What is worth booking in the new British Airways Premium Sale?

British Airways has launched its first premium-only flight sale of the year.

It is surprisingly good, with prices to some destinations getting close to their pre-covid levels. This means £1,300+ Club World fares to New York and more – all direct from London.

It is also offering some good savings on BA Holidays packages which include a Business Class flight – in some cases, the holiday costs little more than buying the flight on its own.

Details of the luxury flight deals are here and the BA Holidays deals are here.

You must book by 21st March.

When do I need to travel?

The best deals are, in general, for travel between January and February 2024 – admittedly further out than you may want to commit – but you’ll also find prices lowering before then. For full details visit the sale website and scroll down to the T&C’s at the bottom.

All of the flight and holiday deals can be found on the British Airways website. We’ll explain later why booking via BA Holidays can be a better deal.

What are the Club World business class flight deals?

2022 was an expensive year for air fares, so it’s good to see prices finally starting to drop from their peak.

From Winter 2023/24 we are actually getting close to the sale prices from pre-covid times, but don’t expect to find rock-bottom prices for this summer. Is BA seeing weak demand beyond August 2023?

We recommend using the Low Fare Finder tool on ba.com to see which months the sale fares are available. Minimum stay requirements may apply.

The best Club World fares are to the US and Canada:

• Austin – £1,625
• Boston – £1,378
• Chicago – £1,378
• Montreal – £1,390
• Nashville – £1,485
• New Orleans – £1,555
• New York – £1,329
• Philadelphia – £1,385
• Portland (Oregon) – £1,485
• San Francisco – £1,665
• San Jose (California) – £1,695
• Seattle – £1,595
• Toronto – £1,374
• Washington DC – £1,455

Elsewhere, you’ll find:

• Grand Cayman – £2,028
• Grenada – £2,025
• Kingston – £1,673
• San Jose (Costa Rica) – £2,161
• St Kitts – £2,106
• St Lucia – £1,939
• Male – £3,324
• Tel Aviv – £1,097
• Shanghai – £2,323

Get an even better deal with BA Holidays

There are also some good deals over at BA Holidays, assuming you are happy to package a hotel and / or car with your flight.

You can make substantial savings when you book a flight + hotel deal with BA Holidays. For example, in the Premium Sale Club World flight prices to New York start at £1,329 pp. However, if you book Club World flights and four nights in a 4* hotel in New York via BA Holidays, packages start from £1,495 pp. Based on two sharing, adding a 4* hotel only costs you £85 per night.

Some headline Club World deals are:

• New York: from £1459pp for four nights, at the 4* Park Central Hotel New York, travelling on selected dates between 8 January – 29 January 2024 inclusive. Includes Club World return flights from London Gatwick Airport.
• Bahamas: from £2529pp for seven nights, at the 4* Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau, travelling on selected dates between 1 September – 30 September 2023 inclusive. Includes Club World return flights from London Heathrow Airport and free breakfast.
• San Francisco: from £1939pp for five nights, at the 4* Riu Plaza Fisherman’s Wharf, travelling on selected dates between 8 January – 8 February 2024 inclusive. Includes Club World return flights from London Heathrow Airport.

Here are typical Club Europe deals:

• Algarve: from £1,399 for seven nights, at the 5* Vila Vita Parc Resort & Spa half board, travelling on selected dates between 1 October – 31 October 2023 inclusive.
• Prague: from £329 pp for three nights at the 4* Hotel Elite Prague
• Morocco: from £789 pp for seven nights at the 4* Iberostar Club Palmaraie Marrakech

You will receive DOUBLE British Airways Executive Club tier points too

One of the most attractive promotions currently running from any travel company is the British Airways Holidays ‘double tier points’ offer.

If you book a ‘flight and hotel’ or ‘flight and car’ package for 5+ nights via British Airways Holidays, for travel completed by 31st December 2023, you will receive double tier points on your flights.

(Yes, this offer is now extended until December 2023. Even better, the extra tier points are now posting punctually according to our readers. You will receive them within 14 days of your flight.)

There are two things to note about the double tier points offer:

• you must book flights which carry a British Airways flight number – codeshare flights with, say, Qatar Airways are acceptable but only if your booking shows a BAXXXX flight number
• whilst your booking must contain at least five nights of hotel or car rental, your overall stay can be longer

In my pricing example above, Marrakech is a 160 tier point route in Club Europe, so you would receive a whopping 320 tier points if you travel in 2023 via the double tier points offer.

Full details of the ‘double tier points’ offer can be found on the British Airways Holidays website here.

Why book with BA Holidays?

The benefits of using BA Holidays versus booking a cash flight and hotel include:

• only pay a deposit, which can be as low as £60, now with the balance not due until 5-7 weeks before travel

• 1 bonus Avios for every £1 spent at BA Holidays on top of the usual Avios earned from your flights

• double Avios (3 per £1) on your payment if you use the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card

You can also use Avios now to pay or part-pay at BA Holidays. We will look at this in more detail in an article on Monday.

Conclusion

You can see full details of offers and fares in the Premium Sale section of the BA website here. It is also worth using the Low Fare Finder tool on ba.com to track down destinations and fares and which months they’re available.

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 or a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard.

Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline. This card currently has a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 20,000 Avios if converted.

The British Airways Premium Sale ends on 21st March.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2023)

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: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C 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.

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.

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.

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.