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.

Nick M says:

19 Feb19 February 10:09

OT – I know there are occasionally offers for Bicester village… are there any special deals on at the moment or just the usual mile/£1?
Louie says:

19 Feb19 February 10:26

OT: Just taken out a Virgin credit card. Do they have standardised statement dates (in which case what are they) or will it depend on when I applied/was accepted/first used it? Got a low credit limit and trying to work out how to juggle payments….
- paulm says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:28
  
  if you call them, they will let you change statement date and will give you some options.
Anna says:

19 Feb19 February 10:30

Very OT but I’ve been looking for a new wine merchant I can earn avios with following the demise of Tesco wine. I placed an order with Majestic yesterday afternoon and have just had a call from my nearest branch (a good 10 miles away so worth getting it delivered) and they will deliver it this morning! Great service, now just need to check out the actual wine…
- Shoestring says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:05
  
  You missed a couple of good ones over on the deals site – both Laithwaites – one was 12 bottles of this one for £31.88 delivered https://www.laithwaites.co.uk/product/Marcelin-Cuvée-1907-Chardonnay-2016/1991016, which I thought a pretty good offer!
  
  Expired but they come up all the time. The BAEC offers on wines seem to have disappeared.
  - Shoestring says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 12:25
    
    Just did a test buy & you *can* input your Virgin membership number for 3000/250 miles
  - Anna says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 12:40
    
    Laithwaites always seem to know that I’ve been a previous customer at some point and refuse me the best deals! I haven’t ventured into Virgin territory yet…
    - Shoestring says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 14:56
      
      Just used a new email address for a couple of cases, same old name & address so they’re not that bothered
- Darren says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:09
  
  OT? That’s very on topic for me 🙂
  
  I’ve been trying a few different places recently focussing on Italian wine, Majestic Gavi and Fiano were ok but the Verdicchio was poor. Aldi, yes I know, had a lovely Gavi in last month but it’s o/o/s now.
  - Darren says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 11:14
    
    Actually it was Lidl, same difference.
    - Alex says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 12:28
      
      Wine Society never failed me. Tried Majestic Wine once – OKish. Avios should be the last thing on your mind when choosing good wine, me thinks.
    - Anna says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 12:37
      
      Obviously the wine is the most important factor but it’s not difficult to combine that with points earning! Hopefully I’ve now got 2 cases of decent red, 300 avios, 300 SPG/Marriott points and £100 towards my SPG sign up bonus. This is the HFP ethos, lol.
    - Shoestring says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 14:58
      
      @Alex – but 3000 Virgin miles is not to be sniffed at (first case, thereafter 250)
    - Alan says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 16:35
      
      LOL I’m sure that took a lot of convincing 😉
- Crafty says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 15:52
  
  You will all learn the same lesson I did, that buying wine on the basis of earning points is a huge false economy.
  
  Wine Society.
LewisB says:

19 Feb19 February 10:51

OT – I cancelled my Amex gold on New Years Day but had an email today reminding me about an offer I hadn’t used on the card. This has never happened before, does anybody else get these?
- Craig says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:00
  
  I got one today for a card that I cancelled over a month ago.
- John says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:01
  
  Yes all the time
- RussellH says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:11
  
  Used to get them last time I had a gold card, yes.
Rhys says:

19 Feb19 February 10:52

The best thing about the new livery is that it is clean…so many of BA’s 747s with normal livery look like they haven’t had a wash in decades!
- marcw says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 12:34
  
  Your statement is correct for all fresh painted planes.
  - Rhys says:
    
    20 Feb20 February 09:19
    
    Yes – and my point is that a lot of BA’s 747 fleet look in need for a deep clean or repaint….
Tom H says:

19 Feb19 February 10:54

Has anyone actually received a refund from Curve yet?

I emailed to cancel. Received a reply after a few days asking if I was sure. Replied in the affirmative, and followed-up again but have heard nothing for ten days.
- GoldmanSachs says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:35
  
  Just wait it out, I got a refund of remaining balance over the course of 2 weeks
- Chris says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 19:00
  
  Yes I did. Originally got an email saying they were ‘looking into it’. I replied and reminded them of the statutory cooling off period and it was refunded the same day
Shoestring says:

19 Feb19 February 11:34

O/T Europcar £1 – just booked a £1 rental Cornwall—>LHR, seems to be good availability.

Just remember to cancel it 48hrs before booking if you don’t need it – they say 24hrs but their day begins at midnight +1 second the day before so you need to allow 2 days.
- Alan says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:36
  
  Are these on their standard site or do you need to go to a particular landing page?
  - Shoestring says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 11:41
    
    standard site—>Deals tab
    - Shoestring says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 11:43
      
      I should add that it’s always s—l—o—-o—o—w!
      
      Let it load then you can navigate £1 routes fine
      
      Used it twice before & no funnies from them
    - Gavin says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 13:59
      
      Fond memories of my Jaguar XE from Reading to Heathrow!
    - Alan says:
      
      19 Feb19 February 14:55
      
      Thanks for that
- Mark2 says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 13:52
  
  I have looked into this. It seems like a bargain but there never seem to be any cars to bring back.
  - the_real_a says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 14:44
    
    You are likely returning other peoples “one ways” or fresh off the boat from delivery in Plymouth 🙂
  - Shoestring says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 18:10
    
    Always plenty from Cornwall! 🙂
    
    Where are you, Mark2? – as there seem to be plenty all around the UK
Andrew says:

19 Feb19 February 11:42

OT: Does anyone know if flights booked with the Iberia 9000 bonus Avios can be changed now? I seem to recall changes post 1 December 2018 weren’t permitted but can’t find anything. Has anyone changed one recently? Thanks!
- Andrew says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 11:45
  
  This was an Iberia metal booking by the way, not a partner booking.
  - AndyW says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 14:03
    
    Would love to know this too. Need to push dates out. Been putting off the call knowing what Iberia call centres are like.
- Shoestring says:
  
  19 Feb19 February 15:01
  
  You can change the date for the same route no problem (on the phone), people have done it on FT
  
  Cancelling and hoping to get Avios back to re-use on a different Avios redemption – I think that’s when you stand to lose your Avios
  - Andrew says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 15:05
    
    That’s good news thank you! I will brave the Iberia call centre in that case.
  - AndyW says:
    
    19 Feb19 February 20:13
    
    Thanks Harry