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British Airways pilots vote to accept revised pay deal

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The British Airways pilot fleet has voted to accept BA’s revised pay offer.  This removes the threat of further industrial action.  

The vote was reportedly 86.5% in favour, which I found surprising given the hostility towards the deal from a couple of pilots I spoke with.

My understanding is that there is still limited trust in certain commitments given by the airline, although Alex Cruz has agreed to monthly meetings with BALPA.

British Airways pilots accept pay deal

You need to remember that the union had effectively caved in, with the original offer being remarkably similar to the original one which was vehemently rejected at the time. 

The pay rise element of 11.5% has not changed markedly, except for some inflation protection should CPI shoot up.

It is not clear if there will now be adjustments made to the pay deal accepted by cabin crew, since there was an understanding that both groups would receive an equal package.

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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

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

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Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, 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:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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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.

American Express Business Platinum

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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 (114)

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

  • Jonathan says:
    17 Dec17 December 05:32

    Re Marriott Bonvoy points from restaurants, if making a retrospective claim for missing points customer services will only accept the full itemised receipt. I tried a claim using the credit card receipt and my claim was rejected.

  • TGLoyalty says:
    17 Dec17 December 05:33

    The logic is that they are all ex SPG brands where you could earn dining credit without stays with the SPG programme.

  • TimS says:
    17 Dec17 December 05:34

    From the title: “…BA pilots accept pay deal, earning Marriott points from meals without staying,…”

    I expected the pilots to have accepted a better pay deal than just favourable point-earning process! 😉

  • TGLoyalty says:
    17 Dec17 December 05:41

    Thanks BJ. Though a few more mins and the article is up. It’s actually 2k per stay, not as generous as per night, and 10k after 10 nights.

    • BJ says:
      17 Dec17 December 06:02

      Yes, sorry, per stay. That slipped through because I was thinking it was great for one night stays. Time to take advantage of my Hilton amex offers too if I can get all stays charged before 31/12. Let’s see what IHG can do.

  • Thomas Howard says:
    17 Dec17 December 06:02

    “You need to remember that the union had effectively caved in, with the original offer being remarkably similar to the original one which was vehemently rejected at the time.“

    I think the first original offer should be current offer or latest offer or something.

  • Shoestring says:
    17 Dec17 December 06:40

    Looks like the opportunity to buy 150K-300K Avios @under 1p/ point is now fading into the distance, with EUR3601 now translating as £3023 (Iberia, fears of hard Brexit 31/12/2020).

    You had nearly 48hrs window.

  • KBuffett says:
    17 Dec17 December 06:52

    I’m sitting on 1,500,000 HHonors points.
    Any tips or analysis available on where to get the best bang for buck? We are very flexible with travel plans, so more interested in a great experience in a fab property.
    Also notice the 100% points bonus on points purchase ends soon.

    • Neil Donoghue says:
      17 Dec17 December 08:18

      Wow – Do you not fear a devaluation? I would never hold that many avios, let alone Hilton points.

    • Jtz says:
      17 Dec17 December 08:43

      We used ours in Rangali, yes the seaplane costs add up, but the points return we got whilst staying there and paying with Hilton Visa card was roughly half the points back.
      It’s an idyllic escape, 5 nights was more than enough for us. You can also get the overwater villas for the same points as a beach villa, I preferred the beach villa though tbh
      You can also get to MLE from ex EU for about 95k for 2 people one way using krisflyer points
      Stayed at ko samui also for 1 night years back, if you have your own transport it is definitely a nice place to explore.

    • TripRep says:
      17 Dec17 December 09:02

      You can guess my suggestion….

      15nights in the Maldives (=1.14MM)

      Or 5 nights in NYC with plenty left over

  • Mr. AC says:
    17 Dec17 December 07:29

    OT & PSA re the double Avios BA promo that ended Dec 13. I was going through my history and noticed that the bonus for one of the roundtrips was missing. Called the EC hotline: they said yes, likely it’s because I upgraded with POUGs (common problem apparently?). They opened a case for me, points landed after a couple of days. No extra goodwill.
    Check your history, especially if any type of upgrade was involved!

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

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