The British Airways ‘Upgrade to First’ offer returns for business class ticket holders

British Airways has brought back its regular ‘Upgrade to First’ offer.

Until 31st May, any Club World flight you purchase which is ticketed in semi-flexible R, D, or C class, or a fully flexible J class, will receive a free one-way upgrade to First.

This is subject to availability and requires ‘A class’ cash tickets to still be available for sale in First.

You need to take the outbound flight between now and 28 August 2019, except for Tel Aviv and Delhi where you must fly out between 1st June and 28th August.  You need to complete your travel by 30th August for Heathrow routes and 14th September for Gatwick routes.

Participating destinations are:

All services to the United States, Mexico and Canada on flights operated by American Airlines or British Airways

British Airways services to Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Accra, Bahrain, Barbados, Beijing, Cape Town, Delhi, Dubai, Durban, Grenada, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lagos, Moscow, Nairobi, Port of Spain, Riyadh, Seychelles, Shanghai, St Lucia, Tel Aviv and Tokyo

Full details are on ba.com here.  Note that you can only book this over over the telephone – in the past, some corporate travel agents have also been able to book it.

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 direct with BA.  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.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.