British Airways sale highlights: New York in Club World for £1317, 160 tier points for £210

British Airways has launched a new flight and holidays sale – click here for details.

We ran an article last week on some of the deals in First, but the Club World sale appeared to be pulled at short notice due to the announcement of the pilots’ strike.  It is now back.  You must book by 24th September to get these deals.

Club Europe deals in the BA sale

Club Europe has some short-haul deals worth looking at. I have priced these for a return.  All routes earn 80 tier points return unless stated:

• Barcelona from £202
• Bologna from £194
• Bordeaux from £144
• Cologne from £148
• Geneva from £186
• Gothenburg from £196
• Helsinki from £210 return (this gets you 160 tier points)
• Milan from £158
• Naples from £172
• Palma from £164
• Pisa from £192
• Porto from £174
• Rome from £158
• Salzburg from £190
• Sofia from £210 (160 tier points)
• Tirana from £210 (160 tier points)
• Venice from £150
• Vienna from £158

Helsinki is especially interesting as Finnair has recently refurbished its lounges and the feedback is excellent.

Club World deals in the BA sale

There are some deals in Club World which look interesting:

• Montreal from £1398 (December 2019 – April 2020)
• Nashville from £1499 (December 2019 – April 2020, pictured above)
• New Orleans from £1448 (December 2019 – April 2020)
• New York from £1317 (December 2019 – April 2020)
• Philadelphia from £1383 (December 2019 – April 2020)
• San Jose from £1489 (December 2019 – April 2020)
• San Jose (Costa Rica) from £1595 (September – October 2019 and May – June 2020)
• Tel Aviv from £999 (October 2019 – March 2020)
• Toronto from £1375 (December 2019 – April 2020)

Remember that as of 1st October British Airways hopes to operate their new A350 featuring the new Club Suite on Toronto flights BA93 and BA92!

If you want a full list of routes the easiest way to find the lowest prices is with the Low Fare Finder on the BA website here.

First Class deals in the BA sale

These are the First Class fares we first published last weekend. It looks like most of these are still available, although I haven’t checked each and every one.

Here are the lead-in prices:

• Atlanta from £1948
• Austin from £1979
• Charleston from £2048
• Chicago from £1944
• Dallas from £2071
• Denver from £1948
• Houston from £1996
• Las Vegas from £2167
• Mexico City from £2148
• Miami from £2093
• Nashville from £1903
• New Orleans from £1853
• New York from £2148
• Phoenix from £2117
• Pittsburg from £1995
• San Diego from £2061
• Seattle from £1944
• Vancouver from £2174
• Washington DC from £1910

Again, the easiest way to find these fares is via the BA Low Fare Finder, which you can sort by cabin class.

The rules are that you must book by the 24th September. Outbound flights are permitted Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday whilst inbound flights are for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. You must stay over a Saturday night.

These prices are for travel from early January until very early April, which is before most schools break up for Easter.

Get an even better deal with BA Holidays

There are also some good deals over at BA Holidays, assuming you are happy to package in a hotel with your flight (and you can often make substantial savings if you do).

Whilst it is hard to get your head around, the weird ways that flights are priced means that booking a flight with a car or a flight with a hotel can be cheaper than just booking a flight.  Note that if you add a car or hotel it must be for the full duration of your holiday if you want to trigger a package discount.

Some headline World Traveller deals are:

• New York from £389 per person – for travel in January and February 2020 including three nights at a 3* hotel and return flights in Economy from Heathrow
• Barbados from £569 per person – for travel in June 2020 including seven nights at a 3* hotel  and return flights in Economy from Gatwick
• Rome from £99 per person – for travel in January 2020 including two nights at a 4* hotel and return flights in Economy from Heathrow

Remember that you don’t need to pay now when you book a BA Holidays package.  You just pay a deposit and can settle the balance up to five weeks before departure.

You also earn an extra 1 Avios per £1 when you book BA Holidays packages.  This is on top of the standard Avios you receive from the flight and the double Avios you would receive if you pay with a British Airways Premium Plus credit card.

Note that you do NOT earn On Business points in BA’s small business loyalty scheme if you book a flight as part of a BA Holidays package.

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.

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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.