Get a bargain in the British Airways Summer Flash Sale – flights from £24.99, holidays from £199

British Airways has launched a Summer Flash Sale.  It offers savings on both flights and holiday packages with flights within Europe from as low as £24.99 each way!

There are some decent prices and you have until Thursday 23rd July to book.

You can see all deals available here.

What are the BA sale flight prices?

You can find a number of very good sale fares flying in Club Europe (business) or Euro Traveller (economy) to Malaga, Ibiza and Corfu amongst other places.

Here are some ‘lead-in’ prices in Club Europe (note these are each-way!)

Malaga £99.99

Corfu £119.99

Ibiza £119.99

Mallorca £119.99

Here are some ‘lead in’ prices for Euro Traveller flights:

Malaga £25

Corfu £30

Ibiza £30

Mallorca £30

Barcelona £55

Rome £63

Marseille £40

Nice £45

Athens £91

Valencia £52

Palermo £42

Pisa £59

Split £74

These are all each-way prices based on a seven day return trip flying from London Heathrow.

For peak season travel to peak tourist destinations, these are excellent prices if you can be flexible with your dates.

Remember that, under the BA ‘Book With Confidence’ guarantee, you can cancel your flight at any time, for any reason, for a British Airways voucher.  This applies to bookings made by 31st August for travel by 30th April 2021.  The voucher must be used for a flight which is taken by 30th April 2022.

BA Holidays has discounted holidays and city breaks

BA Holidays has also got in on the act with a selection of ‘flight and hotel’ packages based around these new flight deals.

The key thing to know about BA Holidays is that – due to the weird world of airline pricing – booking a flight and hotel, or flight and car hire, together can often work out cheaper than just booking a flight itself.

These are the ‘lead in’ deals in the current sale.  The travel dates are in September and the pricing based on a seven night stay.

Club Europe (Business) – Flights plus 7 nights hotel

Corfu from £709 per person – for travel between 6th and 19th September

Ibiza from £639 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

Mallorca from £469 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

Malaga from £487 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

There are also great holiday deals in combination with Economy flights. Here are the ‘lead in’ deals for Euro Traveller:

Euro Traveller (Economy) – Flights plus 7 nights hotel

Corfu from £199 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

Ibiza from £257 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

Mallorca from £199 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

Malaga from £199 per person – for travel between 14th and 30th September

‘Flight and car’ packages are available from as little as £99 per person.

Booking a BA Holidays package also gives you additional protection in case there are any issues with your flights or hotel, due to the strong legally-binding ATOL scheme.

Remember that, under the BA Holidays coronavirus guarantee, if you book a holiday before 31st August 2020 for travel up to 30th April 2021, you can amend your booking for free (just pay the difference in price) or cancel it and get a voucher for travel up until 30th April 2022.

(The Flight + Hotel prices are still being updated on ba.com, so you might need to click through to the search results screen to see the most up to date sale offers)

Free lounge access with Economy flights

Customers booking a European ‘flight plus hotel’ or ‘flight plus car’ package during this flash sale will also enjoy complimentary airport lounge access at Heathrow Terminal 5 if spending £1,000+ per person.

You and everyone on your booking will be given access to the Galleries Club lounge.  However, if you are travelling when Galleries Club is closed (it is not currently open all day) you will be upgraded to the Galleries First lounge instead.

This benefit is only for new bookings made between 16th and 23rd July for travel between 1st August and 30th September 2020.

Other little known benefits of booking with BA Holidays ….

Just pay a deposit now

As usual with BA Holidays you don’t have to pay in full when booking. You can secure the deal with a small deposit, and then pay the balance five weeks before departure. This is a substantial extra benefit compared to just booking flights.

You get a degree of cancellation flexibility

If you only pay the deposit now, you can walk away from your booking at any point up to three weeks before departure, which is when the final payment is due. You will lose your deposit but that is an excellent outcome compared to having to walk away from pre-paid non-refundable flights.

That said, as long as the ‘Book With Confidence’ guarantee is still in place, you would also have the option of making the final payment and then cancelling the entire holiday for a British Airways voucher valid until April 2022.

Bonus Avios

You earn a bonus 1 Avios per £1 you spend when booking with BA Holidays. You can find out more on ba.com here.

This bonus is on top of the Avios and tier points you will earn from the flights which are the same as you would get for booking a ‘flight only’, and from your credit card. Remember that BA Holidays spending earns you double Avios (3 per £1) if you charge it to a British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

A non-benefit – no OnBusiness points

The only downside of using BA Holidays is that the flights do not earn On Business points in BA’s small business loyalty scheme.

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays.  You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card.  Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

The BA flash sale page is here.   Remember that you need to book by midnight on 23rd July 2020.

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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:

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

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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

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.