New British Airways sale launched, including decent First deals

British Airways has launced a new sale with offers in all travel classes.

The home page for the sale is here.  You can book until 17th May.

On most routes you can travel up to 27th April 2017 which is 10 days after Easter Monday.  It varies by route so take a look at the small print at the bottom of the sale website.

The easiest way to check out the best prices to a specific destination is with the British Airways Low Fare Finder tool on ba.com. This will show you the cheapest price on any route, in any class, on month by month basis.

If you can be flexible with dates, there are some decent fares available.

In general, the deals are on a par with the previous sale in March.  However, there are some excellent First Class offers to North America.  In general, these are priced at roughly £400 above the equivalent Club World fare.  You will be paying £700 – £1,000 less to fly First Class than you would have in the pre-Easter sale.  World Traveller Plus fares to the US are also down on the previous sale.

Here are some major destinations, priced as World Traveller / World Traveller Plus / Club World / First:

New York £380 / £773 / £1,469 / £1,897

Miami £391 / £870 / £1,995 / £2,472

Abu Dhabi £348 / £698 / £1,238 / £1,838

Mumbai £450 / £723 / £1,427 / £2,027

Bangkok £499 / £1,018 / £1,711 / na

Tokyo £549 / £1,049 / £2,041 / £3,779

There are also some deals on European short-haul flights with some destinations under £200 return for 80 tier points. I spotted Angers, Amsterdam, Bergen, Berlin, Billund, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Madrid, Munich, Palma, Paris, Quimper, Rotterdam and Stuttgart for £200 or less on certain dates. There are plenty more under £225 return as long as you stay away over a Saturday night.

One route that caught my eye for the wrong reasons is Cape Town – this continues to be offered at around the £3,000 mark in Club World which is terrible.  Johannesburg, oddly, is just £3,320 in First Class.

Bangkok, Beijing, Chengdu and Hong Kong are good value by BA standards at around £1,600. You may be cautious about paying even that much, however, given the regular Finnair, Qatar and Etihad sales which will either cost less or offer a better product.  Occasionally both!

Dubai has come down in First Class and is now on a par with Abu Dhabi which makes sense as the two airports are only a short £40 taxi ride apart. It is worth noting that the Abu Dhabi flight is usually better timed for a day flight than the Dubai options.  £1,300 for Club World to Dubai or Abu Dhabi is a reflection of the fact that the Etihad A380 Business Class Studio is light years ahead.  Remember, until Sunday, Qatar will sell you a business class ticket from Edinburgh to Dubai for £880 return ….

Remember that ‘Part Pay With Avios’ can be used with these fares.  The maximum discount at present is £200 for 30,000 Avios points per return flight in Club World or First.  All other flights are capped at £100 for 15,000 Avios – including Euro Traveller and Club Europe short haul flights.

It is also worth pricing up BA’s ‘flight and hotel’ or ‘flight and car’ options.  Adding a one-star hotel for just one night of your trip, or a small car for one day, can bring down the cost to less than just a flight.

The best thing to do if you are interested is to pop over to ba.com and have a look around.  The full sale details are here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.