The British Airways ‘Book With Confidence’ guarantee ends at midnight tonight (Tuesday)

British Airways has sent out a trade email this afternoon stating that ‘Book With Confidence’ will end at midnight tonight, Tuesday.

Any bookings made from Wednesday onwards will no longer be covered by the policy.

I strongly recommend that you make any tentative British Airways bookings on Tuesday. This will retain your flexibility to receive an eVoucher or, for Avios bookings, a totally free refund if you choose to cancel.

What are the current ‘Book With Confidence’ rules?

Under the current position, any British Airways cash flight booked for travel by 30th September 2022 (this is the date by which your entire trip must be completed) can be cancelled at any point – up to an hour before departure – for an eVoucher.

You can also change the details of your ticket (time, date) without any change fees, although any fare difference is payable.

The eVoucher will be valid as part payments towards any new BA flight booking, on any route, for travel up to 30th September 2023.

If you have made an Avios booking, it can be cancelled for free – no £35 fee – up to one hour before departure. You do not receive an eVoucher. All cash, Avios and any relevant vouchers will be returned to your Executive Club account.

What happens for bookings from tomorrow?

I assume, although this has not been confirmed, that normal pre-covid service will resume:

• non-refundable cash tickets will, once again, become non-refundable (taxes and charges can, technically, be refunded but the administration fee is usually higher than the amount due)

• Avios tickets can be cancelled up to 24 hours before departure for a fee of £35 per person

This means that booking a flight to the US is now risky unless you have good travel insurance, since there is no sign of the requirement for a negative test within one day of travel being removed. You may even struggle to cancel an Avios ticket within the 24 hour cut-off.

Note that there is, unsurprisingly, no reference on ba.com to ‘Book With Confidence’ being culled from midnight on Tuesday. You will need to take our word for it, based on what we were told by BA’s marketing agency.

That said, all references to flights already seem to have disappeared from the covid pages of ba.com. There are still references to BA Holidays which implies that ‘Book With Confidence’ may remain here, albeit that you need to cancel within 28 days to receive a voucher.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.