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British Airways has launched a flash sale for short-haul fares departing from London Heathrow and London Gatwick. The airline has announced that it is selling 350,000 seats for travel between London and Europe for fares no higher than £40 (~$53) each way.
Headline Terms & Conditions
- Fares are open to Eligible Participants. An Eligible Participant is a person aged 18 years or over and resident in the UK*
- In total, to/from London Heathrow and London Gatwick, there is a minimum of 350,000 seats available at £40 each-way or less based on a return ‘Hand Baggage Only’ fare.
- Travel must be booked, ticketed, started and finished in the UK.
- Travel from London Heathrow between 16 January and 31 December 2020
- Travel from London Gatwick between 16 January and 30 June 2020
*The t&cs say that a customer must be a UK resident to take part but I don’t see how BA can enforce this. As long as you book on the BA UK website and don’t associate a non-UK Executive Club account with your trip it would seem unlikely that there will be an issue.
British Airways is calling this a “flash sale” but, rather unhelpfully, neither the press release nor the terms and conditions of the sale stipulate and end date. I’m left to assume that this short-haul flash sale will end at the same time as the main sale which has been running for a number of weeks – 30 January 2020.
Read the terms and conditions in full on the sale page
Example Fares
Quick Thoughts
Be aware that the fares being promoted are ‘hand baggage only’ fares so you’ll have to pay extra if you’d like to take checked-baggage on your trip….but there are still some very good deals here.
Budapest is far from being one of BA’s cheaper European destinations but flights can currently be found for between £36 and £43 one-way for most of 2020.
Rome for just £36 each way, Vienna for just £34 each way, Milan for just £24 each way and Berlin for just £37 each way are all fantastic value and, with the sale fares for Heathrow departures valid for travel through the end of the year, there are some very good deals available right now for various school vacations.
Also, if you’ve booked any of the great Qatar Airways Business Class fares that we frequently see out of cities like Oslo and Prague, this may be a good time to book the positioning flight that you’ll need to get to your departure point.
If you already have positioning flights booked with Avios it may be economical to cancel those awards and to rebook using these sale fares….but make sure you work out the math and check availability before making any changes.
Bottom Line
350,000 seats may sound a lot but don’t forget how many customers BA actually has – availability for the most popular dates (warmer months and school vacations) is likely to dwindle quickly so if you find a deal that works for you I suggest booking sooner rather then later.
Link to the BA Flash Sale page
