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British Airways launches a new sale – what is worth a look?

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British Airways has launched a new sale, covering short haul routes and the Caribbean.

We will admit that it isn’t the most exciting sale ever launched. A number of restrictions mean your options are limited:

  • Only travel in September is included (1st-30th for Caribbean and Mexico, 13th-30th for European bookings)
  • The sale is mostly on package bookings via BA Holidays eg. flight and car, flight and hotel
  • There don’t seem to be any discounts on Club World or Club Europe flight-only bookings
British Airways launches a new sale

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

You need to book by 3rd August for European deals and 9th August for the Caribbean and Mexico offers.

What are the BA sale flight prices?

As mentioned above, only Euro Traveller (economy) flights are included in the sale if you are just searching for flights.

Here are some ‘lead-in’ prices in Euro Traveller (each-way)

For selected outbound travel dates between 13th and 30th September, for trips including a Saturday night stay:

  • Barcelona from £29
  • Budapest from £38
  • Chania from £36
  • Corfu from £36
  • Lisbon from £37
  • Milan from £34
  • Palma from £26
  • Porto from £31

‘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 World (business) – flights plus hotel

  • Barbados – seven nights at the 4* South Beach Resort breakfast included from £1,699pp, travelling in September. Includes business class (Club World) flights from Heathrow.
  • St Lucia – seven nights at the 4.5* Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort including breakfast from £1,699pp, travelling in September. Includes business class (Club world) flights from Gatwick.
  • Antigua – seven nights at the 4* The Verandah Resort & Spa by Elite on an all inclusive board from £1,999pp. Includes business class (Club world) flights.

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.

British Airways launches a new sale

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.

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 and your deposit will be turned into a Future Travel Voucher for travel until April 2023.

For travel after that date, you sill have a degree of cancellation flexibility. You can cancel 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.

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.

Bonus tier points

In addition to the extra Avios, any BA Holiday bookings for travel between 9th June and 30th September are also eligible for BA’s current double tier points offer. You can read more about this offer in our article here.

Don’t forget that tier point targets have also been reduced by 25% which should make (re)qualifying for Executive Club status even easier.

You can find out more about double tier points on ba.com here.

…. plus lounge access and use of the First Wing

If you don’t already have status you can also get access to the Galleries Club or Galleries First lounges at Heathrow for travel between 9th June and 30th September.

If you spend £1,500 or more on a BA Holidays package you get Fast Track security and Club lounge access.

If you book Club Europe or Club World flights and spend £2,500 per person or more you’ll be able to use The First Wing and access the Galleries First lounge.

You can see the full terms and conditions of this offer on the BA Holidays website here.

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.

British Airways BA A350 inflight

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 directly with an airline.

Conclusion

The British Airways 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 on 3rd August for Europe deals or midnight 9th August for the Caribbean offers.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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

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.

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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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (37)

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

  • Josh says:
    28 Jul28 July 06:30

    Rob why do you think they are doing this? Do you think the continued closure of the US will lead to the further status extension that is so far quiet? A lot of GGL holders with Jan renewal dates feeing worried now but with nowhere to travel. Have you heard anything?

    • Alan says:
      28 Jul28 July 07:24

      I see Delta in the USA just announced a one year status extension, would be good if others followed suit…

      • Andrew says:
        28 Jul28 July 07:50

        I don’t know why BA only gave half of Exec Club members an extension in the last round – they need to give the same for January to June renewals too.

        • Stu N says:
          28 Jul28 July 09:18

          They are going to have to extend again. It’s almost impossible to keep Gold without long haul travel and it’s almost impossible to do long haul travel as things stand. Status doesn’t really cost airlines anything if the status members aren’t flying, remember.

          I’m just booking redemptions unless cash fares are super cheap – zero chance of renewing Gold even at the reduced threshold and we are sitting on a pile of Avios anyway.

    • Rob says:
      28 Jul28 July 09:18

      There is no doubt there will be more extensions.

      • Paul says:
        28 Jul28 July 10:07

        Lets hope so.

        I have just cancelled a trip that would have netted enough tier points for silver and put me in touching distance of gold under the reduced tier points. The consequence of this cancellation and the concerns of extension for people up to April 22, is that
        A. I wont pay for club on short haul as the tier points are now wasted.
        B. I am more likely to try the competition on short haul as, if my status is lost then the focus become lowest fares or best schedule. I have already booked with Iceland air rather BA for October for this reason.

        • Doug M says:
          28 Jul28 July 12:23

          A. You’re buying a better seat space and service.
          B. Why not anyway?
          If status makes you change your behaviour then BA are winning. I say this as someone that knows my own behaviour is heavily influenced by status.

          • Richard G says:
            28 Jul28 July 12:46

            Service may very well be better, but the seat is identical on BA short haul (Club Europe vs Economy).

  • roberto says:
    28 Jul28 July 07:52

    If people here have holidays/flights booked during the sale period I suggest they take a moment to reprice their trip to see if its now cheaper. My Greece trip was £210 less than when I booked it in the last sale.

    Rebooked and applied for a FTV.

