Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Good British Airways sale fares to the US and Canada for the Winter

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The ‘coming and going’ heavily discounted British Airways Club World fares to the US are back for anyone who can commit to travelling in 6+ months time.

These fares are valid for travel:

OUT:  six months from today (so 16/11) to 11/12, 24/12 to 31/12, 1/1 to 2/1 (!), 15/2 to 29/3

IN: 29/10 to 31/12, 20/2 to 6/4

….. so, nothing before mid November.  You can only travel outbound mid-week (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) and inbound Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

British Airways 787 cancellations

Here are some sample fares from Heathrow for November.  These prices may be available from some regional airports too.  Other destinations in the US and Canada are available as long as they served with a direct BA or AA flight:

  • Atlanta £1,411
  • Boston £1,321
  • Calgary £1,438
  • Chicago £1,436
  • Dallas £1,451
  • Denver £1,471
  • Houston £1,461
  • Miami £1,521
  • Nashville £1,412
  • New York £1,351
  • Phoenix £1,531
  • San Diego £1,461
  • San Francisco £1,461

I would strongly recommend also pricing up the flights on the BA Holidays website here.  Adding a car or a hotel may not cost much more and could even end up being less!  You also get the benefit of only having to pay a ‘from £150’ deposit now to secure your trip.

Where American Airlines flies the route, you can pick AA instead of BA for the same price.  You should check the exact configuration of the aircraft type shown but it is likely to be a better seat than Club World, especially if travelling alone.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (113)

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

  • Tilly says:
    16 May16 May 09:47

    Do you mean San Jose California or San Jose Costa Rica? I’m guessing the former but just want to check. Although not too worried at this stage as our trip isn’t booked until November (to SJO).

    • RUFus says:
      16 May16 May 10:13

      OT just got word through this morning MBNA American Airlines card stopping in July

      • guesswho2000 says:
        16 May16 May 10:21

        Got word from where? MBNA? That’s a shame (albeit an expected one), I’ll need a new way to keep my AA miles alive, which is difficult enough from Australia as it is.

        • Rufus says:
          16 May16 May 11:15

          Yes word from MBNA closes 28th July

        • D says:
          16 May16 May 18:01

          If you have a VPN with a US server you can connect to you can buy any TV episode or film from FandangoNow through the aadvantage eshopping portal to stop miles from expiring. Should cost less than $2.

      • Nick Burch says:
        16 May16 May 13:16

        Looks like the 20th of July will be a good day to book a whole load of expensive refundable hotels on hotels.com (who take pre-payment), which you’ll sadly discover you need to cancel 2 weeks later once you’ve banked the AA miles…

        • Rob says:
          16 May16 May 13:28

          I do indeed think that would be a good idea!

        • Geoff says:
          16 May16 May 18:36

          Don’t know about AA miles, but hotels.com avios don’t get added until after your stay.

        • Ahop says:
          16 May16 May 19:26

          Has anyone obtained such a refund before and had it put through to a different card than the one that was used for payment?

        • RK says:
          16 May16 May 19:56

          Where would hotels.com refund the payment made with AA credit card if you no longer have the card?

        • Genghis says:
          16 May16 May 21:15

          Any refunds go onto cancelled cards. Oh wait – the card is cancelled so points can’t be deducted…

      • happeemonkee says:
        16 May16 May 15:00

        Any idea if there will be a replacement UK version of the AA card Rob

        • Rob says:
          16 May16 May 15:53

          Absolutely no idea. Not heard a word, either on the grapevine or officially.

  • Simon says:
    16 May16 May 12:38

    OT Any word on whether the MBNA M&M card will be closed in the foreseeable future?

    • Rob Taylor says:
      16 May16 May 14:14

      Just received a letter from MBNA telling me the AAdvantage card with American Airlines in closing on June 15, 2018. This is pretty annoying! :-/

      • Cheggers says:
        16 May16 May 14:42

        I received replacement cards last week with an expiry date of June 2021… No letter for me as yet.

        • Alan says:
          17 May17 May 00:08

          We’ve seen that before (eg bmi cards) – expiry date on card doesn’t mean anything I’m afraid.

      • Alan says:
        17 May17 May 00:07

        Update by 15th June but is 28th July before it comes to an end.

  • Kai says:
    16 May16 May 12:56

    It’s targeted, and don’t forget IHG has historically closed down accounts that registered to targeted offers that they were not eligible for.

    • Rob says:
      16 May16 May 13:09

      The small print of this deal actually says that they may close your account if you didn’t get the email.

