New British Airways sale now on

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

• combatjohnny says:

  21 Dec21 December 12:24

  some good prices, Singapore for 416 return is excellent value direct

• NickAnon says:

  21 Dec21 December 12:26

  Was holding out for this, looking at LHR – BKK…. Its gone up!
  So much for the ‘sale’..!
  Thanks, but no thanks BA

  • Matt says:

    21 Dec21 December 19:27

    If it was a price you were happy to pay then you should’ve locked it in! Can’t complain for prospectively waiting for a sale and losing.

• Hank says:

  21 Dec21 December 12:58

  OT: I applied and got rejected for BA classic card despite having a BAPP card and earned a 241 voucher via it. No one at Amex – surpsingly since i really rate their customer service – could tell me if I would lose the 241 voucher if I cancel the BAPP without having the classic card I’ve somehow been rejected for. I also have a rewards gold so wouldnt be without any amex card if I cancelled BAPP.

  Anyone any knowledge of this? I did look for terms but could only find terms for US version of companion voucher. They were not clear in my view that you had to have a current BA card to use it, tho I do think that is what they intened the meaning to be.

  Also, if a current BA card is required, the terms do not seem to rule out me closing the BAPP i currently have and then reapplying for a BA classic when I want to book my companion voucher flight at a later date. Really don’t want to risk closing my BAPP until I know my voucher would not be lost.

  Thanks

  • Chris Jones says:

    21 Dec21 December 13:06

    When I used to cancel my bapp they always asked me I wanted to down graded to standard. I always agreed to 2-4-1. This has no check as not a new card.

    Just phone and downgrade rather than apply for a extra card

    • Chris Jones says:

      21 Dec21 December 13:07

      That’s almost in English. 🍻🍻🍻

  • Anna says:

    21 Dec21 December 13:21

    Do you mean the blue BA card? An application should just be processed as a downgrade if you already hold a BAPP so if so this is really odd. As Chris says, this won’t affect your companion voucher as it is already in your BAEC account.

    • Hank says:

      21 Dec21 December 13:38

      Thanks for replies Chris and Anna.

      I stupidly did the application for the BA classic online. I assumed they’d be able to fix this error manually but they say that once the machine rejects you that’s that. Despite me having the paid for card.

      I called them again and they insist I will lose companion voucher if I closae BAPP. They refer to this condition:

      British Airways American Express Premium Plus Cardmembers
      The Companion Voucher allows the main British Airways American Express account holder, when making a flight booking using Avios, to book another seat on the journey for a Companion without having to pay the Avios flight price for that Companion.

      It’s a quandry because I found a previous thread where Rob insists that cancelling a BAPP without downgrading will not result in losing the voucher. I trust Rob’s advice more than an Amex call centre rep but i’d still prefer them to say the same before I cancel the BAPP.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        21 Dec21 December 13:41

        You won’t lose the voucher. Ive churned 4 times and never lost a voucher. I know others have done many more times and never lost one.

      • Anna says:

        21 Dec21 December 13:48

        Just ask to be downgraded to the free card. It’s virtually instantaneous and you get a pro-rata refund of the BAPP fee. I can’t remember if I did it via chat, but have a vague memory that they said I would have to do it over the phone. It was really easy anyway. I am wondering if the system is now just set up to refuse an application simply because you already have the BA card, not because you didn’t meet the criteria or anything.

      • Bonglim says:

        21 Dec21 December 17:25

        The whole thing is really odd. They mostly don’t do an external credit check to process this change.
        Have you done something to really piss off Amex? Like not pay a bill on time or something?
        Or did you fill in the application with incorrect data – so got rejected because they searched for someone with a slightly different name to yours? (did you put in your existing card details when you applied?)

        As far as everyone else says they are correct that you will not lose your BA voucher if you cancel your card.
        You do however need to use an amex card, any amex card, to use the voucher. So if you do not have another Amex, and they are going to reject you from all Amex cards, then you might not want to cancel.

      • GRIMZ says:

        21 Dec21 December 20:18

        just cancel the card, you wont lose the voucher. Yes you need an amex card but it does not need to be your card. You can use an amex card from someone else in you house as amex do not name check.

• Anna says:

  21 Dec21 December 13:54

  As Rob says, it’s absolutely worth tackling the “custom trip” facility (it takes a few goes to get your head around it an can be glitchy on occasion” to get a good price on a package deal in addition to the sale flight prices. Getting what is effectively interest free credit on a holiday which might easily cost several thousand pounds is also a major benefit (and doesn’t affect any card applications!). Moreover, if you pay with BAPP you get 3 avios per £ and a chunk of base and bonus avios on top. In the last sale I booked a flight and car package for my OH to go with the 2 4 1 CW flights my son and I are travelling on; in total we will get nearly 25,000 avios for booking via BA and paying with BAPP, plus it’s a decent amount of spend towards the next voucher!

• Hank says:

  21 Dec21 December 14:03

  Ty TGLoyalty. Problem solved.

  I just called Amex again and found a very comptent agent who was able to downgrade me to free card, despite me being told twice today by 2 differernt agents that was now impossible due to my rejected application.

  It is definitely a worthwhile strategy when dealing with call centres to call a few times to try and get a highlky competent agent. They really do make so much difference.

• Andy Green says:

  21 Dec21 December 15:04

  Feeling very underwhelmed with the BA sale in Business Class…. none of the fares come close to the 2016 and prior deals that were available. Personally, I will keep my money in the bank and wait to see if Qatar release anything decent in January (although I am not overly optimistic). I am looking for some decenly priced business class flights to either South America or Asia for April 2019 (14-16 days)… Here’s hoping 2019 offers a few more business class bargains! Merry Christmas all

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    21 Dec21 December 15:31

    Average price of crude oil in 2016 was $43
    Average price of crude oil in 2018 is $65

    And if you happen to get most of your revenue from £’s you are hurting even more.

    Always spend based on today. Yesterday isnt coming back and who knows what tomorrow will bring.

• ChrisC says:

  21 Dec21 December 15:38

  yesterday BA managed to send me an alert on the app for the sale yet coundn’t manage to show my flights in MMB yet advising me to use MMB to accept or decline my rebooked flight …

  • Callum says:

    21 Dec21 December 20:34

    Because the company that provides these systems for BA (and many other airlines) had a system outage.

• mutley says:

  21 Dec21 December 16:17

  O/T I have received my virgin credit card, (£160 version) I applied BEFORE cut off date, and whilst activating card, I asked about 10k bonus… was put on hold for 5 minutes…. surprise surprise the record of any bonus to be applied after £1500 spend was not “on their records”, and was asked to email customer relations with the details of where I saw it. Virgin money not to be trusted!

  • Rob says:

    21 Dec21 December 16:53

    I don’t think it was possible not to apply without getting the higher bonus (it wasn’t a special link) so I think it will be fine.

  • Roberto says:

    21 Dec21 December 16:55

    Persevere and if youre in the right you will get your bonus. I did get mine (eventually) for the two cards I and her indoors took out during the promo periods. Took 4 or 5 goes round the block to sort but the miles kicked in.

    And in a little Karma moment VS mistakenly gave us both 5k+ miles on a recent award flight so it all evens out over the long run.

    • Jonathan says:

      21 Dec21 December 20:20

      Don’t count your chickens, VS are renowned for clawing back miles down the line.

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