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.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

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)

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 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.


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 (62)

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

  • Terry S says:

    Checked in yesterday 1230 at T5 & galleries was open – we were in there from 1300 to 1350 and there was no sign of it closing. We were not directed to first lounge as previous articles have suggested

    • Rob says:

      They are keeping the Club lounge open until 5pm now on busier days.

      • Lady London says:

        Oh, bugg*r for those who might have been rerouted to the better lounge in the afternoons previously

  • Aliks says:

    Hmm I’ve been trying for 2 days to phone BA and book a flight using vouchers from a flight cancelled in June.

    Sadly BA are too busy to take my call – is there a better number than 0800 727800?

  • pablo says:

    One can bag BA silver for £600 by flying 3 returns to Corfu in CE

    • Aliks says:

      I know, I know, but we were redeeming 241s and Lloyds vouchers for business class on all longhaul. For European flights buyng business class with avios was cost effective compared to earning our way up to Silver.

    • Tony G says:

      Top tip.

  • Nick G says:

    Slightly OT – Anyone been to the Balearics last two weeks of October before in terms of weather wise?

    • roberto says:

      Should be ok, warm with not much chance of rain. Canaries would be warmer with even less chance of rain.

    • Elaine Ng says:

      Ibiza last year last week of October totally dry amd weather pleasantly warm 26°C in the day but sea was a bit chilly and probably would have found un heated pool a bit cool. Went with a toddler though so suited us as he just paddles.

      • Colin says:

        Ibiza should be good now that the usual crowd are less likely to be there

      • KAREN DUFFIELD says:

        We went to Ibiza first week of October dreadful cold and went I would consider going a bit earlier

    • Erico1875 says:

      Balearics hit or miss mid Oct onwards. Normally sunny but Pools too cold. Had a tornado abt 10 years ago when in Palma Nova

  • Ross says:

    I’ve just booked a few days in Tuscany (LHR3-PSA rtn) in October half-term, to take my young son to see the learning tower, and sneak in a bit of culture in Florence. The interesting buildings are good to look at from street level even if there are COVID access restrictions. He’s too young to climb the campanile anyway. I am now really hoping that either the Cathay lounge or the Quantus lounge in LHR3 will be open for breakfast by October – it’s an 0820 departure. What are the chances?

    • Qrfan says:

      Qantas t3 only opened at 8am anyway so unless they change the opening hours you won’t get in there for your flight (had the same issue myself last year). Wouldn’t like to put money on Cathay being open by October but if it is it opens earlier for breakfast so that’s your best bet.

    • ChrisC says:

      Is this BA? Always good to give the airline not just the route.

      If it is BA they may not have started operating from T3 by then (heck T3 May just not be open full stop) so expect the T5 lounges.

      • Ross Parker says:

        Yes it’s BA (posted on the BA Flash sale thread, after all). The site made a point of telling me that it was a T3 departure, and that shows in Manage My Booking. I think the summer/winter schedule change may happen just before, ie mid-October?

    • Harry T says:

      I’m sorry to say that I doubt BA will be flying from T3 again by Oct. Probably best to ignore whatever plane or terminal you’re promised when booking. BA will not be flying at capacity that justifies opening T3, by October, and equipment swaps are common at the moment too, I imagine.

      • Ross says:

        Okay, thanks Harry. I’ll be sure to check the departure terminal the day before.

  • Colin says:

    I was tempted by Barcelona but just saw that whilst they’re not going into anything resembling lockdown, there are restrictions. Sounds like I’d have a rubbish holiday if I went.

    Oh well.

    • Harry T says:

      Depends what you want to do! If you wanted to sip pina coladas by the pool, I’m sure you’d be fine. But you raise a good point – depending on plans and preferences, visiting European countries this year could be hazardous.

      • AJA says:

        The thing is if they do a local lockdown the pool would probably be one of things to be shut. I agree with Colin and am just not confident enough to think that its worth attempting this year much as I’d like to get away.

  • Tim P says:

    Great deal to Corfu for 10 nights Club with 5* hotel 5* Tripadvisor with Half board £1850 for couple in late September. Seems best deal in sale.

  • Patty says:

    Beware if you book with avios and later want to cancel, BA only gives you the voucher option on the website. I thought the avios will return as usual and the voucher is just the money you paid. BUT NO, the avios is not going back to your account at all! Discovered this the hard way and got avios locked in to be used for the next avios booking only. No disclosure this is the case on BA website of course.

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

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