      • Alan says:
        16 May16 May 23:50

        Although it’s also on an open page that’s showing up as #3 in Google search.

      • Pup says:
        17 May17 May 08:25

        I don’t remember seeing that they could close your account when I applied. So either they have added them in or I missed them!

        I don’t want to risk my IHG account so any thoughts of best strategy? Come clean and confess saying it was a mistake or cross my fingers and hope!

        • Rob says:
          17 May17 May 11:12

          No, that small print was there when I was emailed the deal (by a reader) on the day it came out.

  • Cheggers says:
    16 May16 May 13:29

    East Coast line brought back under public control… only for the third time…. If only that tax avoider Branson could me made to pay a bit more for socialising his losses…. Hopefully the 168 day rule will be upped to 275+ sooner rather than later.

    • Cheggers says:
      16 May16 May 13:30

      (Although I do appreciate this is 90% Stagecoach and only 10% Branson. But his grubby fingers are all over it.

  • Optimus Prime says:
    16 May16 May 13:48

    OT – I realise this is a matter of personal choice and how much one values their avios… but I’d like to get your thoughts on this.

    Looking at an Avios redemption I can pay:
    25500 Avios + £ 34.20
    or
    13600 Avios + £ 144.20

    That means I’d ‘buy’ avios at 0.92p

    Would you consider this a good deal or I should like at paying no more than 0.8p per point?

    Thanks in advance.

    • Optimus Prime says:
      16 May16 May 14:13

      One more question – is it possible to book flights using avios for someone who’s not in my household account?

      • Optimus Prime says:
        16 May16 May 14:25

        Just found the answer to my own question: No.

      • Cheggers says:
        16 May16 May 14:28

        If you have few Avios points and can make use of your balance in the near future then the latter (13,600 Avios) makes sense to me. On the second question: it is complicated if you have a household account and don’t want to break it up

        • Cheggers says:
          16 May16 May 14:30

          Unless they are added to your Friends and Family list (which I did not know was possible – now I do – with Household accounts).

    • Genghis says:
      16 May16 May 14:28

      It depends how many avios you have and whether you have an imminent future need for them. I wouldn’t buy at that price personally.

      And if you have a BAEC HHA, add the person to your friends and family list.

      • Optimus Prime says:
        16 May16 May 14:35

        Just found out about the friends and family list. Sorted.

        Thanks!

    • Anna says:
      16 May16 May 19:04

      Another thing to factor in is the cash price of the flight.

      • Optimus Prime says:
        17 May17 May 08:23

        It’s a last minute flight for my folks on Sunday due to an emergency.

        Cash prices start at EUR 334 with just hand luggage on a decent time of the day. I’m not making them take the 7am flight.

        There was only availability in Club Europe. It’s a B767 and I got so excited because I confused it with the B777 with lie-flat beds and thought it’d be a nice surprise.

        At least they’ll get to enjoy the Neptuno MAD T4S lounge plus priority queues when checking in, going through security and boarding.

  • David says:
    16 May16 May 13:52

    OT just returned to LHR from HND on BA8 today, and got to experience the First bus from a remote stand. All was going well until an unfortunate fellow F passenger (who I suspect might have also been a redemption passenger and who had (also) taken full advantage of the LPGS) somersaulted down the steps, delaying the disembarkation of J pax by a previous few minutes!

    Looked painful :-/

    • vand says:
      16 May16 May 17:36

      Will be on BA8 in F in a few weeks (taking father for his birthday), how was the service?

      • David says:
        16 May16 May 18:22

        Great really, food was delicious and drinks free flowing. Better though on BA5 to NRT a few weeks ago though, helped by the smaller 789 cabin and overnight though I suspect.

        The crew member on BA5 ran through the airport to return our Japan Lonely Planet to my partner who’d left it behind (again) on the plane 🙂

  • Cate says:
    16 May16 May 15:46

    OT if I may, If I checked out of a hotel and returned a couple of days later, without staying at another hotel in the same chain (Marriott) would that be classed as two stays or one for bonus points? Thanks in advance.

  • ChrisC says:
    16 May16 May 16:00

    I noticed there was some ‘bleed’ on the dates

    e.g. I looked at LHR-JFK out on 3rd Jan 2019 back on the 9th and the matrix was showing the sale fare of a combined £1352 – and neither of those was listed in the dates Rob posted above so it pays to have a play with your dates.

    It’s also feeding through to ex-INV – where the additional saving is just the APD.

    EDI and NCL were marginal only £16 saving on the ex-LHR fare but handy for TP collectors and regional flyers.

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

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