British Airways Sale: Business Class & First Class From £1,181 & £1,593 Respectively (UK)

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British Airways has launched a sale on flights and holidays for travel deep into 2021. Over 150 destinations are included in the sale but I’m going to be focusing on the best long-haul Business Class and First Class fares that I’ve found. Some are very good indeed.

Long-Haul First Class Deals

If you’re hoping to find some amazing First Class fares to Asia, Oceania, or to the Caribbean you’re going to be disappointed because I haven’t seen a single fare to any destination in those regions that caused me to sit up and take notice. If, on the other hand, you’re hoping to find a great deal to the United States, you may be in luck.

These are the better roundtrip First Class fares that I’ve seen:

• Boston – from £1,693
• Chicago – from £1,793
• Denver – from £1,793
• Miami – from £1,893
• New York – from £1,593
• Philadelphia – from £1,697
• San Diego – from £1,793
• San Francisco – from £1,693
• Seattle – from £1,793
• Toronto – from £1,693

It’s important that you don’t view these fares in isolation and ignore this sale just because your preferred destination doesn’t feature. Providing you’re prepared to change aircraft and take very short internal flight within the US, these fares can be used to save you an incredible amount of money on trips to cities that don’t appear in the list above.

For example: The cheapest First Class fare on offer to Los Angeles is over £4,000 (which is why it doesn’t appear above), so why not fly First Class to San Francisco for £1,693 and then spend £200 (max) on a separate flight to get down to LA if that’s where you’d prefer to stay. Better yet, why don’t you fly into San Francisco, hire a car, and enjoy the stunning drive down the coast to Los Angeles?

Long-Haul Business Class Deals

Unlike with the First Class fares, there are a lot more great deals to be found in Business Class and to more destinations too. The very best deals are, once again, for destinations within North America, but there are a few deals to other regions too.

Best North America Business Class Deals

• Boston – from £1,281
• Calgary – from £1,395
• Chicago – from £1,380
• Denver – from £1,395
• Los Angeles – from £1,581
• Miami – from £1,485
• Montreal – from £1,395
• New York – from £1,181
• Philadelphia – from £1,281
• San Diego – from £1,395
• San Francisco – from £1,281
• Seattle – from £1,395
• Toronto – from £1,273

That’s a list with some truly fantastic deals. San Francisco for £1,281 non-stop from London is the one that leaps out at me, but the deals to Calgary and Denver for skiing season look very good too and Los Angeles for £1,581 would be a great booking if you can find seats on BA’s A350-1000 (which comes with the new Club Suite Business Class cabin).

Best Caribbean Business Class Deals

• Antigua – from £1,400
• Bridgetown (Barbados) – from £1,371
• Cancun – from £1,293
• Grenada – from £1,401
• Providenciales – from £1,397
• Punta Cana – from £1,303
• San Jose (Costa Rica) – from £1,396
• St Kitts – from £1,391
• St Lucia – from £1,364
• Tobago – from £1,400

The good news that goes alongside these fares is that they’re not only available in the summer months when hurricanes can have a tendency to disrupt travel – most are available in winter months too. Costa Rica and St. Lucia would probably be my two picks form this list (assuming Costa Rica gets added to the UK’s quarantine exemption list) but I have no doubt that the fares to Barbados will get a lot of attention.

The Best Of The Rest

• Abu Dhabi – from £1,366
• New Delhi – from £1,293
• Seoul – from £1,499

Strangely, there aren’t very many good deals to other parts of the world (why pay £1,679pp to fly to Dubai when you can fly to Abu Dhabi for £1,366pp and then catch a cheap 1-hour taxi to Dubai?) but the three deals here are pretty good.

British Airways Refunds/Cancellations

The elephant in the room here is clearly the fact that travel to most parts of the world is still being discouraged so it will take a leap of faith (to a certain degree) for people to book travel any time soon. The key thing for everyone to know is what their right will be should their trips be cancelled or should travel not be possible once their trip dates come around.

If British Airways was to cancel any part of a travelers itinerary, the traveler would be entitled to a full cash refund for their booking. This would include any ancillary fees that may have been paid (e.g. seat booking fees).

For bookings made in this sale (and by the end of September), BA’s flexible booking policy offers no change fees or a voucher exchange for all bookings with travel before the end of August 2021. Refunds will not be issued if a traveler voluntarily cancels a trip but a voucher (for future travel) to the full value of the trip will be an option.

Bottom Line

British Airways is currently offering some very good long-haul Business Class and First Class fares for travel into August 2021. The best fares on offer are to North America but there are a few interesting deals to the Caribbean too.