British Airways launches its winter flight sale – what is worth a look?

British Airways has launched its January sale, a few days earlier than usual.

We will admit that it isn’t the most exciting sale ever. Whilst you can normally get some good deals in the BA Boxing Day sales the fares, as they currently stand, are unenticing. Transatlantic flights are virtually undiscounted, although other destinations are better.

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

You need to book by 25th January.

Business class: British Airways Club World sale deals

Crunching the numbers on this sale shows that you will find the better deals on flights to Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

We’ve been tracking BA sale fares for a while now. Flights to North America are the most expensive they’ve been for the past two years. Flights to India are comparatively good value this year. Here is some typical sale pricing:

• Rio de Janeiro from £1,548
• Sao Paulo from £1,543
• Bengaluru from £1,999
• Hyderabad from £1,999
• Delhi from £1,599
• Tel Aviv from £955
• Hong Kong from £1,781

How to check pricing

The easiest way to check for the lowest fares on any particular route, or across a series of routes, is via the British Airways Low Fare Finder – click here.

This is one of the most useful pages of the BA website. I find it especially helpful when looking for cheap Club Europe short haul business class deals to top up my tier points.

You can quickly see, for example, that New York gets no cheaper than £1,648, Boston no cheaper than £1,710 etc. An aggressive British Airways sale would see those cities at around the £1,200 mark. £1,962 to Miami is hardly a bargain either.

‘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 31st August 2022.  The voucher must be used for a flight which is taken by 30th September 2023.

If your flight is cancelled by British Airways for any reason, you will receive a full cash refund.

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 class) flight and hotel deals

• Barbados – seven nights at the 4* South Beach Resort breakfast included from £2,020 pp
• St Lucia – seven nights at the 4* Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa from £1,929 pp
• Bahamas – seven nights at the 4* British Colonial Hilton Nassau from £2,177 pp
• San Francisco – five nights at the 4* Riu Plaza Fisherman’s Wharf from £2,058 pp including breakfast
• Dubai – seven nights at the 5* Ajman Sarai (Marriott Luxury Collection) from £1,572 pp including breakfast
• Whistler – five nights at the 4* Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside from £2,078 pp

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 31st August 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 September 2023.

Double tier points is extended

BA Holidays has also extended its ‘double tier points’ offer until October 2022. We have covered this, and other current BA Holidays offers and benefits, in a separate article today.

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 25th January.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

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.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.