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British Airways has announced a big sale for departures from London Heathrow and Gatwick and I’ve got a full round-up of the long-haul deals in the blog post below. Some of the premium cabin deals look very interesting indeed but I should temper any excitement by pointing out that the deals are good for departures from the UK (where high taxes and high demand ordinarily make premium cabin flights expensive). These aren’t deals on a par with what we’ve seen in recent weeks out of Paris and out of New York but some of them still merit a closer look.
All sale fares must be booked by midnight (UK) 12 July 2016.
British Airways Business Class Deals
The headline deals, as shown on the British Airways website, look like this:
USA
But those prices are, mostly, only available in December/January….
….and then only around Christmas and New Year……
The prices in other months are at least £300/$425 more expensive….so that should further temper any excitement for this sale.
For me it’s the Seattle Business Class fare that looks the most interesting starting at just £1,176/$1,670 – that’s the sort of fare that we normally see for departures from Europe.
Once again the best fares are only available around Christmas and New Year but the fares in July, August & November 2016 as well as a few dates in March & April 2017 aren’t bad either.
It’s also worth pointing out that there are some good fares to other US cities not mentioned on the BA highlights page.
If you haven’t tried out the British Airways 787-9 Dreamliner some of these fares to San Jose may be of interest….
If you don’t see a city you’d like to visit on the list then search for it on the BA low fare finder page and you may be pleasantly surprised.
Middle East
The fares to the Middle East aren’t too bad…..
…..and the Dubai fares will probably be quite popular:
Interestingly, while once again the best fares are around Christmas and New Year, the difference to the prices for other months isn’t as large as we saw with the fares to the US – there could be some value to be had here for those who don’t like taking positing flights to Europe for the cheap Business Class flights we often see from there.
India, Asia & Australia
The fares to India look ok (for departures from the UK) but I don’t see too much that tempts me from this list:
There are other “sale fares” on offer to other areas of the world (you’ll find them on the main British Airways sale page) but I can’t imagine they’ll tempt too many people.
British Airways First Class Deals
USA
These are the headline deals according to the British Airways sale page:
But it’s a deal that not on that page that looks very tempting…and once again it’s to Seattle:
£1,837/$2,610 is a very good fare for First Class to the West Coast and the fact that its available for dates this summer as well as for dates in November, December 2016 and January, March & April 2017 makes it that little bit better.
Middle East
Considering Abu Dhabi is no more than an hour away from Dubai by taxi (and a cheap taxi at that), I’d be tempted to fly there and save over £100 per person even if I was heading to Dubai.
These are pretty decent First Class fares for departures from London and, when you compare them to the Business Class fares, it’s possible to make an argument that they’re better value than the lower cabin. Besides, a lot of people will take any excuse to get out of the flying dormitory that is BA Club World on their 777 aircraft 🙂
India, Asia & Australia
I’m not overly impressed by any of these fares but that’s probable because I’m happy to position into Europe and fly Business Class to the same cities for half of what these fares are (sometimes for even less).
Bottom Line
The prices need to be taken in context and not compared to prices we’ve been seeing recently out of Europe and the US.
For flights departing from London some of these fares are pretty good indeed and, for those with young families who could really do without the extra effort of connecting in Europe just to get a cheap Business Class deal, some of these fares could be good value.
It’s a little disappointing that the best fares are only available on a few dates in late December and early January but hopefully they’ll still be of use to a few readers who have yet to settle on their New Year plans.
Out all the fares that I’ve seen and have discussed I’d say that the Business Class fare to San Jose and the First Class fare to Seattle would interest me most (and possibly the First Class fare to San Jose just to try the 787-9 Dreamliner’s premium cabin).
For those looking to save on a fare to Los Angeles you may want to consider flying into Las Vegas and driving to LA and for those looking to save on flights to Dubai I’ll repeat what I mentioned earlier – fly to Abu Dhabi and catch a cheap taxi to Dubai.
Personally I’m probably going to stay away from any of these sale fares – I’ve got almost all of my travel for 2016 already booked and, for any other needs, I’m happy to wait for the very cheap fares out of Europe.
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For the British Air flights, premium economy fares seem to be discounted as well. I booked some ex-LHR fares to SFO the other day at a very low fare, about £700 return. Thanks for the tip!
Good PE fare…especially ex-LHR.What time of year was that? (I love SFO btw…great choice of destination)