Forget the Avios changes for now – just get booking!

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In what is clearly a co-ordinated plan by British Airways, they announced massive changes to British Airways Executive Club just minutes after I boarded an eight hour flight 🙂

They forgot, though, that just because BA does not have wi-fi it does not mean that no airlines have wi-fi. One up to Etihad.

Avios wing 8

I will do a full analysis of the changes for tomorrow. My wife is away on business so a very late night will not lead to any marital disharmony.

In the short term, ie today, FORGET ABOUT THEM.

Because BA has released tens of thousands of Club World and World Traveller seats overnight, you have NEVER had a better chance of getting the redemption you want.

Fuss about the BAEC changes tomorrow. Today, dust off that Amex 2-4-1 voucher and get something booked.

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:

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.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

John says:

28 Jan28 January 23:03

As I live in the regions, and have to travel during school hols I have today joined the virgin scheme. And emailed a complaint to BA. Muppets. With their high surcharges they still made money from me. No longer. At least I shall not have to endure T5 security anymore.
Thechiefexecutive says:

28 Jan28 January 23:36

If I cancel an existing 241 to rebook a different destination using the new availability how quickly will the released avoid hit my account? Is it instant? I don’t want to end up with no bookings! I don’t have enough avios to do both now.
Jerry
- Andy says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 23:46
  
  Yes, instant. If you call them you can do it over the phone in a few mins. You then incur the telephone booking charge too, but I think it means you have some security in the event that someone nips in and books the flights you wanted as the CS rep is doing his/her stuff. The 241 is credited back to your account instantly too.
  
  We did this today.
Clive says:

29 Jan29 January 00:31

Well that has screwed my plans for my 50th Birthday celebration. Thank you BA
Simon says:

29 Jan29 January 00:52

This ain’t good. I wonder whether when the dust settles, new sweet spots will appear.
London to East Coast in Club appears to be up from 80000 to 100,000 off peak? That’s still value.

Some of the short-haul redemptions could be better too, if the taxes are less than the current RFS.
- Rob says:
  
  29 Jan29 January 01:25
  
  A big cut in the fuel surcharge would, to be honest, wipe out much of the change. 100,000 to California in CW plus £550 would become 150,000 plus £200 – most people could live with that especially with a 241.
  - Polly says:
    
    29 Jan29 January 03:55
    
    Agree, that would certainly make up for the pain of extra avios, actually easily earned on a Plat card acceptance, as lots of HFP folks do anyway. Using the 241 then is still good value even on Club J class.
Polly says:

29 Jan29 January 03:38

Mick, all is not lost, get your overnight sleeper to London, enjoy your fab lounge experience, massages etc, get there early, some people spend 5 hrs in the lounge. It’s still a fab. Plus the train works out about £25 pp each way, so not far off the RSF of £35 pp plus avios. The 241 is still great value on Club while we can still earn them.
Max says:

29 Jan29 January 07:02

Just had a chance to skim tnrough this as was working all day yesterday when the poop hit the fan.
Overall seems a negative move for most. And I suspect myself included in the long run but…

We fly x2 long haul and one European return flights a year on average. We do save enough miles for this target. We generally drive on a fourth UK or Euro break. We do not use domestic connections and will try for First flights over CW if we can get them (we could pay for discounted CW seats so F is a real reward as we could not afford them nor would we pay if we could!). We have great flexibilty when and where we travel (though limited holiday time) and there are just two of us. We would never travel in the school holidays, and like off-peak travel.

So for us it does not seem so diastrous, but can see how others will lose out more. I look forward to Raffles analysis.
Jimmy says:

29 Jan29 January 09:45

Why do I get the feeling that BA’s revenue computers weren’t prepared for this? Since 11pm last night when I checked flights to our chosen destination, availability has dropped off completely. And I mean ‘completely’: from about 22 days in a month to 2.

Hasn’t it usually been standard practice to remove availability when demand increases? Is one side of BA not talking to the other?
Londonbus says:

29 Jan29 January 18:24

Peak redemptions to Asia now 50% more expensive. Whacked on earning, whacked on burning.

What’s the logic behind IAG selling Avios?