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I would like to make use of the offer saved to my Amex card for a £50 rebate when I spend £500 on British Airways economy or premium economy flights by this coming Tuesday, AND maximise my tier points under the concurrent British Airways offer to double them.
I have a week off in the first week of January, where is worthwhile visiting at that time of year for five nights which can be reached from Heathrow please?
That depends what you want from a holiday!
We spent New Year 2021/22 (30th Dec – 6th Jan) in Malta, which was great. Weather was generally good (though I think we got lucky!), temps in high teens/low twenties and we were before the windy season starts in Feb. Good amount of interesting history to see (from prehistory through to the more famous medieval and modern periods). Good food, mainly Italian inspired with Arabic/Middle Eastern influences, with good and little-known wines. Hiking/walking was spectacular and easy. As it’s the off season accommodation was dirt cheap (we moved around but generally had 4* accommodation for <£50pn including breakfast, hotels.com rather than chains). With the added benefit of no language barrier I’d definitely recommend.
The spend has to be on long haul flights, I think? I suppose a city break somewhere like NYC or BOS would fit the bill (though cold and expensive just now!), or Dubai if you want some sunshine. The first week of January is likely to be very expensive though as it’ll still be school holidays.
The spend has to be on long haul flights, I think? I suppose a city break somewhere like NYC or BOS would fit the bill (though cold and expensive just now!), or Dubai if you want some sunshine. The first week of January is likely to be very expensive though as it’ll still be school holidays.
Yes has to be long haul. I agree those are probably the classic destinations, although I’d probably pick NY over Boston in midwinter. You could add Bahrain perhaps as a Dubai alternative. Tel Aviv will be good value for tier points, but a bit wet in January. San Jose cheap and pleasant weather but a bit too much jetlag for a short trip. Accra is relatively cheap and somewhat in season but the visa process will be a pain for five nights and I don’t know if BA Holidays does it.
Thanks for the responses. Damn, it has to be long-haul… I must have glossed over that!
I really was not a fan of Boston in winter. I found it very drab and a lot of it feels exposed to the waterfront so can be bitingly cold. Harvard was pretty desolate and not at all as I imagined, again possibly due to time of year. I’d choose New York or Chicago over it in a heartbeat for a winter trip.
I would actually concur, I was just trying to think of what the shortest flight to the US might be! We went on a whale watching trip at the end of March and it was bloomin’ freezing!
Go somewhere warm – surely that is one major advantage of LH in UK winter? Tropics, eg Thailand – 12hrs away but the journey can be part of the fun/ wind-down.
Failing that: somewhere closer such as Tenerife.
OP needs to go long haul to get the discount!
Is middle east classed as long haul? I just looked up Bahrain and Amman and it said it was Club Europe not Club World. How do I check if beds rather than normal seats?
It depends on the length of the flight – possibly over 6/7? hours is classed as long haul. Does it show the plane type when you try and book? I think on some mid-haul routes you can get either type of business class seating.
In my firmly held opinion the only correct form of travel in January is a skiing trip. Maybe Vancouver, Denver, Seattle for a direct flight, or Jackson, Boise, Bozeman if you don’t mind changing. Calgary is a pig to get to on OneWorld, unfortunately.
Of course, I have to accept that my view of the world may be a little blinkered.
In my firmly held opinion the only correct form of travel in January is a skiing trip. Maybe Vancouver, Denver, Seattle for a direct flight, or Jackson, Boise, Bozeman if you don’t mind changing. Calgary is a pig to get to on OneWorld, unfortunately.
Of course, I have to accept that my view of the world may be a little blinkered.
Not so much blinkered as hamstrung by the way the £ has gone weak vs USD. So flying to anywhere where the currency keeps its value vs USD – USA being the prime example! – is 25% more expensive for Brits (who earn in £) than LY.
Whereas many other countries (& their currencies) have seen similar 25% weakness vs dollar but vs £ they are pretty stable.
As much as I like NYC in the winter, friends just back from NYC said it’s become obscenely expensive in the past 12 months. The pound is still decent against the Turkish Lira and decent TPs to Istanbul. It won’t be warm, but it will be free of cruise ships.
It depends on the length of the flight – possibly over 6/7? hours is classed as long haul. Does it show the plane type when you try and book? I think on some mid-haul routes you can get either type of business class seating.
Unfortunately it’s not as simple as the distance.
LHR AMM 2,292 mi
Short Haul according to BALHR TLV 2,233 mi
Long Haul according to BAMid-haul is no longer a thing for BA. It’s Euro Traveller (short), or it’s World Traveller (long).
I meant the flying time, not the mileage involved, though clearly there are no absolutes with BA! I know historically there have been some flights which aren’t long haul (Madrid and Cairo?) which sometimes have had CW seats, which is @Mandy was asking about.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. If it’s not marketed as “World traveller” etc it won’t count as long haul even if a long haul plane is used. Distance, time and aircraft type are all irrelevant.
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