Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

1 million British Airways seats bookable for less than £40

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As part of its current sale, British Airways has released over 1 million seats to Europe for less than £40 each way!

In addition to these very low Economy prices, there are also some excellent fares to be found in Club Europe, including Malaga from as little as £84 one way.

You must book by midnight on 26th January to get these extra 1 million seats, but the offer covers travel dates all the way through until December 2021.

You can see all deals available here.

Club Europe British Airways

What are the Club Europe flight prices?

Let’s focus on Club Europe, as this is can be a source of good value Executive Club tier points as well as offering you a more relaxing flight.

Here are some ‘lead-in’ prices in Club Europe (note these are each-way):

  • Malaga £84
  • Faro £94
  • Geneva £90
  • Larnaca £114
  • Nice £94
  • Palma (Majorca) £119

It wasn’t many years ago that any Club Europe trip under £250 return was seen as sensational. British Airways is now offering flights from under £170 return, which come with the usual Club Europe benefits:

  • Priority check-in
  • Fast track security
  • Lounge access
  • Guaranteed empty middle seat
  • Complementary food and drink
  • At least 40 tier points each way
  • 1.5 Avios per mile flown, with a minimum of 750, plus any status bonus

These are all based on a seven day return trip flying from London Heathrow. Don’t forget that, from the examples above, Larnaca is a 160 tier point Club Europe destination when flying return, so this could be a nice tier point earner at a low price point.

What about Club World flights?

If you want your first trip out of lockdown to be a little further afield, there are some appealing Club World / Club Suite offers too. Jamaica from £1,189 is sounding particularly attractive on this cold January day.

You can find out more about Club Suite, now available on selected aircraft, in the HfP Club Suite guide here.

These prices are RETURN:

  • New York £1,199
  • Orlando £1,499
  • Las Vegas £1,599
  • Los Angeles £1,399
  • Barbados £1,339
  • Kingston, Jamaica £1,189
  • Tokyo £1,898
  • Singapore £1,999
  • Mauritius £1,799

As above, all prices are based on a seven day return trip flying from London Heathrow.

British Airways Club Suite cabin

British Airways ‘Book with Confidence’ commitment

We are still in some very uncertain times and booking a flight may feel a little risky. Here is the British Airways’ ‘Book with confidence’ commitment for reassurance:

Changing your booking
You can change the dates and destination of your booking without incurring a change fee, although you will need to pay any difference in price. This applies to bookings made from 3rd March 2020 onwards for journeys that are due to have been completed by 31st August 2021.

Cancelling your booking
If you decide you no longer want to travel, you can cancel your booking and BA will give you a voucher to the same value for a future booking (as above, this applies to bookings made from 3rd March 2020 onwards for journeys that are due to have been completed by 31st August 2021).

COVID-19 Safety
British Airways has a 4-star COVID-19 safety rating, awarded due to their stringent cleaning measures and protective customer standards

How should you pay for your tickets?

To maximise your miles when paying, your best bet is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays

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 do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card

Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

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

Conclusion

The ‘1 million seats for less than £40 each way’ offer is only available until 26th January so you have just a few days to book. Don’t forget this

The other offers will be available until the sale ends on 2nd February.

You can search for flights and see all applicable terms and conditions 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:

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.)

Comments (57)

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

  • Tyra says:

    For these deals, you also need to factor in destination country quarantine measures. For example, “Passengers arriving at Larnaka or Pafos Airports from UK airports, will undergo a molecular test upon their arrival at the Airports and will be transferred to hotels provided by the Republic for compulsory 7-day self-isolation.”

  • Anna says:

    How many tier points are needed to get to Silver now? I have MAN-LHR-MIA return for cash in J later this year (if it happens) and could probably sneak in a couple of e.g. MAN-LHR-AGP in various school hols before my membership year ends (Jul 8).
    Ghengis, I note you are in fine form this morning for calculating these things!

    • NvT1115 says:

      450 TPs

      • Anna says:

        Thanks – will that apply to my next tier year (Jul 21 – Jul 22)?

        • Yuff says:

          You get it for the rest of your year plus the following year. So ideally you want your Miami flights after your membership year ends and achieve silver as soon after jul 8th with the additional flights, as soon as you achieve the TP’s you achieve the status.
          Qatar flights to DXB etc will make it a lot easier especially ex -eu

  • Niomi says:

    Question: if I booked with miles within those dates, does the change policy still apply (ie no fee to move the flights)?

  • Anna says:

    No let up in the gouging of families with school kids – MAN-AGP return at October half term is over £700 in CE!

