British Airways drops Flight Pass and will refund existing pass holders
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
British Airways has decided to close Flight Pass, its ‘bulk buy’ discount scheme for regular travellers.
We have covered Flight Pass a few times, most recently here.
Flight Pass allowed you to buy route passes for economy travel on flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and City.
It was managed on behalf of British Airways via a company called OptionTown. You could not buy a Flight Pass directly from British Airways.
Flight Pass was only available for economy flights. There were multiple permutations based on:
- how many people would share your pass, up to six
- how many tickets you wanted to pre-pay
- whether you wanted it for a specific city or a whole country
- what expiry date you are willing to accept and
- how close to the date of travel you wanted to book
Here is a Flight Pass in practice
At one extreme, you could buy 12 one-way flights between Heathrow and Newcastle for £821, so £68 each. This includes taxes.
To get this price, you had to book all the flights within three months AND you must have booked for travel 90 days in advance. The only person who could use the Flight Pass was the original purchaser. This is obviously very restrictive but would work for a weekly commuter to London.
Taking another example, 12 one-way tickets, shared between two people with 12 months to use them and booked 30 days in advance, would have cost £893, so £74 per seat.
‘Real’ flexibility came at a cost. If you insisted on being able to book your Newcastle flight four hours before departure – instead of 30 days – the price shot up to £165 per seat each-way.
The net result was always the same, however. Your flight price was fixed, irrespective of what a ticket was selling for on the day you booked. You could pay for your pass in instalments.
A number of readers had significant issues with Flight Pass and OptionTown during coronavirus, usually linked to an unwillingness to extend the life of passes and the difficulty in getting refunds for booked but cancelled flights.
British Airways now appears to want to draw a line under the entire episode. If you have outstanding coupons, you have the option of cashing them in for a pro-rata refund. No new passes will be sold.
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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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.
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.
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 (19)