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BA’s fourth A350 plane is damaged by the painters

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In one of the more bizarre stories we’ve covered this year, the delivery date for the fourth British Airways A350 aircraft has been delayed due to a painting accident.

This has practical implications for many HfP readers.  If you had been booked on an A350 service in December or January, especially if you were booked into Club Suite, you should keep an eye on your booking.  Dubai is believed to be the main casualty.  As BA is now an aircraft down, it will have no choice but to substitute a non-A350 and non-Club Suite aircraft on some services.

BA A350 damaged at the Toulouse paintshop

FlightGlobal first ran the story.  This would have taken place at the Airbus factory in Toulouse.  To quote:

Airbus is undertaking repairs to a British Airways Airbus A350-1000 after the twinjet was damaged during the final stages of the production process.

The aircraft suffered an “incident”, the airframer confirms, although it has not disclosed the nature of the event or the location of the damage.

Airbus says it is “working with the customer” with the aim of delivering the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft in December.

FlightGlobal understands, from a source familiar with the situation, that the A350-1000 was parked in a paint shop and sustained surface damage from one of the many pieces of equipment that surround the aircraft in such facilities.

“Airbus has assured us that the aircraft will be fully repaired and delivered shortly,” says British Airways, without elaborating on the circumstances.

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:

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

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 card

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

Comments (167)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Charlieface says:
    25 Nov25 November 08:45

    You’ll find any painter, no matter how weighty, isn’t going to break off a wing capable of lifting 50 tons. Most likely if that really happened is that he damaged one of the flaps.

  • Liz says:
    25 Nov25 November 09:03

    OT: Got a whole load to Tesco coupons in my clubcard app this morning. I never get coupons cos I shop there all the time! Double pts on 2 shops, some pts coupons on stuff I do buy and some money off stuff I don’t buy. Doing a big shop tomorrow with the new Plus deal for 10% off – really works for us. Already covered my first months fee of £8 and £12 up on first shop. Going to change our shopping pattern to 2 bigs shops per month instead of 4 smaller ones.

    • Shoestring says:
      25 Nov25 November 09:08

      put a wee Amazon card in there, attagirl! – & pls report back

      • Liz says:
        25 Nov25 November 09:20

        I am buying £100 amazon but will put that through separately cos they dont work with the Plus offer and I want to hit £200 spend to get the max £20 off. Also Pay+ has a limit of £250 per transaction so need to put g/c through separately. Will still get 100cc pts for using the debit card though – should be a bumper haul tomorrow with points and money off!

    • Spurs Debs says:
      25 Nov25 November 09:36

      Well that’s disappointing no offers/coupons for me. Not had any for years as I shop there weekly.

      • Liz says:
        25 Nov25 November 10:09

        May be because we signed up for the Plus ? Can’t remember the last time I had any offers. Occasionally get a double pts offer on my mother in laws account but we are now doing her shopping so all goes in to our account.

      • BJ says:
        25 Nov25 November 11:40

        The key is to shop at Tesco and another supermarket intermittently, preferably Sainsburys as Nectar now blows clubcard out the water despite its frustrations. Avoid signing up for any schemes or delivery passes, and keep Tesco shops in the £35-45 range at a time. Have separate accounts for partners (or two for yourself) to break any patterns of regular shopping.

    • Anna says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:26

      Just be aware that they have now changed the rules on the 10p off per litre of fuel for £60 spend – if you use a coupon which brings your spend to below £60, you don’t get the fuel voucher. I got caught out with this this morning, the checkout lady was not aware and was really apologetic although obviously it wasn’t her fault! I am going to email Tesco and tell them how petty and mean-spirited this is and not likely to make customers feel inclined to return!

      • TripRep says:
        25 Nov25 November 11:37

        Worked fine for me yesterday, £50 Amazon voucher+ £11 misc groceries triggered it

        • BJ says:
          25 Nov25 November 11:43

          A similar transaction did not get me the Morrisons variant a few days ago. I was disappointed as I wanted to combine with my amex offer kiosk vouchers for petrol.

        • Anna says:
          25 Nov25 November 12:50

          That would have been a transaction over £60 TripRep, my point was that my total bill was £60 but I used a £6 money off coupon, so no fuel voucher.

      • Polly says:
        25 Nov25 November 23:01

        Anna, always been the case, where the total spend must be £60 after the coupon is applied. I am always careful to do the maths. Usually get a GC, amazon or John Lewis, worth £ 50 then food worth £10 plus after the card is scanned. Works a treat.
        We are also doing the Morrison’s double dip as it were. Using our paper vouchers at 10% off w Amex. Plus the 10p off. Not a bad a deal at all.

    • The Urbanite says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:46

      I got a load too and I don’t have Plus.

  • Gringo says:
    25 Nov25 November 09:20

    OT – Marriott offer on Amex card says “book, stay and pay by 31/12/19”. If I make a booking for January and pay up-front, do they really know whether I’ve stayed or not? Thanks

  • Chuck says:
    25 Nov25 November 09:37

    Groupon, I purchased a voucher for 2000 Avios
    3.5 weeks ago and they are still not showing in my Iberia account. Just a heads up… it’s very boring when you have to chase for a credit, unlikely to use them again !

  • Russell Gowers says:
    25 Nov25 November 09:44

    I think I may have booked those painters for my house rennovation in the summer

  • Alan says:
    25 Nov25 November 09:48

    I have been trying to transfer my Iberia points (I have had for a number of years) to my BA account without success. I suspect that this is because the Iberia account has my middle name, but not the BA account. The name change cannot be made on line (security) and trying to get this sorted by Iberia is like pushing water up hill! A number of long calls have so far failed.
    So be warned.

    • marcw says:
      25 Nov25 November 10:01

      Try to route via Avios.com (open a Vueling Club or Aer Club account). There’s a chat option, they may be able to pull the Avios from IbPlus.

      If you want to change name stuff at IbPlus, they will require a Passport Copy. But then, you have a middle name which you chose to not include in BAEC. Send an email to clasica@iberia.es with your information, but remember to put on the e-mail subject, only your IbPlus number (nothing else).

      • Alan says:
        25 Nov25 November 10:14

        Many thanks for the information. It took me a couple of calls over the weekend to get this email address and I have now sent an email but to be honest I am not too hopeful. Thank you again.

    • Bagoly says:
      25 Nov25 November 19:09

      Why not add middle name to the BAEC account?
      You can always delete if after making the transfer.

  • Nick M says:
    25 Nov25 November 10:14

    OT – We are staying 2 nights at the Langley in a couple of weeks… somebody suggested a nearby pub – the Red Lion at Stoke Green – for dinner one night, is there anywhere else nearby that anyone would recommend?

    • New Card says:
      25 Nov25 November 11:52

      20 minute drive away but we went to The Tudor Room at Great Fosters in Egham for our dinner when we last stayed at The Langley, and it was exceptional.

    • SimonW says:
      25 Nov25 November 13:29

      A friend stayed there last week – Dinner was excellent (though it was Thursday night so v v quiet). Breakfast was still a shambles and they comp’d it. We had lunch at the Red Lion. Would happily return there.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        26 Nov26 November 01:19

        Been a few times now and breakfast has always been fine. The food is decent but rather find somewhere great nearby

  • rjn says:
    25 Nov25 November 10:30

    The same pricing offer is on Groupon.ie for Aerclub avios.
    Whether that’s more reliable actually posting, no idea. Not a price I’d buy at anyway.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

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