The British Airways repainted BOAC Boeing 747 aircraft takes off

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BA’s repainted BOAC Boeing 747 has taken off.

British Airways launched its first repainted aircraft yesterday, one of a handful of classic liveries that will be applied to selected planes this year as part of BA’s 100th birthday celebrations.

It uses the livery of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. This is one of two airlines that merged in 1974 to create the current British Airways. This livery was used between 1964 and 1974.

I have slotted photos from the launch yesterday throughout this article. The plane will retain the paintwork until it is retired in 2023. Its first flight will be BA117 to New York today.

And, it has to be said, it looks good. Given the improvements in painting technology in the last 50 years, I am sure that the livery never looked as impressive when it was originally used. Click on any image to enlarge.

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.

David says:

19 Feb19 February 04:55

OT Amex/Hilton transfers: the targeted 50% bonus from transfers in December has just hit my HH account. I was getting a bit worried, but no more!
Ammar says:

19 Feb19 February 05:35

Ot – flying with lh today from t2 lhr. Have Amex platinum. Presume plaza premium is only lounge if you have no status. Do you need the pp cards or Amex plat enough for 4 passengers? Need to transfer from gate b20 to b22 in Fra, is it far?
- tartan says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 08:29
  
  Plaza is your only option in T2 if you want to get in using your Amex Platinum. You can get in just by showing the Amex card although you will need 2 Amex platinum cards if there are 4 of you as you only get 1 guest. If you have your card and you have a supplementary card holder with you then you will be fine. Otherwise you might get away with bringing one guest in on your Amex and one on your PP if you get a friendly desk person but I wouldn’t count on it!
- Rob says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 08:30
  
  2 x Amex Plat gets 4 in.
Luke says:

19 Feb19 February 05:51

I’m guessing that BA are matching the offer running by JAL for cherry blossom season, also £1999 in business clsss for the same dates. Makes sense as JAL is also one world too… might be worth looking at their availability although this may just be a BA codeshare?
- Nick_C says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 06:35
  
  Although JAL doesn’t fly direct from London to Osaka
- Paul says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 07:21
  
  There is a revenue sharing agreement between BA/JAL I think, along the lines of the AA tie up. Why you would go near BA when you could fly JALis a whole new article.
New Card says:

19 Feb19 February 06:01

OT – Looks like new Avios earning opportunities to come with Monese:

https://monese.com/blog/2019/02/introducing-avios
- BJ says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 06:39
  
  It was reported yesterday, I guess Rob will have an article coming soon. It will be interesting to see what their referral bonus will be, I imagine that will likely be the best opportunity to earn avios from it.
  - Alan says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 07:50
    
    Doesn’t look like you will be able to earn many –
    
    “Exclusive Avios benefits coming soon to your Monese app:
    
    Collect Avios for referring friends
    Exchange Avios with friends and family who are also using Monese
    Link your Monese card to Avios in-store offers to collect Avios every time you shop at selected retailers”
    - Shoestring says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 08:18
      
      They also said you will be able to pay *with* Avios – I guess this will be @0.5p
  - Shoestring says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 10:09
    
    [This announcement marks the first step for a union that will eventually allow Monese customers to earn Avios when they spend on their debit cards or convince friends to sign up.
    Customers will also eventually be able to pay each other in Avios.]
  - Grant says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 14:55
    
    Agreed – looks to be very similar to the retailers on the BA shopping portal
Nick_C says:

19 Feb19 February 06:11

“It uses the livery of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. This is one of two airlines that merged in 1974 to create the current British Airways.”

One of the four. Guess we won’t be seeing any planes in the Cambrian or Northeast liveries.

Or perhaps one of the two airlines that merged to create the current London Airways. Do BA want people to forget they once served the regions?
- Catalan says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 06:52
  
  No, but regional flying is non-profitable, as flybe and flybmi have recently demonstrated!
  - Mr Dee says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 09:26
    
    In the current form
    - the_real_a says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 14:56
      
      Its an opportunity cost problem as usual. Is it more profitable to use a Heathrow slot for a USA flight or a a319 into Humberside? It does not mean the route is unprofitable, just that more profit can be made elsewhere.
  - Thomas Howard says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 09:31
    
    Or, Easyjet and Ryanair have proven that regional flying can be profitable.
    - Nick_C says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 09:41
      
      Indeed. And I don’t suppose the international airlines flying long haul from Manchester and Glasgow are doing so at a loss either.
    - Catalan says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 11:12
      
      Both Ryanair and easyJet have issued profit warnings. And in any case neither are actually regional carriers in the sense that Eastern Airways, Loganair are (and Flybmi and flybe were).
    - Crafty says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 14:29
      
      A profit warning does not in any way imply that you’re unprofitable.
Rash says:

19 Feb19 February 07:04

Sorry 75 off and its Hilton Europe properties only
- Tilly says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 08:56
  
  Thanks Rash! Perfect timing. Saved offer to card.
Paul says:

19 Feb19 February 07:19

Amex offers – has anyone else noticed that the Amex UK website is not nearly as attractive as the Amex US/OZ/EU offers? In my case the Island of Lombok does not exist as far as the UK site is concerned. Jakarta flights is another area that has fallen off the Amex map.
Prices are also out on the UK website gerally being significantly higher.
In the end it was better value to book direct and use the clarity credit card!
Craig says:

19 Feb19 February 07:44

OT: Any hotel recommendations for Dubrovnik? We are there for 4 nights, I’ve looked at the Hilton but I’m not sure we will spend 4 days in the city and am optimistic that it might be warm enough for a few hours by a pool in April!!
- Barry says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 09:02
  
  Sheraton. New hotel in a quiet bay with a few restaurants and bars close by. Uber to/from Dubrovnik is about a 15/20 minute ride. Boat service pick up for up and down the coast including Dubrovnik close to hotel. Airport close enough but not too close.
  - Craig says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 09:12
    
    Thanks Barry. Any idea on likely upgrades if I book a basic room as Platinum?
    - Barry says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 18:22
      
      I booked with BA holidays, standard room which was large, new and well equipped, not sure if any higher grades available but if so not sure worth extra spend unless very special.