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The fourth British Airways A350 aircraft is damaged by the painters

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In one of the more bizarre stories we’ve covered this year, the delivery date for the fourth British Airways A350 aircraft has been delayed due to a painting accident.

This has practical implications for many HfP readers.  If you had been booked on an A350 service in December or January, especially if you were booked into Club Suite, you should keep an eye on your booking.  Dubai is believed to be the main casualty.

As BA is now an aircraft down, it will have no choice but to substitute a non-A350 and non-Club Suite aircraft on some services.

BA A350 damaged at the Toulouse paintshop

FlightGlobal first ran the story.  This would have taken place at the Airbus factory in Toulouse.  To quote:

Airbus is undertaking repairs to a British Airways Airbus A350-1000 after the twinjet was damaged during the final stages of the production process.

The aircraft suffered an “incident”, the airframer confirms, although it has not disclosed the nature of the event or the location of the damage.

Airbus says it is “working with the customer” with the aim of delivering the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft in December.

FlightGlobal understands, from a source familiar with the situation, that the A350-1000 was parked in a paint shop and sustained surface damage from one of the many pieces of equipment that surround the aircraft in such facilities.

“Airbus has assured us that the aircraft will be fully repaired and delivered shortly,” says British Airways, without elaborating on the circumstances.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

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Barclaycard Avios card

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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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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.

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

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There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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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.

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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 (163)

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

  • RussellH says:
    25 Nov25 November 10:32

    OT:- Clubcard–>Avios transfers with Shell Drivers Club 40% bonus.

    AIUI, the bonus was payable on transfers of CC vouchers–>BAEC Avios before 31/12/2019.
    But was it limited to just one transfer?

    I transferred from Tesco to Avios in October and got an extra 40% avios five days later..
    I transferred another batch from Tesco to Avios earlier this month, but no bounus over two weeks later.
    Should I be complaining, or did I misunderstand the offer?
    If a complaint is due, is it to Tesco or to BAEC?

    Many thanks

    • EwanG says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:04

      I’ve looked at my account and I’ve had the bonus for the first 2 transfers, but not (yet) for the 3rd. So it looks as though it is not limited to one transfer.
      1st transfer: bonus appeared 9 working days after transfer.
      2nd transfer: bonus 30 working days after transfer
      3rd transfer: 10 working days so far, waiting on bonus.
      I don’t know how long they said the bonus points will take – or if you need them urgently – but I would be confident they will come through in time.

    • Liz says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:10

      It’s payable on multiple transactions. Ive done 5 transactions so far. First one paid out within the month timescale, 2nd one was a few days afterwards the month, 3rd one was a about 2 wks after the month. 4th due to post this week and 5th mid Dec. They seem to be doing them in batches and everyone gets them together. Last ones posted on 24/10. So hold tight – they should post soon.

      • RussellH says:
        25 Nov25 November 15:42

        Thanks both.

        I looked back at my account and saw that I misread the dates; the first transaction posted on 24 Aug with the bonus following on 12 Sept.
        My second transaction actually posted 30 Oct, so clearly no need to worry yet.

        Thanks again.

  • r* says:
    25 Nov25 November 11:21

    Anyone know how to find out how many stays are needed to retain diamond next year on Hiltons site?

    It used to be shown on account overview but the awful new resigned site seems to have got rid of it?

    • Tom H says:
      25 Nov25 November 13:00

      30?

    • fivebobbill says:
      25 Nov25 November 14:18

      I’ve been trying to get this information as well. Maybe over simplifying thing, but if it’s 40 to reach Gold, and 60 to Diamond, if you are already Diamond, would it not make it 20 to retain?

      • TGLoyalty says:
        25 Nov25 November 15:24

        No to retain the tier you need to earn the number of stays or nights in the year

        Gold requires 40 nights or 20 stays
        Diamond requires 60 nights or 30 stays

        its pretty easy to see on the app just click the wheel and then the tier you are looking for an it will tell you how many nights or stays you need

    • John says:
      25 Nov25 November 16:16

      You just have to use the app until they fix this stupid issue of their own design

  • John says:
    25 Nov25 November 11:26

    OT – Lots of discussion about Curve and debit/credit card payments.
    We all know that the standard fee for a Mastercard/Visa credit card is 0.3% within Europe for the entity who is getting the payment (End vendor or Curve).

    I can’t find anywhere on the web the fee for a debit card payment, I actually though this was 0.3% too – or is it lower?

  • ankomonkey says:
    25 Nov25 November 11:31

    I heard the painter was a forgetful soul and painted Virgin Atlantic on the BA jet. Virgin tend to have a human image painted on their planes too. This painter painted SRB himself on the fuselage and both wing underbellies for visibility from the ground. Each image was a different pose.

    • ankomonkey says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:31

      We have the ‘floss’, the ‘dab’ and the ‘booty bounce’.

    • BJ says:
      25 Nov25 November 12:01

      I just heard Banksy sneeked in and emblazoned the tail with a portrait of Boris and painted the fuselage red with £350 million splattered across it.

  • will says:
    25 Nov25 November 11:56

    OT BA lounge access. 5 of us travelling long haul economy, 1 gold and 2 silvers in the group.
    Any chance of being waived through to Gold lounge at T5 for all of us?

