Comair, the British Airways franchise in South Africa, is in trouble

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Comair, the British Airways franchise operator in South Africa – in which BA has a circa 10% shareholding – has filed for ‘business rescue’.

This is not necessarily the end of line. ‘Business rescue’ is similar to Chapter 11 in the United States, and allows a company to be protected from its creditors whilst it attempts to re-arrange its affairs. The company is looking at options for raising additional capital, whether via a rights issue or convertible debt, whilst also looking to cut jobs.

If you’ve never flown Comair, it is a fascinating experience. You are on a BA-branded aircraft (see the photo below) with crew in British Airways uniform, operating to BA service standards, flying from Johannesburg to Cape Town or similar!

You can find more information on Reuters here.

Aer Lingus extends its ‘no change fees’ option

Aer Lingus has pushed out the deadline for taking advantage of its ‘no change fees’ offer.

If you book now, for travel up to 30th September, you can change your flight to a new date without paying change fees.

You need to note three key ‘gotchas’, however:

whilst there are no change fees, you WILL have to pay any fare difference

it is not clear if your revised travel date has to also be before 30th September, or if there is a specific future cut-off date, or if you can rebook up to the full 355 days in advance

for travel beyond 30th June, there is no alternative of taking an Aer Lingus voucher – your ONLY option, if your flight is not cancelled, is a date change

You can see details on the Aer Lingus website here.

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

Aer Lingus and AerClub, British Airways and Avios

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

Ben says:

9 May9 May 04:41

Kind of wish the UK Marriott card had the design above.. Much better than the boring one we ended up getting.
- Riccatti says:
  
  9 May9 May 06:59
  
  Consider yourself lucky to have a UK Marriott Visa card!
  - Secret Squirrel says:
    
    9 May9 May 08:03
    
    😂 Well said!
  - Polly says:
    
    9 May9 May 08:53
    
    How do you get a UK Marriott Visa card?????
    - Secret Squirrel says:
      
      9 May9 May 09:01
      
      You can’t.🤡
    - Michael says:
      
      9 May9 May 09:20
      
      Time machine
    - Spaghetti Town says:
      
      9 May9 May 10:06
      
      Are those still Valid?
      - Rob says:
        
        9 May9 May 10:41
        
        If you still have one, it still works.
- Lumma says:
  
  9 May9 May 11:47
  
  The Chase Marriott card is boring dark blue with the logo (or at least it was before the merger). It might be metal or at least some heavier plastic though
Aliks says:

9 May9 May 09:47

I see that Investor’s Chronicle are rating IHG as a BUY. Are there any special perks from owning shares in the major hotel chains, and anyone got a view on whether they are worth buying right now?
- RussellH says:
  
  9 May9 May 10:05
  
  IHG are not on my broker’s list of companies offering UK shareholder perks.
  AFAIK, Hilton + Marriott do not have a London listing
- Spaghetti Town says:
  
  9 May9 May 10:08
  
  They hoard cash
  
  I considered it but many better value for money shares about
- Genghis says:
  
  9 May9 May 10:43
  
  Don’t bother with share picks.
  - Doug M says:
    
    9 May9 May 12:19
    
    I do. I like to test my choices against the funds.
    - Genghis says:
      
      9 May9 May 12:51
      
      And what’s your record over the long term? As a bit of a hobby, fair enough, but not as a place to build wealth IMO.
  - Aliks says:
    
    9 May9 May 12:34
    
    I know, the financial press are little better than tip sheets, but I have to give a reasonable answer to my wife who believes every word they say.
- Chris K says:
  
  9 May9 May 12:55
  
  You can access shareholders discount (but only if you hold the shares the old way, in paper (certificate) form). But it’s rubbish, it’s 10% which you can probably get off anyway by buying an advance rate. And because it’s a “special” rate you apparently don’t get IHG points on stays either!
  
  In terms of whether they’re a buy or not… a few months ago they were worth twice what I paid for them in 2014. Now they’re maybe 10% up on what I bought them for.
  
  I personally won’t be buying more though.
Cuchlainn says:

9 May9 May 10:04

Due to fly EI from DUB to FAO on 30th June, using Avios under the old scheme flight numbers (17K return).
Ireland ( and probably Portugal ) will not be allowing inter-Europe non-essential travel for several months.
Will I get a cancellation notice via Aer Lingus (as this is an Avios redemption booking) ?
Do I claim Avios and taxes back from Avios.com ( and is it full taxes I get back ) ?
TIA
Steopia says:

9 May9 May 11:28

Hopefully something can be sorted out with Comair.

I agree that flying with them is a fascinating experience. I’d gently suggest however that they do not operate to BA service standards – Comair’s standards are FAR higher.

Flew return flights with them last year on a two hour trip from Johannesburg to Livingstone, Zambia. They served a hot meal with dessert and alcoholic drinks for all passengers (ie including me in economy). All seats were really comfortable. However, I paid around a tenner extra to have exit seats and was given the most legroom you could ever imagine – I’m 6”3 and could not reach the seats in front with my legs. And they give you one bag of hold luggage for free.
- Mikeact says:
  
  9 May9 May 13:56
  
  How about a bit of Virgin news today….
  Alvarez and Marsal have been put on standby in the likelihood of Virgin going into potential administration.
Simon says:

9 May9 May 18:16

It seems like no surprise with Virgin. The 14-day quarantine thing suggested by the government is a bit of an own-goal for the airlines.

Public sentiment seems to have really changed on Branson. At the start of his request for cash he was up there with Tim Wetherspoon, with so many unfortunate job losses coming, the same people have gone quiet.