British Airways rosters A350 training flights to Madrid in October – bookable with Avios

British Airways has added a new wave of A350 training flights to ba.com for October.

This is interesting because, for the current August wave of training flights, BA has been very cautious about publicising the dates.  The aircraft only appear in the timetable a few days before departure.

It looks like it is more confident about the 2nd aircraft because the flights are ‘official’ and bookable as A350 services.

When can I fly the British Airways A350 to Madrid?

The aircraft – which is presumably the 2nd one to be delivered – will fly to Madrid between Tuesday 1st October and Monday 7th October inclusive.

It will be doing TWO rotations per day:

06.20 Heathrow – 09.20 Madrid (BA456)

10.55 Madrid – 12.15 Heathrow (BA457)

16.45 Heathrow – 20.05 Madrid (BA464)

21.20 Madrid – 22.25 Heathrow (BA465)

If you are tempted to book one of these purely to try out the new Club Suite, PLEASE use Avios and not cash.  There is a chance that the aircraft is switched out. 

You could get advance notice – if the aircraft is delivered late by Airbus it will be cancelled in advance – but it could also be pulled at short notice, since it would presumably be switched for the first A350 on the Dubai route if that aircraft developed any issues.  The 2nd aircraft itself could also have problems as well of course.

If the times do not work, remember that the following services also use long haul aircraft and have flat beds in business class.  You could mix and match these services with an A350 flight:

13.20 Heathrow – 16.45 Madrid (BA460 on a Boeing 777)

15.55 Madrid – 17.15 Heathrow (BA7058, Iberia codeshare on an A330)

18.15 Madrid – 19.40 Heathrow (BA461 on a Boeing 777)

18.45 Heathrow – 22.05 Madrid (BA7059, Iberia codeshare on an A330)

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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.