British Airways launches Centenary flight offers, including New York from £1,326 in Club World

British Airways has just launched a Centenary flight and holidays promotion – click here for details.

The “official” centenary weekend isn’t until August – although, of course, it takes some interesting accounting to get to a centenary for British Airways at all.  And, slightly oddly, the majority of these fares are not available this centenary year but in 2020!

Travel dates vary although, on the whole, there is some excellent availability.  North American fares appear to be available from December until May 2020, whilst some of the destinations in the Caribbean, Africa and beyond are available for travel later this year.

Here are some of the ‘lead-in’ prices British Airways is offering in business class and that seemed like good deals. I have highlighted ones that appear to be especially interesting:

Club World deals to North America

Austin — £1589 (December-May)

Nashville ⁠— £1539 (August, December-May, pictured below)

New York ⁠— £1326 (December-May)

Philadelphia ⁠— £1443 (December-May)

San Francisco ⁠— £1553 (December-March)

Seattle ⁠— £1569 (December-May)

Toronto ⁠— £1500 (December-May, includes A350 flights with new Club Suite!)

Washington DC ⁠— £1433 (December-May)

Club World deals to the rest of the world

Abu Dhabi ⁠— £1350 (July-December)

Buenos Aires ⁠— £1995 (July)

Grand Cayman  ⁠— £1745 (August-October)

Rio ⁠— £1795 (July-November)

Mexico City ⁠— £1557 (December-March)

Nairobi ⁠— £1599 (August-October)

Nassau — £1755 (August-October)

Sao Paulo ⁠— £1795 (August and October, picture below)

There are also some good Club Europe deals.  Helsinki is £248 in 2020 which is a 160 tier point route.

You can also get £150-ish return fares to quite a few places (Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Cologne, Genoa, Luxembourg, Milan, Nuremberg, Venice) which are a good way to pick up 80 tier points and get a weekend break.

You can book the Centenary fares until 16th July.

We haven’t covered every destination here.  It’s best to take a look at the ‘low fare finder’ tool on the BA website which shows you the lowest fare available each month for every route in every class.

Don’t forget BA Holidays

As usual, don’t book a Club World flight before pricing it up via BA Holidays – see here.  Adding a hotel or car can often cost little more, and sometimes less, than the flight itself.  BA Holidays also lets you lock in your trip now by only paying a small deposit, with the balance only due five weeks before travel.

Don’t forget ‘part pay with Avios’

Sale flights are still valid for ‘part pay with Avios’.  How much you save now varies by route and by class, and the value per point tends to get worse the more you try to discount, but it is always worth taking a look at what is on offer for your particular ticket.

A Nassau Club World booking offered me:

• £50 off for 5,600 Avios (0.89p per Avios)
• £80 off for 10,000 Avios (0.8p)
• £130 off for 19,000 Avios (0.68p)
• £190 off for 32,400 Avios (0.58p)
• £280 off for 51,000 Avios (0.54p)

You can see all the discounted fares on the special centenary offers page here.  Remember to book by the 16th July.

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 double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

---

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:

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.

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.

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.