New British Airways hand baggage policy and boarding plan announced
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
You may have noticed that British Airways has been carrying out a number of trials at Heathrow over the last few months to smooth the boarding process.
Fundamentally, there have been three issues (as I see it):
The introduction of the Bronze tier means that there are too many passengers who qualify for priority boarding. On peak business flights the priority queue is bigger than the standard queue.
The introduction of ‘hand baggage only’ tickets has encouraged people to save money by not checking in a case and bringing a disproportionate amount of luggage into the cabin
The introduction of another two and a half rows of seats has added a huge number of extra bags on full flights
This is what is changing:
Boarding
Boarding will be done by cabin and by Executive Club status. Non-status passengers will then board by seat row number.
Hand baggage
This is likely to be more contentious.
The size of your second piece of hand baggage is being cut.
Your second item must now be no larger than 40cm x 30cm x 15cm unless you are travelling in First or Club World on long haul. There is no exception for Club Europe on short haul. The previous limit for the 2nd item was 45cm x 36 cm x 20 cm.
The first item limit is unchanged at 56cm x 45cm x 25cm with a 23kg weight limit.
The second item MUST be placed under the seat in front of you. It will receive a yellow tag at the boarding gate and must not be placed in an overhead locker unless you are sat on an exit row or in Row 1.
If you second item of hand baggage is larger than 40 x 30 x 15 then it will NOT be accepted onto the aircraft and must be placed in the hold. Tough luck about that expensive new handbag you bought.
If your second item meets the size guidelines above then you are guaranteed to be able to take it on the aircraft. If the overhead lockers are full, passengers will be selected to have their main piece of hand baggage removed and placed in the hold.
Implementation of these changes will be rolled out over the next few weeks.
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.
Sussex Bantam 
Alan 
mark2 
Henrik 
Fenny 
CV3V 
James67 
Ross Parker 
chantelle 
Rob 
Polly 
Rich 
Riku 
MrHandBaggageOnly 
ADS 
Comments (60)