MASSIVE AVIOS SALE – 50% off ALL long-haul flights, 25% off short-haul – and works with a 241

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British Airways has launched what is possibly the biggest Avios flight sale it has ever run.

All long haul flights, in all classes, are half price. Well, half points anyway.

Full details are on this special page of ba.com.

This is what you need to know:

ALL long-haul redemptions (all routes, all travel classes) are reduced by 50%

ALL short-haul redemptions (all routes, both travel classes) are reduced by 25%

Here are the key dates:

You must book by 13th October

You must travel between now and 30th June 2021

Full taxes and charges are due

The discount is valid on both one-way and return flights

The discount only applies to British Airways flights and not partner airlines

Can this offer be combined with a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 or Lloyds voucher?

YES. Well, with an Amex 241 anyway.

British Airways told me that it doesn’t, but it does!

This may or may be an error. The small print does say that ‘vouchers’ are excluded.

Should I cancel and rebook existing redemptions?

This is a tricky question.

For existing long haul bookings:

Clearly there are HUGE savings to be made if you cancel existing Avios long-haul redemptions and rebook them. You’d be crazy not to, to be honest, if it meant saving 50,000 to 100,000 Avios per booking.

(Do NOT do this with a Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher. As far as I know, these are still lost if you cancel a redemption flight which uses one.)

You need to be careful, however.

If you have enough Avios to make a fresh booking and didn’t use a 2-4-1 voucher, you don’t have any risk. You can make a new booking and then cancel your original at your convenience.

(Remember that, if you cancel online, you can only receive a Future Travel Voucher. This involves wrapping up the Avios, cash and any companion voucher in a voucher. You do NOT get the Avios, cash or companion voucher back in your accounts but you don’t pay any cancellation fees. Alternatively, you can ring BA, pay the £35 per person cancellation fee and get the Avios, cash and any voucher back directly.)

If you don’t have enough Avios to rebook, or need your 2-4-1 voucher back first, you are in a trickier position.

You need to call BA, trigger a Future Travel Voucher (which usually arrives within a few minutes, but isn’t guaranteed) and then call British Airways to rebook.

You should assume that your original seats will NOT go back into redemption availability. Only do this if you can see enough fresh seats available for the dates you want and you are willing to take the risk of them disappearing before you can rebook.

For existing short haul bookings:

For short haul, however, I don’t think it is worth the effort. The cancellation fees will outweigh a 25% Avios saving. Cancelling for a Future Travel Voucher and then rebooking to avoid cancellation fees is a bit of a faff for a modest return, even if seats are available.

Is there a special offer to buy Avios if I’m short?

No, unfortunately not. The 50% bonus promotion ended last week and I imagine there is no chance of a new offer before 13th October.

If you are happy to pay full price (1.6p per Avios plus a £15 handling fee), you can buy Avios via this page of ba.com.

Be careful not to get carried away …..

This is an exceptionally good offer. Offering 50% off all long haul flights, to all destination and in all classes, is not something you see every day.

However …. if you end up not flying the tickets you book, you will be paying £35 per person to cancel or taking a Future Travel Voucher, which comes with its own complications when you come to rebook (no name changes etc). Book with care.

Click here to visit the special sale page of ba.com and find out more.

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.

Annabel says:

7 Oct7 October 21:04

Will be cancelling first thing in morning an Avios redemption flight within 24hours of booking – can anyone tell me if Avios will return immediately into BAEC account? Thank you
- Louise K says:
  
  7 Oct7 October 21:09
  
  Mine did – cancelled something earlier this evening and had the avios back immediately.
  - Annabel says:
    
    7 Oct7 October 21:47
    
    Thank you Louise. Let’s hope card refund comes back quickly
    - Adil says:
      
      8 Oct8 October 01:00
      
      The taxes take a few days to get refunded onto your card
- Harry T says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 10:15
  
  They should go back into your account immediately. Log in and out after they do it. Check before you end the phone call
  - Mark Whitelegg says:
    
    8 Oct8 October 11:12
    
    I cancelled about 9am this morning, AVIOS and voucher still not returned despite agent saying they should be within an hour or so!
Pauline says:

7 Oct7 October 21:09

When is the earliest you can call to change a flight as availability I have been looking for has just appeared. What is the best number to call? Thank you
- Andrew porwol says:
  
  7 Oct7 October 23:00
  
  I’ve been ringing at night, staff work till 1am
Harry T says:

7 Oct7 October 21:26

So I bit the bullet in the end… 241 in J to Tokyo in June 2021 for 75,000 and £940. INV-LHR-HND-LHR-NCL.
- Vit says:
  
  7 Oct7 October 21:53
  
  Will see you there Harry! Could probably be on the same flight outbound. 😉
  - Harry T says:
    
    7 Oct7 October 22:32
    
    Brilliant! Did you book two one ways and then combine? Saw you talking about it, I think. I’m flying out on 13th June.
    - meta says:
      
      7 Oct7 October 23:35
      
      Hope you enjoy the rain as this is bang in the middle of rainy season. However, Kyoto and Hakone are lovely at that time and onsens can be magical in the rain too.
      - Harry T says:
        
