Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
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:
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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 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. 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.
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Featured image by Ondrej Zabransky / Shutterstock