It’s back: £1,200 Club World to Hawaii, £995 to JFK and other BA sale bargains

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British Airways is launching a new sale today – the home page is here.

I will take a look at some of the prices from London over the next few days.

However, in the short term, the most important thing to note is that the crazy prices for Club World flights to North America are back – as long as you start your trip outside the UK.

British Airways BA A380 flying

Hawaii is incredibly cheap even though British Airways does not fly there itself! You will need to change to American Airlines in Los Angeles – or, to maximise tier points, in New York and Los Angeles.

The best deals appear to be from Dublin and, of course, that is also a very convenient starting spot for UK residents. It is worth checking Copenhagen, Brussels and Oslo – there are some amazing £1,700 Australia fares out of Oslo, for example, which I will look at in a day or so.

Here is an example fare from Dublin to Hawaii – €1,690 (£1,198) return in Club World in February:

or New York for €1,402 (£994):

or Los Angeles for €1,684 (£1,194):

The fare rules are straightforward:

Book by September 22nd 2015

Book 28 days before travel

A Saturday night stay is required

Complete travel by June 19th 2016

Tickets are non-refundable

NO STOPOVERS are allowed – this includes in London. A gap between flights of more than 24 hours is treated as a stopover.

Tickets can be changed for €300 but you also have to pay any fare difference – which could be substantial after September 22nd when the prices go back up

Booking these flights is can be simple and it can be complex. For an easy life, you can simply book whatever comes up on ba.com. If you are planning to try to upgrade British Airways legs to First with Avios, you MUST book at ba.com.

However, it is also worth looking at aa.com as that may bring up different routings for the same price. Note that, if your route includes a two-class US domestic flight (Economy and First), you want to ensure that you book that particular flight under an AA flight number, which may involve booking the entire trip on aa.com.

This is because, when a 2-class US domestic flight has an AA flight number, the premium cabin gets you First Class tier points with BAEC. If you book the flight under a BA flight number – which ba.com usually does – it posts as a Business Class flight with business class tier points.

The exact ticket rules can be found via the ITA Matrix tool I outlined here if you pull up a fare. This allows more advanced users to construct very complex itineraries. Some tickets, if they have a generous mileage allowance, may allow you to start in, say, Brussels and go to Helsinki (on Finnair) then to London and then to the US, just to squeeze out a few more tier points. You would need to book such an itinerary by telephone with British Airways.

Remember that you do NOT receive 210 tier points for the London City to New York JFK flights any longer – they earn the standard 140 points each way, the same as Heathrow to New York.

For clarity, if you book a ticket starting in Dublin then you MUST start in Dublin. You cannot turn up at Heathrow and just board the long-haul leg. Given recent stories about British Airways causing difficulties with people who drop the last leg, you should plan to take the final flight to Dublin.

The British Airways promotional page for the Summer Sale is here although it only focusses on flights starting in the UK.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 BA Amex American Express card

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 BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

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: