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British Airways offering ‘overnight bag drop’ at Heathrow Airport

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British Airways is now publicising the fact that you can check in your bags at Heathrow on the day before you fly.

Take a look at this page of ba.com.

Whilst it has only just been added to the website, it appears that this has been quietly offered since last Autumn to anyone who turned up and asked.  British Airways has now decided to make it an official part of its service.

Here are the times it is available, plus times for Gatwick and Edinburgh where it has been offered for a while:

Heathrow Terminal 5 – check-in between 16.00 and 22.00 for flights departing before 13.00 the next day

Heathrow Terminal 3 – service not available

Gatwick South – check-in between 16.00 and 22.00 for flights departing before 13.00 the next day

Edinburgh – check-in between 04.00 and 20.00 (18.00 on Saturdays) for flights departing before 09.30 the next day

It is not available at any other airport at present.  Whether it rolls out further will depend partly on take-up but also on the ability of the airport to handle luggage which is checked in early.

PS.  If you missed it, take a look at our recent article on the top 10 reasons why you may want to apply for the British Airways American Express credit card.


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 (181)

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

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    OT:
    Anyone here got a Hilton status match recently who has had a status match previously? Been reading some people refused due to matched in the last 2x years?

  • Grimz says:

    OT, if I take out the Starwood Amex cc does this then stop me from getting the bonus on Platinum or BA cc.

  • Bazzer says:

    Thanks mainly to this blog I’ve managed to earn enough avíos for a 241 ticket to JNB in first to which I’m very grateful for! I’ve got a question about the lounges at Heathrow if anyone could help please…I have booked our ticket from INV to JNB so I know we will be able to use the lounges on the day of the flight but if I book a separate positioning flight up to INV from LHR for the day before, would we be able to use the lounges in Heathrow the day before as well?

  • U old git says:

    RE Rob, BJ,,Anna, Lady London, and Spaghetti Town and my query about not being able to see the seat map for my 2 4 1 return booking. It was cock up rather than conspiracy! BA had omitted my Amex CVS number, I have just seen my latest statement and they had not taken my payment. I made the booking about 3 weeks ago. Anyway BA has now corrected and the payment has now been taken. They are reissuing the ticket within the next week. With a bit of luck this later payment will also trigger my 3000 Avios bonus from Amex. Thanks for all the advice.

    • Anna says:

      Glad it’s all cleared up – and enjoy the LPGS, sweetie!

    • BJ says:

      A good result then, 3000 aviis plus no nasty shocks at tbe airport. Don’t worry if you don’t have the ticket reissued within a week. It’ll go into a fluid stack that is done in priority order favouring close-in departures. If your flight is a long way off then it may not be reissued for a while given the current situation.

    • Lady London says:

      Glad to hear that. However as it’s a 2-4-1 to Barbados which is a route with higher demand at the front end of the aircraft than some, I would keep a proactive eye on it.

  • BJ says:

    Hyatt card?? Have you stayed at a Hyatt Place? Thinking about giving the one in Bangkok a try this summer.

    • Harry T says:

      @BJ
      Have you tried the W in Bangkok? Planning a couple of nights there in November.

      • BJ says:

        No, have not tried many hotels there as we had a house there until 2016.

      • BJ says:

        Leave an early morning message for John, he’s very knowledgeable on Bangkok hotels. If you’re not too confident about using a taxi then just be sure to get a hotel adjacent to a skytrain or subway. station.

        • Harry T says:

          @BJ
          Thanks – I’ve been to Bangkok before, so I’ll be okay with the taxis 😊.

    • Rob says:

      We reviewed one of the Dubai ones (a new build) and I was impressed.

    • Lady London says:

      Stayed in 2 Hyatt Places in the US and really like the format. Not sure there isn’t a whole lot of nice hotel competition in BKK though.

      • BJ says:

        Yes, spoiled for choice really but pics look good and it’s convenient for BTS. Big bright rooms with lots of windows which is what I like. I don’t like dim beige places, like many hotels are. We could stay with friends who have great houses and condos but my partner prefers to havd his own space which I can understand.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      No Hyatt card in the UK that I know of but people travel around these days 🙂

      I haven’t but it was on the list for Bangkok a couple years back but ended up staying at the Marriot Queen’s Park which was a really nice hotel with a great club lounge.

      • BJ says:

        Thanks, I thought so but just wanted to double check. Yep, that Marriott is probably the most overlooked but possibly one of the better options. A lot of choice now since the merger though.

  • SilverInSix says:

    It’s actually been available at LGW ever since they moved to the south terminal a coupe years back. Tbh I’m surprised it’s taken this long for LHR to get it as obviously LGW is always the poor relation in BA’s eyes.

    For any sceptical or worried I can vouch for it at LGW at least having made use of it several times. You can do it at the self service machines, dedicated bag drop desks or if you’re flying F or J or have Silver / Gold/ OW Sapphire / Emerald then at the dedicated desks in the ‘mini wing’ area

  • Trevor says:

    We have had overnight bag drop at Gatwick Airport for as long as I can remember.

  • Caroline Scott says:

    BA’s twighlight drop off works really well at Edinburgh (as does Ryanair’s) I was slightly nervous our bags would go AWOL. However if you are traveling with a pushchair you need to put in the hold, you either need to drop that off at the same time as your bags or queue for a tag the next day. Just something to factor into timings. Same policy for both airlines, assume it is a security feature.

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

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