British Airways relaunches “Hello Weekend” for 2014

British Airways has brought back its “Hello Weekend” offers for 2014.  These offer (sometimes) very good short-notice deals on flight and hotel packages.

In a new development this year, you can now book for the coming weekend and the two weekends after that.  Last year, you had to book on Wednesday for travel on Friday, which presumably limited the market quite a bit.

You can see the current offerings here.

Some deals are great, some are not so great.

I decided to look at a couple of examples, priced as of yesterday afternoon.

Option 1 – Barcelona in a 2-star hotel, Sat 29 – Mon 31 March

The “Hello Weekend” site was offering a headline price of £133 per person, based on 2 sharing.  I was able to find this rate at a 2-star hotel.

7.20am out of Gatwick on Saturday 29th, leaving Barcelona at 22.40 on Monday 31st.  2-star hotel, room only (better hotels are available at a supplement). Total cost £266 for two.

For comparison, booking the flights alone via ba.com showed a price of £198 for two people on a ‘hand baggage only’ fare.  You are effectively paying £34 per night for the hotel – probably an OK deal, but better deals may be available at the 2-star level.

Option 2 – Vienna in a 4-star hotel, Fri 21 – Sun 23 March

This was not my first choice.  I tried to find deals for Nice and Amsterdam, but the flight times for the cheapest prices quoted were laughable – leaving Saturday evening and returning Monday morning.

The headline price shown for Vienna  was £155.  I was able to get a Heathrow departure for this price.

7.15am out of Heathrow on Friday, leaving Vienna at a (pointlessly early) 11.30am on Sunday. 4-star hotel, room only.  Total cost £310 for two people.

For comparison, booking the flights alone via ba.com showed a price of £552 for 2 people with NO accommodation. This is a good deal via #helloweekend.

“Hello Weekend” is not a guarantee of a good deal.  However, as the Vienna offer above shows you can get lucky and do very well.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a 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

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

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:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)