Why should you book with British Airways Holidays in the new BA sale?

British Airways launched a new sale on Thursday offering savings on both premium flights and holiday packages which include a First or Business Class flight.

There are some decent prices and you have until 19th March to book.

You can see all deals available here. We focused on the flight-only deals in our previous article – see here.  Today I want to look at the BA Holidays offers.

Luxury holidays and city breaks with BA Holidays

The key thing to know about BA Holidays is that – due to the weird world of airline pricing – booking a flight and hotel, or flight and car hire, together can often work out cheaper than just booking a flight itself.

The reason for this is that all airlines, not just BA, make discounted tickets available to tour operators which can only be sold in conjunction with a car or hotel booking.  British Airways, Virgin and most other airlines have now decided that it is silly to subsidise independent tour operators when they could be running their own in-house package holiday business.

These are the ‘lead in’ deals in the current sale.  The travel dates required to get these prices are very narrow so treat them as ‘from’ prices rather than what you will pay:

Europe

Tenerife from £539 per person – Seven nights at the 4* Santa Barbara Golf & Ocean Golf Club Diamond Resort, travelling 1st June to 24th June with Club Europe return flights from London Gatwick

Venice from £299 per person – Three nights at the 4* Hotel Admiral, travelling 1st May to 27th May, with Club Europe return flights from Heathrow

USA

New York from £1,399 per person – Four nights at the 4* Hotel Mela, travelling 3rd January to 31st January 2020, with Club World return flights from Heathrow

Las Vegas from £1,699 per person – Four nights at the 4* Luxor, travelling 3rd January to 31st January 2020, with Club World return flights from Gatwick

Orlando from £1,799 per person – Seven nights at the 4* Blue Heron Beach Resort, travelling between 3rd November – 12th December inclusive. Includes Club World return flights from London Gatwick.

Los Angeles from £1,699 per person – Five nights at the 4* Knotts Berry Farm Hotel, travelling between 3rd January – 31st January 20 inclusive. Includes Club World return flights from London Heathrow.

South Africa

Cape Town from £2,489 per person – Seven nights at the 5* Hilton Cape Town City Center, travelling 6th May to 29th May, with Club World return flights from Heathrow

These prices are based on two people sharing. Travel dates vary by destination.

Little known benefits of booking with BA Holidays

Benefit 1 – just pay a deposit now

As usual with BA Holidays you don’t have to pay in full when booking.  You can secure the deal with a small deposit, and then pay the balance five weeks before departure. This is a substantial extra benefit compared to just booking flights.

Benefit 2 – you get a degree of cancellation flexibility

If you only pay the deposit now, you can walk away from your booking at any point up to five weeks before departure, which is when the final payment is due.  You will lose your deposit but that is an excellent outcome compared to having to walk away from pre-paid non-refundable flights.

Benefit 3 – bonus Avios

You earn a bonus 1 Avios per £1 you spend when booking with BA Holidays. You can find out more on ba.com here.

This bonus is on top of the Avios and tier points you will earn from the flights which are the same as you would get for booking a ‘flight only’, and from your credit card. Remember that BA Holidays spending earns you double Avios (3 per £1) if you charge it to a British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

A non-benefit – no On Business points

The only downside of using BA Holidays is that the flights do not earn On Business points in BA’s small business loyalty scheme.

The BA luxury flights and holidays promo page is here. Remember that you need to book by midnight on Tuesday 19th March.

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 triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency, because it triggers both the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Avios! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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 9th December 2024, there are EXCLUSIVE sign-up offers for our readers on the two Capital on Tap small business Visa cards. You can earn 20,000 points on the Business Rewards card and 30,000 points on the new Pro card. Click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.