    • John Caribbean says:
      28 Jul28 July 08:14

      FTV with the Olympics voucher code needs to be rebooked over the phone, which may be a hassle for some small savings

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:
        28 Jul28 July 11:16

        All FTV needs to be booked over the phone. The ones that work online are eVouchers. The FTV are really just your old booking suspended, I have one with onbusiness points embedded into it which could be a pain to rebook.
        Simple cash only trips are now issued as eVouchers, anything remotely complex is FTV

        • roberto says:
          28 Jul28 July 12:02

          I normally just reply to the FTV email asking BA to offset the value of it against another holiday booking. No need to pick up the phone at all. Couple of days later its sorted.

          • Nick says:
            28 Jul28 July 12:22

            Only works for Holidays, not for flight-only bookings (which most people will have).

        • John Caribbean says:
          28 Jul28 July 12:53

          Sorry, it was an e voucher, starting 125. Cash only, non avios.
          Specifically a problem I was told because of use of last weekend’s Olympic sale code

  • D a carter says:
    28 Jul28 July 08:40

    Great Swiss deals at the moment for their new premium economy product. £580 to Thailand next year, for example (3x more expensive with BA)

  • JFS says:
    28 Jul28 July 08:57

    So BA is cancelling the Porto flights in August but trying to sell them in September knowing full well that they won’t keep flights.
    Time to start calling it what it is SCAM

    • Tim says:
      28 Jul28 July 09:07

      How is a changing schedule due to extensive and complicated Covid-related planning issues a scam? Airlines plan in good faith according to their available aircraft, crew, anticipated demand, slots, and government/political situations.

      If that plan changes (news flash: it changes every week for every airline at the moment), capacity reduces or increases fairly quickly.

      Failing to see where/what the scam is?

      • Stu N says:
        28 Jul28 July 09:24

        It’s frustrating but it’s hardly a scam.

        • Rob says:
          28 Jul28 July 10:02

          What else are you meant to do? Only start selling flights 2 weeks before travel when you are fairly sure what the rules will be on entry?

    • ChrisC says:
      28 Jul28 July 10:06

      If you have an August flight that is cancelled then you can be rebooked for September for no extra cost.

      If you want a refund you can have a refund.

      Strange scam that offers either of those things!

      • meta says:
        28 Jul28 July 12:44

        Porto is the most unreliable BA route. They keep on cancelling it. After being burnt twice, I am not booking it with BA for the third time. It’s not a scam per se, but there is simply only demand for one daily flight on that route from London and BA seems to have given up. It’s not as popular as Lisbon or Faro.

        If the flight is cancelled, you can be rebooked in August on TAP, obviously going to MCOL to enforce it. It seems like I will be doing it again with BA, but this time it will cost them pretty penny as I had business class tickets and TAP is double the price of BA’s ticket and all other routes are considerably more!

        • Rob says:
          28 Jul28 July 13:11

          Someone should tell that to Ryanair (up to 3 per day from Stansted), easyJet and TAP.

          • meta says:
            28 Jul28 July 14:01

            Yes, someone should tell TAP to put on a flight from Heathrow. For me, it doesn’t work from Stansted or Luton given the cost of transport to those airports. Gatwick or City are better if the flights are later in the day.

        • Will says:
          28 Jul28 July 13:38

          I’m booked to Porto later in August, on BA. If it will be cancelled (looking likely), I wish they’d hurry up before TAP prices increase…

          • meta says:
            28 Jul28 July 13:57

            At the moment they’ve cancelled up to 23 August. They’ll probably cancel remaining August flights end of this week.

          • Will says:
            28 Jul28 July 14:25

            Thanks Meta!

  • MikeL says:
    28 Jul28 July 09:36

    September in the Caribbean, no thanks – Hurricane season. Cruise lines always have discounted pricing at that time of the year too.

  • Paul says:
    28 Jul28 July 09:58

    “If you spend £1,500 or more on a BA Holidays package you get Fast Track security and Club lounge access.”

    I wish BA would educate their lounge staff on this policy. I was flying up to Scotland last week and my wife and I were accessing the Club lounge ( both silver). Young couple in front of me were trying to get access on the basis of this deal but the staff were utterly clueless and less than helpful. 2 of them focused on this single issue.
    I am afraid my patience is limited when I know more about BA policy than employees, so I intervened stating the policy was right. Still no progress so wifey and I offered to guest them both in as frankly my time was limited and I wanted a coffee. They reluctantly allowed it but it utterly farcical.

    So buyer beware – take a copy of the policy with you to avoid the ill informed dragons!

    • Bagoly says:
      28 Jul28 July 15:58

      Well done indeed for thinking of that solution, and for doing it – made everybody’s life easier.

  • Anna says:
    28 Jul28 July 10:33

    Is there an easy (or easier) way of getting through to BA Holidays on the phone? I want to book a flight & car package to the Caribbean for next summer but however I try to do it I can’t get it to price up as a holiday with deposit only required when I choose CW on the way out and PE on the way back.
    Another example of really unhelpful BA IT!

    • ChrisC says:
      28 Jul28 July 12:07

      Don’t know if you can use live chat to do the actual booking but you’d still need to call to make the payment though.

  • Gary says:
    28 Jul28 July 12:39

    Good old BA sales pages – click though to book….
    Due to availability, the advertised price of £xxxx is no longer available on these dates. The best available price for these dates is now £xxxx +about 20%

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