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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.


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 (115)

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

  • John says:

    OT – from early 2020 oyster deposits will not be refundable for one year. Anyone using this for amex spend generation, you have a few weeks left

  • BS says:

    OT: is there any way to use contactless on TFL using Amex to top oyster up? Are there any machines which offer both contactless and chip and pin? Wanting to boost credit with 10% Amex offer…

    • John says:

      No

    • ahop says:

      Liverpool Street (main train station concourse) has some, so does Bromley South.

      • Bs says:

        I’m not sure these count as tfl…

        • Lumma says:

          Yeah, the Liverpool Street ones say Greater Anglia on bank statements. I’m not certain but I thought the London Overground machines let you pay contactlessly.

          I’d still doubt it would work as they’re clearly wanting people to use contactless to pay instead of using Oyster cards. You could argue for a manual 10% back as it’s not clear in the terms though

          • John says:

            Only Visa and MC work with the contactless reader, Amex doesn’t.

            The offer is only coded to work with TFL TRAVEL CHARGE and not when you pay at a machine.

    • Mike says:

      I also use my Amex card to pay for my Oyster card top up, every ticket machine seems to take it as a credit card payment

  • Tonei Glavinic says:

    On searching for logic in Bonvoy: the non-Asia list looks like all of the pre-merger SPG brands, no?

  • Anon says:

    OT: Any corporate or travel rate cards for Shangri-la? They’re fairly easy to find for other chains.

  • Shoestring says:

    Anybody using Airtime Rewards? It’s a mobile phone app that gives you rewards for shopping at their selected retailers (who include Waitrose & Morrisons). You link a Visa or Mastercard then just shop – no need to shop through the app. The reward is on top of any points you get from the credit card. It’s paid in the form of a monthly credit against your mobile bill (incl 3, Vodafone, EE, O2, GiffGaff).

    I presume the reward is pretty low, ie a fraction of 1% of your shopping bill. They must have promotions, because the current reward for shopping at Morrisons over £30 is 10% of your bill.

    Would be a way of double dipping on a card such as Virgin.

    • Shoestring says:

      tech start-up – they earn their money from the retailers – eg they have increased no of younger customers using Debenhams by 22% and user spend in store is 20% higher than normal as well

      so it’s about improving consumer demographic and incentivising spend – plenty of retailers happy to pay for that (and all can be proven via the mobile & credit card, ie presence in store + purchase value + age of user)

      but of course they need to recruit users to prove it all, now is a good time to sign up methinks (same as the silly promotions with Monese)

    • mark2 says:

      I have registered a few cards and earned a small amount, but it is Visa and Mastercard only. Since there have been frequent Amex 10% cash back (20% at all big supermarkets recently) I have not bothered with Morrison’s where I only buy gift cards and petrol.

    • Jtz says:

      Yes I mentioned this a while back but I think the comment got deleted, they regularly offer bonuses for retailers and referrals too

  • Gary says:

    OT If I’m VS silver and flying with friends who aren’t VS silver, do any of the benefits share? As in can we all join the premium check in line (and will they give premium baggage), premium boarding

  • Tamara says:

    OT: Does anyone know any newsagents in city where I can top up Oyster with Amex? Cheers

    • Tamara says:

      Thank you, that’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.

      • Sloth says:

        Is getting harder and harder to find ones which will still do it tho. Most refuse claiming they only take cash….the one in CW is always good though

  • rams1981 says:

    OT tandem MasterCard rates.
    They drop them over weekends. I hadn’t realised so got 1.18 rather than 1.2 on a transaction made on Friday that settled later.

    Always been like this?

    https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html

    • TGLoyalty says:

      The rate always the one when it is actually posted to your account rather than the rate when the transaction is made if that is what you mean?

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

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