Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Exceptional British Airways and other oneworld business class deals to the US for under £1,000

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British Airways launched a new sale on Tuesday – you can see the details here.  We are currently running through the best deals and we will do an article tomorrow.

However, nothing will beat the excellent £1,000-ish business class fares to the USA from Germany just launched by BA.

If you’re a long time reader here you’ll know that some of the best business class deals to the United States can be had when connecting from European airports.  Airlines have to try a little harder to attract connecting passengers as it is competing with carriers that can offer direct routings.

This is good news for us, since (if you don’t mind a positioning flight!) you can get some exceptional deals.

These are typical of the current flight deals from Berlin, with connections at Heathrow (BA), Madrid (Iberia) or Helsinki (Finnair):

New York (€1014, £925)
Boston (€1024, £934)
Philadelphia (€1073, £979)
Chicago (€1170, £1067)

You should find similar fares from any other German airport served by BA, Iberia or Finnair.  Other US destinations are available.

The travel dates are quite specific however, targetting Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter:

23rd – 28th November, return 29th November – 1st December
26th March – 12th April 2020, return 28th March – 15th April
26th June – 22 August 2020, return 3rd July – 26th August

The fares can be booked via the British Airways website. Don’t forget that you can often save on hotel or car rental costs by booking with BA Holidays, too.

If you want to travel at other times, I recommend you have a look at the BA sale prices for UK departures.

What will you get?

Don’t feel obliged to book British Airways flights with this offer – you’ll earn Avios and tier points regardless of carrier.

With a range of possible routings you’ll also have a choice of business class products. You can see our review of the Iberia A350 here, which it flies to some US destinations including New York. Finnair typically flies the A330 across the Atlantic but you can read our review of the A350 business class seat here (photo below).

If you are on a British Airways long haul flight you are likely to get the existing Club World seat although you may get lucky and have a Club Suite refitted Boeing 777 or A350. You can see the list of destinations Club Suite will be on here.

In general, unless you can guarantee Club Suite then I would be tempted to try Iberia or Finnair instead, especially if travelling solo – you get a lot more privacy on those carriers as there are solo seats.

You will earn identical tier points and Avios on all three airlines since these are codeshare flights and you will be travelling on a British Airways flight number if you book on ba.com. Don’t forget you’ll also earn Avios and tier points for the connecting flight from Berlin.

Assuming you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best bet when paying 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

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.

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.

Comments (52)

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

  • Alex says:

    Rob,
    “20th November – 26th November 2020” isn’t yet open for booking is it?

  • Jack says:

    Saw that deal yesterday too on Flyertalk, there are more destinations available….

  • BSI1978 says:

    Slightly OT Rob/Rhys, and you may not have any visibility on this….but any views on whether we’re likely to see a similar offering to other locales? Southern Africa in particular…..

    • Rob says:

      Nope. BA has a long history of offering good US deals over holiday periods. South Africa is the total opposite – it can jack up prices over the holidays ….

      • MudIslandMlungu says:

        Because the demand is always there. Especially between November and February

  • bonglim says:

    Interestingly – for those of you who do not like to change – It seems to let me book a flight out via London and back direct (American) for a low price.
    I was looking at Berlin – Phil.

    • N1David says:

      There’s also the opportunity to book your last flight to Germany from LCY, so you’ll get your bags back at LHR and don’t have to take the last flight

  • Benilyn says:

    How much TP will be earnt?

    • Rhys says:

      Depends on the routing

      • mike says:

        a most helpful answer

        • Rhys says:

          360, plus positioning flights

          • TGLoyalty says:

            Not really TP Run money but still a great deal if you want to get to the east coast.

        • ChrisC says:

          but it does depend on the routing.

          the BA ‘how many avios and tier points’ calculator is your friend for this in searhing for the TPs to be earned on each leg

    • Doug M says:

      Stretch to 520 if you’re prepared to hop in the USA. FRA-LHR-PHL-LGA-BOS as an example. You can probably squeeze that under £2/TP.

  • meta says:

    Also some excellent sub 1k deals from Germany to New York/Chicago next summer end of June to almost end of August. If flying BA you can upgrade with Avios to First.

  • Simon says:

    These prices almost makes using avios a non starter. extra £3/400 to receive avios and tier points, all be it with costs/hassle of positioning flights. Got a potential flight to New York coming up and the idea of a few days in madrid either side is very appealing!

  • Gavlar says:

    OT -Any way I can use a BA companion voucher to get to Cork ( appreciate not the best use of one but it is due to expire)

    • Anna says:

      Do BA fly there or nearby? You can only use the voucher on BA flights so should be quite easy to explore your options.

    • BA says:

      In a word, no.

    • Lady London says:

      I thought Cork is easy to reach from places BA do land in Ireland, though.

      Bit of a waste of a 241 though.

      What about somewhere outer reaches of Europe if you’ve not got much time? Lisbon, Porto, Gibraltar (before they ask to be given back to Spain so they can stay in the EU), Marrakesh…. Sicily.,..

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

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