Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways Johannesburg airport lounge closing today

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

The two British Airways lounges in Johannesburg, Club and First, close today for a five month refurbishment. Re-opening is currently planned for October.

During the closure, passengers will be split between Comair’s SLOW Lounge (First Class passengers only, NOT Gold card holders) and the Aspire Lounge (Club World and Gold and Silver card holders).

The SLOW lounges have a good reputation, but I don’t know anything about the Aspire facility.  This is the lounge used by Iberia, although it is dropping its Jo’burg service.  A photo is above.

There is little information about whether the two separate lounges will remain after the refurbishment or whether a ‘Concorde Bar’ will be introduced for First Class passengers – not Gold card holders – as is seen in Dubai.

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 (129)

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

  • Mike says:
    23 May23 May 05:17

    Re Elemis spa:-
    Maybe we were just lucky, but last summer my wife and I flying in First to PHL both had the neck and shoulder massage as walk -ins -booked in main T5 but received in T5b where we were departing from.

  • Kerry Kenton-Clarke says:
    23 May23 May 06:17

    Not been able to get a walk-in at T5 for quite a few years – there’s more chance of a walk-in at the T5 arrivals spa (although it’s a long time since I’ve been in there so maybe that’s changed!). The last couple of times I’ve flown first I’ve not even been able to get a reservation even when trying to book several weeks in advance – I seem to recall the best I was offered was about 5 hours before a flight!! I get the feeling they’ve cut back on the number of therapists.

  • Sam Wardill says:
    23 May23 May 06:20

    The Slow Lounge at JNB is great. Really good buffet plus they will cater to order.

  • Paul says:
    23 May23 May 06:31

    It’s also very difficult to get bookings for the T5 main spa, even 28 days out! My last BA F was an 8am departure with the spa opening at 7am and the running late it was not the relaxing start I had hoped for.
    Compared to the old T4 spa faculty the current offer is poor and won’t be improved by some new drapes and a few scatter cushions!

  • David S says:
    23 May23 May 06:56

    To be fair, the Elemis experience (only used it once) was very underwhelming. So we don’t even bother trying a walk-in nowadays.

  • Anna says:
    23 May23 May 07:02

    OH and I have managed to get walk up treatments on 2 out of 3 CW departures. I also managed to pre-book treatments for both of us for our first F next week – I called 29 days before speculatively but the You First CSA was able to book us in.

  • Yorkieflyer says:
    23 May23 May 07:08

    Used the Aspire in JNB when coming back with IB at Christmas. A cut above UK Aspire lounges with a reasonable evening food buffet and waiter service for drinks with very friendly efficient staff. Slow lounge is smarter decor, furnishings and better food

  • Anna says:
    23 May23 May 07:08

    OT – Tesco offer! They are currently doing 25% off 6 bottles and this can be stacked with current reductions, e.g. Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec is reduced from £16 to £13 and also stacks with the 25% off.

    Ocado are doing the same offer but the eligible wines are ridiculously overpriced.

    • Anna says:
      23 May23 May 07:10

      There’s also a double points coupon this month (well, I’ve got one), so if you’ve got party plans for the summer this could all be useful!

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

NEW: Sign-up bonuses boosted to 3,000 and 18,000 points

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!