Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get a bargain in the British Airways summer flash sale – flights from £24.99, holidays from £199

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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.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

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)

British Airways flash sale

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 On Business 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.


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

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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

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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

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.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 (61)

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

  • Roberto says:

    If you have booked recently and the price has gone down you may be able to rebook at the new lower rate and get a voucher for the old booking. Check the booking with confidence page on the interweb to see if you’re eligible. The voucher can be used to part pay the new booking.

    I saved over £800 today doing just this.

  • Rich Jones says:

    Sharing good news – booked Malaga with car hire last week – £1030 for 4 adults.
    BA introduced a 4th daily flight from LHR since booking… Checked it out to find it is £404 cheaper for the trip. Better arrival time in Malaga as well.
    Telephoned this morning, straight through to be moved for no charge onto new flights and £404 saving! Thanks BA! 👍😊

  • Aston100 says:

    “each way”
    What happened to calling it “one way”?

    • Rob says:

      We have been told by BA not to refer to the fares as ‘one way’, because it implies you can buy them as a one way – which you can’t, in some cases.

      • ChrisC says:

        But to a lot of people each way and one way are the same thing.

        They really should have to advertise the full return fare unless you can actually buy a single sector for the indicated price.

        • Lady London says:

          Each way? just as confusing.

          Implies we’re in a betting shop. “I’ll have £20 each way on the 3.00 p.m flight to Malaga running please”

          • NeilG says:

            £20 each way. Must be betting on one of O’Leary’s horses 😉

        • Lady London says:

          That’s the law. Obviously BA’s lawyers are trying to shade it though. Weasels.

          • jamie says:

            I’m not sure that is the law – more likely that they should be quoting return fares rather than promoting misleading one way headline numbers

  • YH says:

    Amazing. I was about to buy some flights to SPU for £270 a few days ago, just grabbed the same ones for £140.

  • Jay says:

    Was literally about to book a Club return BA Holiday to Gran Canaria for this November for £1,000 each AI. Abandoned booking half way when I saw this article. Wonder if should now wait for another flash sale closer to the time.

  • Darren says:

    Enjoy the sale everyone, as I need a connection from the North I won’t be doubling the trouble and would rather go direct with a LCC. I wonder how many people will also factor this into their plans. Direct is best from now on.

    • Harry T says:

      Agree! Hope you got a refund from EasyJet for the Barcelona flights.

    • Anna says:

      +1 – my next 2 trips are with Easy Jet & Ryanair.

    • Alan says:

      Agree, and BA Holidays website (and low fare finder) only seem to properly work for London departures. Not planning any foreign travel for now anyway, staycation it is!

      • WaynedP says:

        Any good staycation suggestions you can vouch for ?
        Just me and Mrs dP for 5 to 7 nights, driving leisurely from London, so happy to break the journey with an overnight B&B either way.

        • Alan says:

          Not been yet but off to a nice farmhouse in the Boarders next month.

  • babyg says:

    Has the book with confidence changed in the last few days to include the ability to cancel any travel up to 30th April 2021 – 3 days ago it wasn’t like this (i was going to secure a cheap cash booking to Abu Dhabi?) If so this is awesome (hopefully people dont over game the system and ruin it!)

    • EJH says:

      No. You still get a FTV if you cancel outside 24hrs of booking for use before 31 Apr 2022. You cannot opt for a cash refund unless BA cancel your flight.

      • babyg says:

        FTV is fine… i want to book for the f1 in the algarve (october) and the final race in abu dhabi (december) and i would be happy to take an FTV if i choose to cancel… i shall enquire tomorrow!

        • Gavin says:

          Have booked 28 Sept – 5 Oct speculatively to Faro – speculatively one that Portimao is that weekend; speculatively two that they’ll let fans in. Got it 5* with decent flights for £309 each about a week ago. Will check I can’t get it cheaper now!

          • Gavin says:

            Update: I called BA, got straight through. Flights were now around £30 cheaper each so they knocked that off the balance. Now paying £549 all in.

            Worth making the call.

          • Darren says:

            Which hotel was that?

            Should be nice weather then and good luck with admission.

          • Gavin says:

            Pestana Vila Sol Golf & Resort Hotel, Vilamoura
            Double garden view, full breakfast.

            Can’t stand golf but looks very nice and my partner thought it very acceptable (she likes golf even less than me, so this is high praise indeed).

    • yorkieflyer says:

      It is the same “ring of confidence” guarantee if booked with Avios?

  • Charlieface says:

    A non-benefit is a thing which is not a benefit. The word you want is a disbenefit which is something which is actively removing benefit, such as the removal of OB points.

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

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