British Airways extends free rebooking of all short-haul flights to Friday

Following the NATS collapse on Monday, British Airways has amended its rebooking guidelines for anyone due to travel on Thursday or Friday.

These apply to anyone flying short-haul:

• from London Heathrow, London Gatwick or London City Airport or
• to London Heathrow

You can see the amended rules on ba.com here.

What options are available if you are travelling soon?

If you are due to travel on Thursday or Friday, you can rebook. Your flight does NOT need to be showing as cancelled or delayed in order to do this. BA would be grateful for an extra seat to give to someone delayed, and you may be grateful to avoid the airport chaos.

Flights TO the UK can only be rebooked if you are flying to London Heathrow. No rebooking is allowed for flights to London Gatwick or London City.

You can rebook via ‘Manage My Booking’ for any date up to 355 days from today. If you move your flight by 14 days or less, you can move to any flight with an available seat in the same travel class. If you choose to move your flight by more than 14 days, you need availability in the same sub-class (ie ‘deeply discounted economy’).

You cannot change your destination except to switch to another airport in the same city.

You can only swap to another British Airways flight.

These rules apply to Avios redemptions as well as cash tickets. There does not need to be Avios availability to move your flight as long as the new date is within 14 days of today.

Rebooking is only possible if your ticket has a BA ticket number starting 125-. This may not be the case if you booked via another airline.

The full rebooking guidelines are on ba.com here.

PS. BA has suspended the ’empty middle seat in Club Europe’ rule – we do not know how long this suspension will continue

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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 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 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Avios! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. 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

Huge 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees 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.