An update on the British Airways pilot strike

I don’t want to spend too much time on the British Airways pilot strike, because it is being covered enough by the mainstream media.

Interestingly, British Airways did not make an effort yesterday to run even a skeleton service with non-BALPA pilots.  The only flights from Terminal 5 yesterday were:

Tokyo (due to Rugby World Cup commitments – this was the sole BA departure)

Cairo (which Air Belgium is currently flying on behalf of BA due to a shortage of operational Boeing 787 aircraft)

Madrid (the Iberia flights, not the BA ones)

I’m not sure what, if anything, departed from Gatwick or Terminal 3.  I doubt that Tuesday will be any different.

If your flight was cancelled and you accepted a refund or were moved to a non-oneworld carrier, remember to request the Avios and tier points you would have earned from British Airways.

Nothing stops you also earning miles from the carrier to whom you were moved – as long as you didn’t credit the flight to British Airways Executive Club – so you could double dip with a handful of Star Alliance, SkyTeam, Emirates, Etihad etc miles on top.

British Airways must announce cancellations for the 2nd wave of strikes on 27th September by Friday 13th September.  If not, British Airways will have to pay EC261 compensation on top of the costs of moving you to another carrier.  Once those cancellation emails have been sent, it is highly likely that the strike on the 27th September will happen regardless of whether discussions restart, as passengers will already have been moved.

You can find the latest official strike updates on this page of ba.com.

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 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 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.)