Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

MASSIVE AVIOS SALE: 50% off ALL long-haul flights, 25% off short-haul and it works with a 241

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British Airways has launched what is possibly the biggest Avios flight sale it has ever run.

All long haul flights, in all classes, are half price. Well, half points anyway.

Full details are on this special page of ba.com.

Avios 50% discount sale

This is what you need to know:

  • ALL long-haul redemptions (all routes, all travel classes) are reduced by 50%
  • ALL short-haul redemptions (all routes, both travel classes) are reduced by 25%

Here are the key dates:

  • You must book by 13th October
  • You must travel between now and 30th June 2021
  • Full taxes and charges are due
  • The discount is valid on both one-way and return flights
  • The discount only applies to British Airways flights and not partner airlines

Can this offer be combined with a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 or Lloyds voucher?

YES. Well, with an Amex 241 anyway.

British Airways told me that it doesn’t, but it does!

This may or may be an error. The small print does say that ‘vouchers’ are excluded.

British Airways Gatwick Airport

Should I cancel and rebook existing redemptions?

This is a tricky question.

For existing long haul bookings:

Clearly there are HUGE savings to be made if you cancel existing Avios long-haul redemptions and rebook them. You’d be crazy not to, to be honest, if it meant saving 50,000 to 100,000 Avios per booking.

(Do NOT do this with a Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher. As far as I know, these are still lost if you cancel a redemption flight which uses one.)

You need to be careful, however.

If you have enough Avios to make a fresh booking and didn’t use a 2-4-1 voucher, you don’t have any risk. You can make a new booking and then cancel your original at your convenience.

(Remember that, if you cancel online, you can only receive a Future Travel Voucher. This involves wrapping up the Avios, cash and any companion voucher in a voucher. You do NOT get the Avios, cash or companion voucher back in your accounts but you don’t pay any cancellation fees. Alternatively, you can ring BA, pay the £35 per person cancellation fee and get the Avios, cash and any voucher back directly.)

If you don’t have enough Avios to rebook, or need your 2-4-1 voucher back first, you are in a trickier position.

You need to call BA, trigger a Future Travel Voucher (which usually arrives within a few minutes, but isn’t guaranteed) and then call British Airways to rebook.

You should assume that your original seats will NOT go back into redemption availability. Only do this if you can see enough fresh seats available for the dates you want and you are willing to take the risk of them disappearing before you can rebook.

Half price Avios bookings

For existing short haul bookings:

For short haul, however, I don’t think it is worth the effort. The cancellation fees will outweigh a 25% Avios saving. Cancelling for a Future Travel Voucher and then rebooking to avoid cancellation fees is a bit of a faff for a modest return, even if seats are available.

Is there a special offer to buy Avios if I’m short?

No, unfortunately not. The 50% bonus promotion ended last week and I imagine there is no chance of a new offer before 13th October.

If you are happy to pay full price (1.6p per Avios plus a £15 handling fee), you can buy Avios via this page of ba.com.

Be careful not to get carried away ….

This is an exceptionally good offer. Offering 50% off all long haul flights, to all destination and in all classes, is not something you see every day.

However …. if you end up not flying the tickets you book, you will be paying £35 per person to cancel or taking a Future Travel Voucher, which comes with its own complications when you come to rebook (no name changes etc). Book with care.

Click here to visit the special sale page of ba.com and find out more.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (May 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 Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express Credit Card

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 Credit Card

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 Card

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.

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

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 (712)

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

  • Chris says:

    Lots of SYD availability even in first; certainly in may 2021 anyway…

    • John says:

      Wouldn’t bet on being able to go to SYD in May 2021 unless you’re Australian or Kiwi

      • Chris says:

        Besides the 700 or so pounds out of my account for a few months it wont cost me anything to cancel…

  • Mike Lo says:

    Ow im excited, although my partner is tired of me talking about holidays lols

  • MattB says:

    Gutted as just booked in F for next Aug, would happily cancel and rebook but June cutoff no use for us, and do we really think travel will be viable anyway?

  • Azlozi says:

    Anyone know if you can fly an inbound leg after the 30th June travel deadline? (E.G. travel out on the 28th June, back early July)

    • Vit says:

      No, just tried doing that. 50%-off cut off by 30th June for both outbound and inbound flights.

  • David says:

    If I already have a long haul 241 booking is it best to cancel it and try rebook it myself? Will the reward seats release immediately back into the pool? Or would it be best to call BA to get it rebooked at the sale price?

    • David says:

      Sorry nevermind, I just read the article fully, went to the comments section too quickly as I was too excited!

    • Anna says:

      No guarantee whatsoever that your seats will re-appear. It’s a gamble.

  • Anna says:

    I could have used this offer for my Easter Plan B, but there’s no award availability to SEZ, MLE, BGI, or any of my other options!

  • Doug says:

    Not working for south africa…

    • Rahaney says:

      True, CW/first reward flights there are definitely unicorn like! Got 2 WTP+ looking to upgrade for a honeymoon!

  • Anna says:

    Do we think holidays to Dubai/Abu Dhabi will be on the cards at Easter? At this point I’ll settle for a nice hotel and guaranteed sunshine!

    • meta says:

      You can still go to Dubai. 96h covid test on the way in and another to be done in Dubai very easily before going back. I don’t mind doing private covid tests.

      Abu Dhabi on the other hand not so sure. I have Etihad F apartments booked in January, but doubt Abu Dhabi will forgo quarantine, so have booked one way back from Dubai just now just in case.

      I am thinking of rebooking two other trips on 241’s next year, but on some routes only 2 F /CW seats left. I am in a bit of dilemma whether to get avios back first or use another voucher (have far too many!) to book the seats, but forgo 5 months of validity on one voucher. I am inclined not to give BA £70 in change fees and leave it as it is. It gives me more flexibility anyway and this is the most important now.

      • Anna says:

        It’s typical, there is loads of availability to AUH but very little to DBX! I wish BA had done this offer even a month later, I am not quite ready to cancel JFK out and GCM back yet!

        • meta says:

          Why not book a backup? Is it because you don’t have enough vouchers/Avios?

          I am seeing loads of CW/F availability up to 25 March and then some from 3 April.

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

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