British Airways UK Sale – First Class From £1,665 Roundtrip

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Traveling For Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Traveling For Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.

British Airways has launched a new sale for departures out of the UK and there are some great value redemptions in both First Class and Business Class. The sale runs through to 22 June and includes most short-haul and long-haul routes that British Airways is operating or planning to operate as well as the airline’s holiday packages and car hire deals.

Important Notes

With the travel world still in (mostly) chaos and with the UK government not showing much interest in relaxing the rules around testing, self-isolation, and quarantining for travelers returning from abroad, anyone interested in making the most of some of these sale fares will almost certainly have to take a punt on when restrictions will ease.

Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that it’s not just the UK’s regulations that need to be considered. Most of the better long-haul deals on offer in this sale are for travel to destinations in the United States, and the Biden administration has yet to give any indication when we can expect travelers from the UK to be allowed to enter the US. It’s probably reasonable to expect the US to open up to visitors from the UK by the middle of the summer but anyone considering making a speculative booking should make sure they’re very clear on BA’s current cancellation policy (see here)

Right, with that all said, here are some of the better fares that I’ve seen:

The British Airways Sale: Long-Haul Flights

Below are some examples of the fares you can expect to find on long-haul routes in the latest British Airways sale but, as the list is far from exhaustive, you should check the sale page and the British Airways low fare finder tool for any specific routes you may be interested in.

First Class Deals (Roundtrip)

• Atlanta – from £1,665
• Beijing – from £2,199
• Dubai – from £2,290
• Hong Kong – from £2,590
• Johannesburg – from £2,810
• Miami – from £2,183
• Nashville – from £1,787
• New York – from £1,833
• San Francisco – from £1,883
• Singapore – from £2,491

More First Class deals available via the low fare finder tool

Business Class Deals (Roundtrip)

• Abu Dhabi – from £1,448
• Antigua – from £1,681
• Atlanta – from £1,267
• Austin – from £1,486
• Bridgetown (Barbados) – £1,700
• Boston – from £1,486
• Cancun – £1,446
• Chicago – from £1,486
• Denver – from £1,430
• Dubai – from £1,590
• Hong Kong – from £1,790
• Houston – from £1,398
• Islamabad – from £1,432
• Johannesburg – from £2,010
• Kingston – from £1,395
• Los Angeles – from £1,467
• Mexico City – from £1,435
• Miami – from £1,574
• Montreal – from £1,587
• Nairobi – from £1,699
• Nashville – from £1,385
• New York – from £1,267
• Orlando – from £1,567
• Philadelphia – from £1,474
• Punta Cana – from £1,403
• Rio De Janeiro – from £1,487
• San Francisco – from £1,467
• San Jose (Costa Rica) – from £1,621
• Sao Paulo – from £1,499
• Seattle – from £1,486
• Singapore – from £1,791
• Toronto – from £1,487
• Vancouver – from £1,499
• Washington D.C – from £1,491

More Business Class deals available via the low fare finder tool

British Airways 160 Tier Point Sale Sweet Spots

Because British Airways awards Tier Points based on the distance of a flight, there are a number of the airline’s longer short-haul routes that award considerably more Tier Points than all of the others – while a London to Belgrade roundtrip (1,060 miles each way) will only earn an Executive Club member 80 Tier Points, the slightly longer London to Sofia roundtrip (1,271 miles each way) will earn a member 160 Tier Points – and these are routes on which prices should be keenly watched by anyone wanting to load up on some “cheap” Tier Points.

Right now, the British Airways sale is offering some very good Business Class deals on a range of routes that will all earn Executive Club members 80 Tier Points one-way or 160 Tier Points for a single round trip.

Here’s a selection of the best one-way fares I’ve found:

• Bucharest – from £132
• Catania – from £119
• Funchal – from £158
• Istanbul – from £134
• Lanzarote – from £147
• Malta – from £146
• Paphos – from £169
• Preveza Lefkada – from £132
• Reykjavik – from £147
• Sofia – from £90

Most of these offer fantastic value but the standout fare here is the deal to Sofia where Tier Points cost just £1.13 each. If you were so inclined, you could actually use the amazing fare to Sofia to earn British Airways Gold status for well under £2,000.

The best way to find these fares is to use the British Airways Low Fare Finder tool which will show you the months in which the cheapest fares are available, but be aware that the length of stay you choose will impact how readily available the best deals are.

Bottom Line

For better or worse, British Airways has launched a sale on long-haul and short-haul fares as well as on holidays and car rentals. The very best long-haul deals look to be in the First Class cabin (although the Busines Class fare to Los Angeles is unusually good for a BA sale) and as far as short-haul goes, the Club Europe fare to Sofia is just stunning.

Overall, however, there’s no escaping from the fact that anyone booking one of these sale fares is taking a gamble on when the world will truly start to open up. Obviously, the further in the future your travel dates are the better chance you stand of not having to cancel, but at this stage almost all bookings still come with an element of risk – keep that in mind before you hand over your credit card details.