Last day for the BA and Virgin Atlantic sales – and the 30% ‘buy Avios’ bonus

Today, Tuesday, is the last day for the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Winter sales. If you are feeling confident about travel opening up for the Summer, now may be a good time to jump in.

British Airways sale deals:

British Airways Holidays has launched some additional discounts for last minute bookers.

If you book a ‘flight and hotel’ or ‘flight and car’ package, you can make the following savings. The total price below is per booking and not per person:

Flight & Hotel:

• Save £50 when you spend £1,250
• Save £100 when you spend £2,500
• Save £200 when you spend £5,000
• Save £300 when you spend £10,000

Flight & Car:

• Save £25 when you spend £650
• Save £50 when you spend £1,250
• Save £100 when you spend £2,500

Looking for a flight only deal?

We covered some of the best flight options in the British Airways sale in this article from mid December. It is worth a look if you are seeking inspiration. Club Europe to Malaga is as low as £168 return!

‘Book with Confidence’ has been extended – now no date limit

British Airways has removed all date limits from its ‘Book with Confidence’ guarantee. See our article here.

However far in advance you book, you have the right to cancel your flight or holiday for a British Airways ‘Future Travel Voucher’ at any point.

If you missed the news last week, a ‘Future Travel Voucher’ is now valid until 30th April 2023, not 30th April 2022 as originally promised.

Full details of ‘Book with Confidence’ are on ba.com here.

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, the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard or the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard.

Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

You can search and book flight deals on this page of ba.com. BA Holidays offers can be found here.

Virgin Atlantic sale deals:

Virgin Atlantic has also rolled out some additional deals for the last day of the sale.

Virgin Atlantic Holidays (website here) is offering up to 10% additional discount on ‘flight and hotel’ bookings made by midnight tonight.

It is valid for travel up to 30th June 2022 for people who like to plan a long way ahead. The discount varies and applies to the total excluding Air Passenger Duty and other charges.

You need to use code SAVEUPTO10 when booking here.

Looking for a flight only deal?

The sale page of the Virgin Atlantic website is here.

Headline prices include:

Upper Class:

• Tel Aviv £1,139
• Jamaica £1,179
• New York £1,199
• San Francisco £1,495
• Islamabad (Manchester) £1,689

Premium:

• Jamaica £599
• Los Angeles £619
• Delhi £639
• Mumbai £639
• Orlando £700

Economy:

• New York JFK £269
• Tobago £319
• Washington £399
• Johannesburg £419
• Islamabad (Manchester) £429

Don’t forget the Virgin Atlantic status match!

Virgin Atlantic is currently running a status match for anyone with Gold, Silver or Bronze status in British Airways Executive Club.

As long as you have a Virgin Atlantic flight booked, Virgin Flying Club will match your BA status.

Gold get Gold, whilst BA Bronze and Silver receive Virgin Flying Club Silver.

You can claim your match on the Virgin Atlantic site here. Our full article on the Virgin Flying Club status match, which includes the detailed rules, is here.

Matches are being turned around very quickly, often within 48 hours.

Finally ….. last day for a 30% bonus when you buy Avios

British Airways has been running another ‘buy Avios’ bonus promotion which ends today.

We haven’t made too much of a fuss over it because, at 30%, it is a very weak bonus compared to the 50% offers that come along occasionally.

There is NO good reason to buy speculatively with a 30% bonus. Of course, if you are planning to make a booking in the next few weeks and need to top up your account, it is 30% better than nothing.

There is no minimum purchase.  The bonus kicks in with the smallest 1,000 Avios transaction. 

The link to buy is here. The offer ends tonight, 2nd February.

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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.