The best economy deals in the British Airways sale

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I’m splitting our coverage of the new British Airways sale into two articles. This one looks at the best World Traveller (economy) offers whilst a second future article will look at the best deals in premium classes.

The best way to look at what is available is to play with the Low Fare Finder tool which you can find on ba.com here. This is effective if you are flexible with your dates, as you can easily see the lowest price, month by month, for every British Airways route.

Here are a selection of prices I picked out. I have also listed alongside the biggest ‘part pay with Avios’ option available. Remember that it doesn’t always make sense to to maximise ‘part pay with Avios’ and you will find you get a bigger ‘pence per point’ ratio by using fewer points.

The BA ‘part pay with Avios’ system is totally different to the Virgin Atlantic model. Virgin offers you 0.6p per mile, with no maximum and no minimum. British Airways is generally more generous if you use a small quantity of Avios but less generous – trending towards 0.5p per Avios – for larger quantities. You also cannot pay for a flight entirely with Avios via the ‘part pay’ route.

The full BA sale website is here.

Deals include:

North America

Chicago £295 / £179 + 20000 Avios
Fort Lauderdale £299 / £149 + 28000 Avios
Tampa £299 / £149 + 28000 Avios
Orlando £299 / £149 + 28000 Avios
Austin £364 / £180 + 36000 Avios
Nashville £376 / £180 + 38500 Avios
Pittsburgh £419 / £179 + 47000 Avios
Phoenix £599 / £249 + 69000 Avios
Las Vegas £689 / £339 + 69000 Avios

Africa

Johannesburg £415 / £159 + 50000 Avios
Durban £435 / £159 + 54000 Avios
Cape Town £529 / £179 + 69000 Avios

Asia and Australasia

Singapore £419 / £159 + 51000 Avios
Hong Kong £520 / £170 + 69000 Avios
Sydney £609 / £259 + 69000 Avios

South and Latin America

Buenos Aires £529 / £199 + 65000 Avios
Rio de Janeiro £529 / £199 + 65000 Avios
Sao Paulo £599 / £249 + 69000 Avios
Santiago £749 / £399 + 69000 Avios

As usual, it is also worth pricing up a combined ‘flight and hotel’ or ‘flight and car’ package via BA Holidays – see here. The pricing may be similar and you can get away with just paying a small deposit now, with the balance due five weeks before you fly.

New York, for example, starts at £379 per person in January or February for three nights in a 2.5 star hotel, plus World Traveller flights. You still earn Avios and BAEC tier points when you book via BA Holidays, but you won’t earn BA On Business points in the ‘small business’ loyalty scheme.

In terms of travel dates, ba.com says:

Travel in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus from London Gatwick to Cancun, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Las Vegas, Antigua, Bermuda, Barbados, Grenada, Kingston, Lima, Male, Mauritius, Providenciales, Port of Spain, Punta Cana, San Jose (Costa Rica), St. Kitts, Tobago and St. Lucia is available for selected outbound travel dates between 8 January 2019 and 30 December 2019.

Travel in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus from London Heathrow to Austin, Nashville, Chicago, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Abu Dhabi, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Seychelles, Muscat, Tokyo (Haneda and Narita), Osaka, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Sydney, Nassau, Grand Cayman, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago is available for selected outbound travel dates between 15 January 2019 and 13 December 2019.

Some routes require a Saturday night stay. There is a minimum advanced purchase requirement of 7-21 days depending on route.

Full details of all these offers, including the rest of the small print, are on the BA sale website here. In a future article I’ll look at the premium cabin deals.

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays. You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card. Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

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: