(NOW FIXED) SUN PM: British Airways in new IT meltdown impacting flights and bookings

Whilst it isn’t fully clear what is going on, British Airways is suffering from another major IT meltdown tonight.

ba.com is dead and it is impossible to make or amend bookings.

EDIT: We believe that the back office systems are back on line as at 10pm

Flights have been departing late, although at this point in the evening (9pm) there are only two services left to depart – Newcastle and Abuja.

The call centre IT system is also believed to be down.

We don’t know anything more at this point. For better or worse, with very few departures at present even a huge failure such as this one isn’t going to cost much in terms of revenue and will not cause substantial scheduling issues.

Let’s hope Alex Cruz left his hi-viz vest in head office for Sean Doyle to put on.

PS. A comment below from someone who we know works for BA states that there was another small data breach this week and that it could be linked to this. We obviously cannot verify this.

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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.