Bits: BA hand baggage fares, Hotels.com sale, 4000 free Alitalia miles, Finnair starts Dublin
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News in brief:
British Airways makes ‘hand baggage only’ fares less attractive
You will probably have received an email from British Airways yesterday regarding ‘hand baggage only’ fares. Introduced two years, initially at Gatwick in an attempt to stop the rise of easyJet, they are now available across short-haul at Heathrow and London City.
From March 26th, you can no longer select a seat on an HBO fare. It is actually worse than that – BA will randomly give you a seat when check-in opens. This will presumably be a middle seat next to the toilets.
If you don’t like your seat, you need to pay to change it. Whether this will be enforced onboard by the crew if you decide to move during the boarding process I don’t know!
There is no leeway for Executive Club Gold, Silver or Bronze members.
What you might not have realised is that this policy applies to ALL ‘hand baggage only’ fares, even fully flexible ones. If you pay £643 for a fully flexible HBO ticket to Hamburg (as opposed to £663 for a standard fully flex) you will STILL be dumped in a middle seat at the back.
It seems that ‘hand baggage only’ fares have been too successful. Whilst some passengers may have decided not to check in a bag to save money, the majority of users were presumably people already travelling without a suitcase. They were receiving a discount for no good reason. BA now wants to persuade these people to go back to paying the higher price and leaving HBO as a niche product.
Hotels.com launches 72 hour flash sale
Hotels.com is running another 3-day sale this week, starting today. Details are here. Advertised savings are ‘up to’ 50%.
Get 4,000 miles for joining Alitalia’s MilleMiglia
Etihad is now in full control of Alitalia’s MilleMiglia loyalty programme – and in partial control of the airline. To encourage new members, they are offering 4,000 bonus miles if you sign up before March 15th.
You will need some activity on the account within three months for the 4,000 miles to be awarded, which could be a small American Express Membership Rewards transfer or some SkyTeam flights.
There is no desperate reason to join up – you can’t do anything with 4,000 miles. That said, if you will have a one-off SkyTeam flight (Air France, KLM, Alitalia etc) coming up, this bonus would push you along a bit. Some Etihad partners, eg airberlin, can also be credited to MilleMiglia.
Finnair launches Dublin to Helsinki flights
Something I picked up at the Business Travel Show last week which had otherwise passed me by was the impending launch of a new Dublin to Helsinki route by Finnair.
If you have never been to Helsinki it is a lovely, albeit not huge, city. Summer is obviously the best time to go given the temperatures at other times. It is also a very short hop by ferry to Tallinn in Estonia which is another beautiful place to visit.
The service will use an Embraer 190 aircraft with 100 seats. It will operate six days a week (not Tuesday) from March 30th until October.
Unfortunately, there do not seem to be any Avios redemption seats available – possibly as this route is operated by the Flybe Finland joint venture. You would earn Avios on a cash ticket though. Finnair also flies from Manchester to Helsinki and that route IS available for a redemption.
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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (July 2025)
Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.
Booking flights on any airline?
The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.
The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.
You can apply here.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
Buying flights on British Airways?
The British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.
The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.
You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express Credit Card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.
You can apply here.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card
30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review
Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?
Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.
This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.
There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.
You can apply for either of the cards here.
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
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