Bits: Etihad business class sale launched, fake BA emails, BA Gold dining at Dallas Fort Worth

News in brief:

Etihad launches a business class sale from £1,688

Etihad has launched a short business class sale from the UK for anyone who can book by Friday night.

You can fly from Manchester, Edinburgh or London for travel between 10th January and 30th June.

In general, you are looking at around £1,600 – £1,800 to pretty much everywhere in the Middle East or Asia, and just under £3,000 to Australia.

I was hugely impressed by my Etihad A380 Business Class Suite last year – see my review – and if you can get that to and from Abu Dhabi then you will have a great flight.  I checked and the A380 flights are included for travel in this sale.

Full details of the fares from the various UK departure points are here.

Fake BA emails circulating re your Avios points

A HfP reader sent me an interesting spam email he had received which claimed to be from British Airways.  It said:

Congratulations! You won a 10,000 miles British Airways gift card.

A gift card has a value that you can use in full or part payment of a flight booking with British Airways. In order to claim your gift card simply click the link below and register into our Customer Relationship Management program.

Having not clicked through, I’ve no idea if the email is after your Avios account information or is trying to get you to pay some sort of ‘processing fee’ for your prize.  In any event, it should obviously be avoided.

New ‘Flagship Dining’ for BA Gold members at Dallas Fort Worth

Finally, American Airlines has recently opened a small Flagship Dining section in the D concourse AAdmirals Club at Dallas Fort Worth airport.

This is open to British Airways Executive Club Gold cardholders, even if they are travelling on a US domestic flight.  It is apparently relatively small but you can at least get some free food in there.

Note that you need to pick up an invitation at the lounge front desk in order to enter.

That said, the general view is that, if you have an American Express Platinum card, the American Express Centurion lounge at Dallas Fort Worth is easily the best lounge in the airport and you should head there instead.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Up to 60,000 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.