        8 Oct8 October 07:07
        
        Thanks, I’ve been looking at Kyoto.
- Polly says:
  
  7 Oct7 October 23:22
  
  We actually booked out of jersey this time, 1st time to try an alternative departure point out of UK to KUL. May stay a few days beg March in Jersey when we get back, if we ever get away, that is. But it’s fun planning and booking, pretend we might get away!
  - Harry T says:
    
    8 Oct8 October 07:07
    
    I hope you manage to get away. INV is a bit easier for us than Jersey, but I guess it gives you an opportunity for an extra mini holiday too.
- Alan says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 09:23
  
  Fingers crossed for you! 👍
  - Harry T says:
    
    8 Oct8 October 10:15
    
    Thanks, Alan! 😊
David says:

7 Oct7 October 21:49

Called up this evening and changed a 241 redemption to SIN in J in August to SIN in F in May. Original booking was turned into an FTV and then used immediatly to book the new flights. Was told I was getting a refund of 91,000 points and confirmed that it would be posted back to the account instead of going to a new FTV.

The points haven’t posted back to account yet, though a few months ago I cancelled an F booking to Mexico and got the points back before the call even finished. Is it likely to just be slow in posting back or is this unusual? Looking to make another 241 redemption but need the points back into the account as I am not that Avios rich
- Harry T says:
  
  7 Oct7 October 22:32
  
  In my experience, if the Avios don’t post immediately, you’re in trouble.
  - David says:
    
    7 Oct7 October 23:51
    
    Just read your comment in today’s chat thread regarding your missing Avios, glad you got it back!
    
    Did you chase them over phone or email? I’m planning on using the points on a redemption outside of the sale dates so I don’t need them back ASAP but would also like to make sure they don’t disappear into the ether!
    - Harry T says:
      
      8 Oct8 October 11:33
      
      We rang about nine times and made a formal complaint online too.
      - David says:
        
        8 Oct8 October 13:45
        
        Thanks for the advice Harry, was initally going to leave it be for a little while until this sale was over, hoping it might sort itself out. Spent most of today on the phone to BA and finally got it sorted. Luckily a little easier than your situation!
Tom says:

8 Oct8 October 00:18

Apologies if this has been asked before.

If I book with a 2-for-1 Amex voucher, can I change my travel dates at £35pp (without a top-up in Avios to the normal rate)? If I cancel it, does my refund (at £35pp) come back into my account as Avios?
- Rob says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 09:15
  
  1. No
  2. Refund comes back as you originally paid it
pauline says:

8 Oct8 October 06:56

Help please! I have a return 2f1 booking EDi – LHR – SIN originally booked for may this year and cancelled by BA. As my 2 f 1 was expiring 13/1/21 I took a FTV and rebooked in J for May 2021. Flights in F are available LHR – SIN but I am told that if I cancel the booking my 2f1 voucher cant be used as it will have expired. Apologies if this has already been covered but does the 2 year FTV extension on the 2f1 only work for 1 rebook?
- Sam G says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 07:42
  
  If all the flights you want are still available then why not request another FTV and call back and rebook?
  - pauline says:
    
    8 Oct8 October 09:15
    
    Flights have now gone – so annoying!
Princess says:

8 Oct8 October 08:41

Hi again, I’m considering to risk and book something else for the end of october, even if in economy, but in a couple of places I checked the math doesn’t seem to work. for example I check Antigua and even Male, but the avios final balance is not reduced 50% but only around 33% am I missing somenthing?
- Sean says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 10:01
  
  peak versus off peaK?
- MinR says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 10:12
  
  There were reports of glitches on BA’s website for Avios pricing for Economy seats not reflecting the 50%
Bobby says:

8 Oct8 October 10:09

I just called BA to make a redemption booking and was told I couldn’t use an eVoucher to pay the taxes/fees. Is that true? I have to use the eVoucher for a non-reward flight?
- Princess says:
  
  8 Oct8 October 10:13
  
  I was told the same yesterday 🙁
  - Anna says:
    
    8 Oct8 October 10:18
    
    I used a voucher from a cancelled BA holiday booking earlier this year to pay half the taxes on a new avios flight booking. It was all done via email, no issues.
    - Anna says:
      
      8 Oct8 October 10:19
      
      Sounds like they’ve been told to say that to pax to squeeze more cash out of them!
    - Pete C says:
      
      8 Oct8 October 11:01
      
      I was told on the phone very clearly last week that if I cancelled a cash booking for a FTV, I could use it to pay the taxes & fees on a reward booking. I took the FTV, called back to use it towards a reward booking, and was denied
      - Definitas says:
        
        8 Oct8 October 11:25
        
        Ask for a transcript of your telephone call.
      - Pete C says:
        
        8 Oct8 October 11:41
        
        The value of the voucher isn’t really large enough to make the effort to complain, but it has taught me to be careful about ‘booking with confidence’ as they’ll do whatever they can to make it difficult to rebook
      - Lady London says:
        
        9 Oct9 October 09:44
        
        Record calls like thesei if you can Recordings of an alarming number of calls with passengers may turn out to be lost.