatwick will be replaced by modern Airbus aircraft by 2015, and an additional Boeing 777 will be assigned from Summer 2014
Only 7% of UK businesses which have staff who fly are members on the OnBusiness loyalty scheme
There is also lots of stuff on the issues at Iberia and the developments at low-cost carrier Vueling.
There was no mention of Vueling becoming a BA partner, though, even though it has more and more UK departures and you can already earn and spend Avios via Iberia Plus. I didn’t know that Vueling is already the biggest airline operating out of Barcelona and the 3rd biggest out of Paris Orly. There is even a Hotel Vueling in Barcelona now!
Vueling is also rolling out on-board Wi-Fi in 2014, which will put it ahead of BA and Iberia, embarrassingly ….
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 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 £12,000 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.
Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) 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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