Deal Alert: Save up to 50% on all British Airways award flights

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As airlines work to entice customers to get back in the air with them, they are pulling out all the stops. Today, British Airways has launched an amazing promotion where you can save up to 50% on all award flights — including in first and business class!

British Airways offering 50% off all award flights

For flights booked before Oct. 13 for travel between Oct. 5 and June 30, 2021, you can use 25% fewer miles to book short-haul British Airways flights. However, the real kicker is that British Airways will price all long-haul award flights at 50% off!

While you’ll be shelling out far fewer points with this sale, the biggest downside to awards booked with British Airways is that they tack on significant fuel surcharges. On long-haul business and first-class awards, you’ll be paying hundreds of dollars per itinerary.

Another positive is you can use the BA Travel Together Ticket from the British Airways Visa Signature credit card for this deal (although you still have to pay taxes and fees for the companion ticket).

You won’t need to enter a promo code to see the discounted flights, just search for your preferred destination and you’ll automatically see the discounted price.

Finally, this promotion only applies to flights on British Airways aircraft. You won’t be able to book a discounted trip on BA’s Oneworld partners, like American Airlines — which is normally a great use of Avios points.

Award availability is plentiful on almost all dates, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding seats in any class of service. Here are a few examples of what you can book:

Fly from New York to London in economy class for 6,500 Avios + $83

Fly from New York to London in business class for 25,000 Avios + $747

Fly from Chicago to Paris in business class for 35,688 Avios + $715

Earning British Airways Avios

Most people probably don’t have a stash of Avios in their back pocket. Fortunately, two of the most popular flexible points currencies, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards, both instantly transfer to British Airways at a 1:1 ratio.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is currently offering an 80,000 point welcome bonus after spending $4,000 in the first three months. While you won’t be able to earn the welcome bonus before this promotion is over, it is a heck of a lot of points, and we’ll very likely see similar deals from the airlines as they try to rebuild their customer base.

For more ways to earn, check out our guides on how to earn Membership Rewards points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Bottom line

This is a fantastic promotion if you have plans to travel internationally in the next year (and hope that more countries will open up for tourism in 2021). The biggest downside is British Airways’ excessive fuel surcharges. If you want to know how to avoid them, read our guide here.

For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

Featured image by Ondrej Zabransky / Shutterstock

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

• Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

• 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel.

• Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21.

• Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. That’s 3X points in addition to the 2X points you already earn on travel.

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$95

Balance Transfer Fee

Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

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Annual Fee $95

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