    • Rob says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:59

      No, realistically.

    • Lady London says:
      25 Nov25 November 19:14

      One person will be left behind as Gold gets 1 guest but Silver gets none – so you can take 4. If you’re all adults then they will be geared up to say no. But if one of you is a child there’s just a chance if you smile sweetly.

      In T5 stay out of Aspire though – you’ll need to find a way for the remaining 1/2 to use the Plaza Premium.

      • will says:
        25 Nov25 November 22:03

        I’m not sure I understand what you mean there. Gold holder can take 1 guest into F lounge, Silver card holder can take 1 guest into bus lounge.

        So 1 gold and 2 silvers can either get 2 people into an F lounge and 4 people into a Business lounge or 6 people into a business lounge, assuming all oneworld ticketed of course (which we will be as same flight).

        There are a

        • Lady London says:
          27 Nov27 November 14:16

          Uh….I thought Silver got no guests.
          Pleased for the poster, if you are correct.

  • SteveD says:
    25 Nov25 November 12:05

    OT, Bonvoy.

    MrsD has ‘earn up to 18k for 6 stays (6k after first 2, 6k for next 2, etc), until end Feb.’
    Much more generous than ‘Unlock More’ for which she didn’t register.
    Existing bookings seem to count. I don’t have it so it’s probably targeted.

    Also we both seem to have had about 1600 points credited as a bonus. Given we have different levels of activity on our accounts (I have almost nothing except transfers in and out), I can’t think what this is for. Anyone else got these? Don’t want to query it…..

    • BJ says:
      25 Nov25 November 12:15

      Some have reported getting 20k for one stay.

    • Grant says:
      25 Nov25 November 12:20

      My wife has the same, whereas I have a more generous 7,500 bonus after first stay and 15,000 bonus after second stay – also valid until end of Feb. Might be worth a matress run.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      25 Nov25 November 15:25

      i have a measly 8k after 4 stays – got 1 paid stay but not going to chase another 3.

      Just stay wherever is the best deal at the time

  • sohan says:
    25 Nov25 November 12:32

    Do the Groupon deals ever work with any coupon code?

    I’m going to try the Irish site, has good reviews

  • Kurt says:
    25 Nov25 November 13:41

    OT: months ago went for the Economist with Avios deal. So far after 3 months Avios not credited to my account and 10 emails to Economist subs all yield the same response (we are checking with relevant department) Anyone have similar experience? thanks.

    • KevMc says:
      25 Nov25 November 13:57

      Yep; I’m still waiting myself. Only chased them last week though so only 1 email in 🙂

    • mark2 says:
      25 Nov25 November 14:00

      I got mine in a very short time, twice. But they did reclaim one lot.

      • BJ says:
        25 Nov25 November 14:21

        Did you pay in CAN$, and did you do anything about the reclaimed one Mark? I’ve never bought avios at more than 0.5p before but I’m tempted to buy via Canada after the election when I expect the £ will see a sharp rise if Boris gets a working majority.

        • mark2 says:
          25 Nov25 November 16:38

          No, I paid in £ as I was buying the paper rather than Avios.

        • Harry T says:
          25 Nov25 November 17:12

          @BJ or the pound could crash? I’m considering buying 35,000 Avios from the GroupOn.ie store, wondering what the exchange rate might do. Currently you’d pay 1.047p per Avios.

          • BJ says:
            25 Nov25 November 17:49

            I think it will rise because I think BoJo will get a working majority. That means stability which the markets like so I expect £ to bounce. Btw, did you see comment I left for you in the Atlanta a350 article?

          • Harry T says:
            25 Nov25 November 20:57

            @BJ no I didn’t – will check! Thanks.

            The Ireland GroupOn deal expires on the 15th December, so I’ll trust your better judgement and wait to buy then.

          • BJ says:
            25 Nov25 November 21:01

            @Harry T, those deals are limited and packages disappear quickly so you cannot really sit around waiting for currency movements. Personally I would not consider buying at this price except perhaps if I was using a 241 in F or CW at peak times exINV, or if I had a use for tgen like Shoestring for frequent RFS flights.

          • Harry T says:
            25 Nov25 November 21:03

            @Bj – thanks, duly noted. Was planning a small top up to help with 241 but in reality will probably be fine without it.

          • BJ says:
            25 Nov25 November 21:08

            @Harry T, don’t trust my judgement, I thought there was zero chance we would vote to leave the EU, even when polling indicated it was a possibility!

          • Harry T says:
            25 Nov25 November 21:18

            @BJ the Leave vote shocked me too, don’t worry about that. I’m hoping Scotland don’t leave the UK too… Though my Scottish partner can perhaps get me a green card if Scotland then joins the EU ;).

      • Michael says:
        25 Nov25 November 14:26

        Likewise, I thought I’d managed to bag a sneaky 15,000 Avios but disappointingly they were reclaimed a few days ago.

    • Simon says:
      25 Nov25 November 14:46

      Same as markc for me, mine came through twice in a short time (less than a month) but then they reclaimed one lot.

    • Pierre says:
      25 Nov25 November 14:50

      I took out an Economist sub in Sept, and the avios credited my BA account without any issues, just over 3 weeks later.

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

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