Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Fly for just £1,009 in British Airways Club World business class to Beijing or Shanghai

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British Airways has launched its own Chinese New Year event, and it is a very attractive one.

As long as two people travel together, you can fly from Heathrow to Beijing or Shanghai in Club World for just £1009 each (£2018 for two).

There is even a way of getting the price below £1000 each as I show below.

Here are the travel dates where you will find the fare.  As you see, April, May and June are your best bets:

  • 1st April to 30th April
  • 14th May to 31st May
  • 1st June to 7th July
  • 24th September to 4th October
  • 15th October to 31st October
  • 12th November to 6th December

In typical BA style, this deal is not being shown on the ba.com home page or the special offers page.  Neither have they emailed the public or trade partners like us about it.  The fare is definitely there though.

Remember to search for TWO Club World passengers.

A Saturday night stay is required.

Last year you may remember I wrote about our own visit to Beijing at Easter.  We did not require a Visa to get in because we were technically in transit – we flew in from Tokyo and flew out again, three days later, to London.  You DO still require a Visa if you fly into China and it is your final destination.

My review of the impressive Waldorf Astoria Beijing is here.  It is a very smart hotel and, importantly, only a few minutes walk from the Forbidden City.  That said, if it is a toss-up between Beijing and Shanghai then I think the latter is more interesting.

These British Airways Club World deals need to be booked by Wednesday 21st.

Don’t forget the BA Holidays booking option

You can also book these deals via BA Holidays via this page.

Search for ‘flight and hotel’ and various options for two people for a similar price as the flights (£2018) or even less will appear.

For example, for a 3-night stay from 16th to 19th June, I can book 2 x Club World flights to Shanghai PLUS three nights in the Rayfont Hotel South Bund (3-star, admittedly) for just £983 per person!

BA Holidays bookings earn Avios and tier points as usual on the flights, although they do not earn credit in the BA On Business small business loyalty scheme.

Don’t forget the other benefits of booking via BA Holidays:

You only need to pay a deposit of £300 per couple now, with the balance due 5 weeks before travel

You earn an extra 1 bonus Avios per £1 spent

It is worth playing around on the BA Holidays site to see what comes up.

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays.  You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card

Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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 card

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.

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.

Comments (82)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • T B Hall says:

    I managed to book the flights at this excellent rate. Do we know it is possible/ worth adding hotels to the same booking?

    • Rob says:

      You can’t turn it into a BA Holidays booking once the flight is already booked unfortunately.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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