£266 Los Angeles returns available on British Airways in the New Year

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If you like the idea of getting away from a cold English Winter to the sunnier climes of Los Angeles, help may be at hand.

British Airways is, yet again, quietly easing out excess capacity by selling heavily discounted tickets from outside the UK.

Copenhagen is the best starting point as far as I can tell. This sample itinerary:

… works out at £266 return. Plus, of course, the cost of getting to Copenhagen – your flight will be cancelled if you miss the first leg.

Ludicrously, you will earn back half the cost in miles. American Airlines still gives 1 mile per mile flown on cheap economy tickets so this trip would earn you 12,080 American Airlines miles – even more if you have BA status.

Don’t credit the flight to BA. It only awards 25% of flown miles for long-haul cheap economy tickets.

There are some similar deals of other European cities, but not as cheap. They tended to come out at around £350 (eg Dublin, Rome, Madrid). Copenhagen seems by far the cheapest. Have a play around at ba.com and see what you can find.

January and February have the best availability.

If you just fly London to Los Angeles on the dates in my example above, it will cost you £560 – more than double.

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: