Bits: excellent BA Holidays deals, get £100 for listing on HomeAway, new Virgin NYC flight

News in brief:

EXCELLENT new BA Holidays flash sale launched

BA Holidays is running another of its ‘luxury flash sale’ events this weekend.  You have until Monday 2nd to book.

Here are the headline deals they are using to promote the event, based on two sharing:

Whilst it is getting a little hot in Muscat by June, £1,039 for Club World flights and a hotel is exceptional value, however you look at it.  Similarly, November – peak season in the Middle East – is not the sort of time of year that you expect to be able to pick up Club World flights to Dubai and a pricey hotel for just £1,379 per person.

These are not tatty hotels either.  In Abu Dhabi you will get the InterContinental for £1,190 next May (not too hot) which – whilst dated – does have its own private beach club.  In Dubai, £1,410 is the lowest price in November for a beachside hotel – in this case the Ajman Saray, part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection (which is not actually in Dubai, of course!).

You don’t need to pay now.  You can just pay a deposit from as little as £150 per booking.  The balance is not due until five weeks before departure.

For clarity, flights booked via BA Holidays earn full Avios and tier points.  The only thing you cannot earn are British Airways On Business points.

Full details are on this special page of the BA Holidays website.

Get a £100 Amazon voucher for listing on HomeAway

If you currently list a holiday property on Airbnb, you may have considered extending your reach by also advertising on competitor HomeAway.

Whilst far smaller than Airbnb, HomeAway is now owned by Expedia and the company has big plans for expansions.

If you list your holiday rental on HomeAway before 15th November, you will receive a £100 Amazon.co.uk gift card when you receive your first booking for £300+ within 90 days.

Full details of the Amazon offer, and the sign-up page, are here.

If you are not a property owner but are interested in renting a holiday home via HomeAway, the main booking page is here.

6th Virgin Atlantic daily flight to New York

Virgin Atlantic and its 49% shareholder Delta have announced some changes to their joint UK / US flying schedule.

The main change is that Virgin Atlantic will take over one of the existing three daily Delta services between Heathrow and New York.  This will leave Virgin Atlantic with six daily services and Delta with two.

Other changes include:

Delta moving to A330 operation on its Heathrow to New York JFK, Atlanta and Detroit routes, adding capacity and bringing the new fully flat Delta One seat

Virgin Atlantic moving to Boeing 747 operation on the Manchester to New York and Manchester to Atlanta routes.  This will help improve capacity following the withdrawal of American Airlines from Manchester.

These changes will take effect from the launch of the Summer timetable on 24th March.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

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 comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

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 Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)