FINAL CALL: Get a bargain in the British Airways spring sale

This article is sponsored by British Airways

Tomorrow – the 22nd – is your last chance to book in the British Airways Spring Sale.

You can book ahead until early 2022, with good savings on both flights and holiday packages. Club Europe flights within Europe are as low as £76 each way – this article looks at the cheapest 160 tier-point routes.

There are some decent prices and you have until midnight tomorrow to book.

You can see all deals available on the sale section of ba.com here.

What are the BA sale flight prices?

You can find a number of very good sale fares flying in Club Europe and Club World (business class) or World Traveller (economy class).

Here are some ‘lead-in’ prices in Club Europe (each-way)

For selected outbound travel dates between 1st November 2021 and 13th March 2022, for trips including a Saturday night stay:

• Malaga from £88
• Palma from £88
• Pisa from £76
• Nice from £98
• Barcelona from £87

This article looked at good tier point run opportunities.

Here are some ‘lead in’ prices for Club World flights:

For selected outbound travel dates which vary by destination (see this page of ba.com for exact dates by route) for return flights.

• Orlando from £1,595
• Tampa from £1,595
• Miami from £1,595
• New York from £1,295
• San Francisco from £1,495
• Los Angeles from £1,495
• Tel Aviv from £1,099
• Dubai from £1,299

…. and some of the lead-in prices for World Traveller

For selected outbound travel dates which vary by destination (see this page of ba.com for exact dates by route) for return flights.

• Miami from £339
• New York from £329
• San Francisco from £348
• Los Angeles from £348
• Tel Aviv from £269
• Dubai from £341
• Antigua from £368
• St Lucia from £428

Use ‘Part Pay With Avios’ for additional savings

There are improved ‘Part Pay With Avios’ offers running throughout the sale period.

Our most recent review of ‘Part Pay With Avios’ is here and explains when ‘Part Pay With Avios’ makes sense.

The exact discount you will see varies by route, but it is always worth looking at the numbers. You can often get 1p per Avios for using a small quantity to pay for part of your booking.

‘Book with Confidence’ is still running

Remember that, under the British Airways ‘Book With Confidence’ guarantee, you can cancel your flight at any time, for any reason, for a British Airways ‘Future Travel Voucher’. 

This applies to bookings for travel by 30th April 2022.  The voucher must be used for a flight which is taken by 30th April 2023.

If your flight is cancelled by British Airways for any reason, you will receive a full cash refund. Based on my own experience from a cancellation last month, you will have your money within a couple of days of requesting it – there appear to be no delays in processing refunds at present.

British Airways Holidays has discounted holidays and city breaks

British Airways Holidays has also got in on the act with a selection of ‘flight and hotel’ and ‘flight and car’ packages.

The key thing to know about British Airways Holidays is that booking a flight and hotel, or flight and car hire, together can offer better value than booking each element separately.

These are the ‘lead in’ deals in the current sale.  There are lots of other options available which you can see if you look here.

Club Europe (business) – flights plus hotel

• Amsterdam – three nights at the 4* Xo Hotels Park West from £279 pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st January – 31st January 2022

• Lanzarote – seven nights at the 4* Oasis Lanz Beach Mate from £499pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st December – 31st December 2021

Club Europe (business) – flights plus car hire

• Algarve – flights plus seven days rental of a Mini or equivalent from £289 pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st November – 30th November 2021

• Pisa – flights plus seven days rental of a Mini or equivalent from £289 pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st November – 30th November 2021

Euro Traveller (economy) – flights plus hotel

• Corfu – seven nights at the 4* Corfu Holiday Palace from £359pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st October – 31st October 2021 inclusive

• Algarve – seven nights at the 4* Natura Algarve Club from £359pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st October – 31st October 2021

Club World (business) – flights plus hotel

• New York – four nights at the 4* Hotel Mela Times Square from £1,319pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st January – 31st January 2022

• Miami – four nights at the 4* Riu Plaza Miami Beach from £1,659pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st November – 30th November 2021

• Dubai – three nights at the 4* Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Mall Of The Emirates from £1,239pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st September – 30th September 2021

Club World (business) – flights plus car hire

• San Francisco – flights plus seven days rental of an intermediate class car from £1,499 pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st November – 30th November 2021

• Miami – flights plus seven days rental of an intermediate class car from £1,599pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st January – 31st January 2022

World Traveller (economy) – flights plus hotel

• Maldives – eight nights at the 5* Curio Collection by Hilton SAii Lagoon from £1099pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st September – 30th September 2021

• New York – three nights at the 3* Pod 51 Hotel from £409pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st January – 31st January 2022

• Las Vegas – three nights, at the 3.5* The STRAT Hotel, Casino and Skypod, from £529pp, travelling on selected dates between 1st February – 28th February 2022

Booking a British Airways 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.

Under the British Airways Holidays coronavirus guarantee, if you book a holiday for travel up to 30th April 2022, 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 2023.

Other little known benefits of booking with British Airways Holidays ….

Just pay a deposit now

As usual with British Airways 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 three weeks before departure. This is a substantial extra benefit compared to just booking flights.

As we covered last week, British Airways Holidays has recently reduced the minimum deposit required. You can pay as little as £60 per person.

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 2023.

Bonus Avios

You earn a bonus 1 Avios per £1 you spend when booking with British Airways 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 British Airways 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 British Airways Holidays is that the flights do not earn On Business points in BA’s small business loyalty scheme.

How to pay for your British Airways sale booking

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.

Conclusion

The British Airways Spring sale home page is here where you can find out more and get your head around what is available. 

Remember that you need to book by midnight tomorrow, 22nd April.