British Airways agrees to pay for customers stuck in Italy to reach non-Italian airports

If you have any friends or relatives stuck in Italy, pass this on.

A revised BA travel advisory, issued at 1pm today, states that British Airways will now pay the costs of passengers who wish to leave Italy and pick up a British Airways flight elsewhere.

It also applies in reverse, to any Italian resident who is in the UK and unable to return home.

On the – unlikely – chance that you can get through to British Airways, you will be rebooked onto a flight to/from your choice of:

Zurich

Geneva

Grenoble

Innsbruck

Munich

Salzburg

Zagreb

Lyon

Nice

The wording states that:

“Advise the customer that British Airways will reimburse them for any public transport (train, express coach, local bus) costs to travel between the new gateway and their original departure/arrival point in Italy. Receipts will be required and send these through the Customer Relations form in ba.com.”

Given the near impossibility of reaching BA by telephone, I would be tempted to head off for one of the airports above anyway and get your ticket changed on arrival, even if it means you can’t fly for a day or so until a seat opens up.

Rebooking on Alitalia remains an option for passengers.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (February 2023)

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:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 21st February 2023, the sign-up bonus on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card is increased to 35,000 Avios from 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

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.

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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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.