    • Jimmy says:

      I think if you’re flying CE to Spain during half term, it’s a bit out of touch to complain about being gouged. You’re well off enough to have benefitted from supply and demand plenty of times in other areas

      • Anna says:

        But the price discrepancy applies to any class of travel if you bothered to inform yourself prior to sniping, it’s a general point about the way families of all incomes are treated by travel providers.

        • Rob says:

          It’s pure supply and demand, nothing more. The flight will be full at £700, so why should BA sell the seats for £50? If BA decides by early September that it is looking like it won’t be full at £700, the price will fall.

          Even if BA DID sell the seats for £50, your chance of getting them would be virtually nil as they’d sell out instantly.

          • Chrisasaurus says:

            Indeed the ‘cheap’ off peak pricing is sometimes below cost, just as much as the peak pricing is well above it, so the gap isn’t as simple as gouging you’re simply choosing to see the cheapest price as the ‘correct’ price and using that as your frame of reference

          • Rob says:

            BA is not in the business of selling tickets at a loss for PR reasons, unlike Ryanair.

        • Callum says:

          They were probably “sniping” because you were using an absurd example for exaggerated effect.

          The price for economy is well under half that price, and only seems to be about £50 higher than the week before. Though if you’re price sensitive, I don’t know why you wouldn’t be taking one of the direct LCC flights for even less?

          The travel industry doesn’t remotely treat families badly. Are you also suggesting that airlines should all have a set price-per-seat and ditch variable pricing altogether? It’s the exact same thing.

      • Chrisasaurus says:

        Since this was criticised I wanted to add my thought that it was very nicely put.

    • The cyclist says:

      Simple solution, send your kids to private school, I did, loads more flexibility with dates, and the schools are a lot more flexible regards taking your children out. 😀

      • Gringo says:

        Not sure if the cost saving on flights offset the fees

        • Jill ( Kinkell) says:

          Sent our 3 privately as boarders…. holidays? Huh … very much staycations for a good few years until they were all through uni. Not complaining, just making up for it now. Well, we would be, if allowed out of the country!

    • Jonathan says:

      Get used to it! If Business travel drops off then the pool of high yield travellers will be substantially smaller. BA need a proportion of price insensitive customers to offset the £40 sale fares out of season. Since they have no realistic competition for business class to Spain you can guarantee they’ll be squeezing you as hard as they can.

      The cheap fares are misleading, they’re the equivalent of a supermarket selling you a fillet steak for 20p 5mins before closing time on the sell by date. £350 is probably about par for a 1500 mile flight in business so 2x that is perfectly acceptable for one of the top 5 annual periods of demand on that route.

    • ChrisBCN says:

      If they weren’t priced at 700 you’d only be complaining that they are sold out. Some people are never happy!

      • Freddy says:

        I’ll be taking the kids out of school during term time once covid has blown over. The schools didn’t seem particularly desperate to get back to proper teaching last year and this year seems like a repeat

  • GaryE says:

    I think if BA wanted to attract a substantial amount of money they should have extended their Book with Confidence cancellation peiod to the end of 2021 as there is still alot of uncertainty about travelling abroad upto the end of August.

  • tony says:

    £1692 to Seattle in First. Blimey! But as others have noted, without the BWC scheme beyond August, there’s no way I’d be happy to lay out cash. The current vouchers have to be used by April ’22 as well, so with government chatter about another lockdown next winter, it’s just too risky.

    Have now booked Avios seats for the revised summer family holiday and won’t be booking anything else until there’s absolute certainty we can travel.

  • Fadi says:

    I need 40tp and 4 ba flights to hit silver (from blue!) by early March. Can’t see that happening. My airport is Manchester if anyone knows a way.

    • Alex says:

      Manchester to London is still running if you needed to travel for business. 5-20 TP’s in economy based on booking class or 40 in club. If you had enough tier points you could call BA and see if they’ll give status despite being flights short due to covid etc…

    • Rob says:

      The 4 BA flights is an issue – you’d be looking at an economy domestic flight and a Club one-way / economy back domestic flight. This assumes domestic travel restrictions relax.

      • Fadi says:

        Yeah I’m not feeling optimistic. Did all my flying with QR and probably shouldn’t have credited to BA. Would need the domestic J/Y twice which is an expensive outing.

  • Nic says:

    Perhaps hang on until Monday which is when EU Council discuss the possibility of banning all non-essential travel within (and certainly from outside) of Europe, proposed yesterday, while they get a handle on Covid situation.

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