British Airways to drop one of the two London City to New York flights
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British Airways announced yesterday that it is to drop BA3 and BA4, one of the two return flights to New York operated from London City Airport. The last flight will be 29th October.
These flights are a bit of an oddity, to put it mildly:
The aircraft used in an Airbus A318 short haul plane
It contains 32 flat bed seats in a conventional ‘all forward facing’ layout
Catering is also different (generally seen as ‘better’) than Heathrow or Gatwick services
The aircraft stops in Shannon to refuel because a fully loaded A318 cannot get off the runway at London City. The return flight is direct.
The real selling point of the service was that you could clear US immigration in Shannon whilst the aircraft was being refuelled. This meant that you landed as a domestic passenger at Kennedy and simply walked out of the terminal.
Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, pre-clearance was withdrawn from BA3. There were no other flights departing from Shannon to the US in the evening and BA was unwilling to pay the cost of keeping the US immigration team in place. This was a big blow for the service because passengers still had to queue for immigration in New York as well as sit around at Shannon on the way.
I imagine that a few other things have contributed to the axeing of the service:
Until April 2015, you earned 210 tier points each way on the London City flights compared to 140 tier points out of Heathrow. This made the flights attractive if chasing status.
Many heavy US flyers now have Global Entry which allows them to skip immigration desks. You can now apply for Global Entry as a UK citizen too, with interviews taking place in London. US pre-clearance at Shannon is no longer a benefit for these people.
There is continued pressure on travel costs at the Canary Wharf banks and this service relies on a large number of the 32 passengers paying full price.
It isn’t clear what will happen to the A318 aircraft but I doubt BA will be looking at starting any other ‘all business class’ routes from City or indeed Heathrow.
I flew this service once, back in September 2010. It was, unknown to me, the 1st anniversary of the service and there was cake and champagne waiting for us in Shannon during the refuelling stop. I enjoyed the food and the seating. I would still like to cover BA1 again for Head for Points if the opportunity comes up.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (August 2022)
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
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Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
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You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.
EDIT: Until 25th October 2022, there is an exceptionally generous sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card. You will receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points – double the usual amount – and £200 to spend at Amex Travel. You need to spend £6,000 within six months to earn the bonus.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
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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 10,000 Avios.
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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
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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.
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American Express Business Gold
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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)
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