AARP renews its fantastic British Airways discounts (& how to get a cheap membership)

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The AARP has been offering great discounts on British Airways flights for years and with the recent announcement that the discounts have been renewed for yet another year, and the news that it’s currently possible to get an AARP membership for the cost of a couple of coffees, this seems like a good time to remind readers of what and how they can save.

Quite a few people probably already know that the card_name offers cardholders 10% off British Airways flights originating in the US and up to $600 in surcharge rebates every year, but I’m willing to bet that considerably fewer people know that a super-cheap AARP membership offers discounts on British Airways bookings of up to $200 per person per flight.

Even fewer people probably realize that the AARP British Airways discounts are available on British Airways codeshare services operated by American Airlines and Iberia, as well as on British Airways operated flights.

The discounts that AARP offers on BA bookings are truly fantastic.

AARP British Airways discounts

If you want to get in-depth details on how the AARP discount works you should check out this article by JT Genter. For anyone who wants a quick overview and who wants to know how to get a super-cheap AARP membership, this is what you need to know:

About AARP

AARP is the acronym for the American Association of Retired Persons but you don’t need to be retired, old, or of any specific age to get a membership. A membership that will get you the BA discount is open to all age groups (associate membership).

The AARP British Airways discounts

• The AARP offers the following discounts on British Airways bookings:
  • $65 off standard Economy Class/World Traveller fares (doesn’t include Basic Economy).
  • $65 off Premium Economy/World Traveller Plus fares
  • $200 off Business Class/Club World fares
• Bookings have to be made through the dedicated BA/AARP page.
• A roundtrip booking is required to trigger the AARP British Airways discount.
• Open-jaw bookings will not trigger the discount.
• The discount is only open to US residents paying in US dollars, with travel originating in the US.
• There is no limit to the number of times these discounts can be used in a year.
• The discounts can be applied to all passengers on an itinerary even if they are not all AARP members.
• There’s no limit to the number of people on a reservation that makes use of these discounts but one of the passengers on the itinerary must be an AARP member.
• This year’s discounts have been extended to bookings made by 31 January 2022

Stack discounts

Holders of the card_name can stack the 10% saving that their credit card offers them on British Airways flights by using the code “CHASEBA10” in the promotion box that presents itself at checkout.

Get cheap AARP membership

Even under normal circumstances, AARP membership isn’t exactly expensive – $16/year for a one-year membership – but right now it can be locked in for an incredibly cheap rate.

AARP is currently discounting its one-year membership by 25% (to just $12) and anyone happy to commit to a longer-term membership can choose to pay as little as $9/year. Holders of the excellent Citi® Double Cash Card (review) may be able to do even better.

Citi is targeting select holders of the Citi® Double Cash Card (and possibly other Citi cards) with an offer for 20% off AARP membership purchased by 31 March 2021.

By loading this offer to their card and then using that card to purchase AARP membership via aarp.org/cashback, holders of the Citi® Double Cash Card can lock in AARP membership from between $9.60 for a one-year membership to $36 for a 5-year membership ($7.20/year)…and that doesn’t include the 2% cash back that the Double Cash Card will earn.

If you think there’s even the slightest chance that you may book a British Airways flight (or codeshare flight) out of the United States at some point this year, you should almost certainly jump on one of these membership options.

Bottom line

The AARP British Airways discounts of between $65 and $200 per person per flight are back for another year, so anyone with plans to book a British Airways flight (or codeshare flight) out of the United States in 2021 should strongly consider signing up for membership.