British Airways airport lounge art sold for £2.2 million

The British Airways lounge art saga has come to an end and it has raised a grand total of ….. £2.2 million.

Bridget Riley’s ‘Cool Edge’ piece accounts for the lion’s share of the revenue, reaching £1.875 million.  The remaining 16 items account for the remaining £326,875 and sold well in excess of their estimates.

These numbers include ‘buyers premium’, however, which goes to Sotheby’s.  The hammer price will have been lower.  British Airways also has to pay its own fee to Sotheby’s.

Whilst arguably it was sensible to sell ‘Cool Edge’, the sale of the other pieces look more politically motivated.  A set of eight Marc Quinn images, including the one below, fetched £7,500 including buyers premium.  BA will only receive around £4,500 at a guess which cannot even begin to cover the staff time involved or the cost and installation of eight pieces of replacement art.

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.)