British Airways Winter Sale Is Live – Transatlantic First Class From £1,793! (UK)

a dock over water with a straw roof

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24 hours after Virgin Atlantic launched its winter promotion British Airways has followed suit and launched its winter sale for departures out of the UK. Most British Airways destinations appear to be on sale and there looks to be something for everyone this time around….and there are a few very good transatlantic deals to be had.

British Airways Winter 2018 Sale

The three main things you need to know about this sale are:

  1. Flights to all destinations must be booked by 23:59 GMT 31 January 2019
  2. The travel date on sale will vary depending on your destination (most include travel for most of 2019) – check the terms and conditions on the sale page for precise details.
  3. Some of the better deals require a 7-night trip

I’m going to concentrate on the premium cabin sale fares in this post but be aware that all cabins are on sale through 31 January 2019.

British Airways Sale – First Class Deals

an airplane with seats and windows
British Airways A380 First Class

Here are some example roundtrip fares (many more fares available)

USA

  • Boston – From £2,315
  • Chicago – From £1,874
  • Las Vegas – From £2,790
  • Miami – From £2,649
  • Nashville – From £1,793
  • New York – From £2,024
  • San Francisco – From £2,555
  • San Jose – From £2,455
  • Seattle – From £2,227
  • Washington D.C. – From £1,890

Asia & The Middle East

  • Abu Dhabi – From £2,499
  • Dubai – From £2,939
  • Hong Kong – From £3,583
  • Kuala Lumpur – From £2,980
  • Mumbai – Form £2,370
  • New Delhi – From £2,468
  • Singapore – From £3,380

Caribbean

  • Barbados – From £3,001
  • Bermuda – From £2,998
  • Grenada – From £2,312
  • Trinidad – From £2,307

Africa & Indian Ocean

  • Cape Town – From £2,958
  • Johannesburg – From £3,028
  • Seychelles – From £2,632

South America

  • Santiago – From £3,284
  • Sao Paulo – From £2,984

WOW! First Class across the Atlantic for £1,793, £1,874 or £1,890!!! Those are fantastic First Class fares.

a seat and a monitor in the back of a plane
British Airways 787-9 First Class – Image courtesy of British Airways

Ok, so BA First Class is no Etihad Apartment but this still represents a very good deal for anyone looking to try out the airlines premier cabin (and the Concorde Room at Heathrow)….and let’ not forget just how much better First Class is when compared to Club World.

Access the First Class deals via this link and use the low price finder to find the cheapest fares

British Airways Sale – Club World (Business Class) Deals

British Airways 787-9 Dreamliner Business Class
British Airways 787-9 Business Class

Here are some example roundtrip fares (many more fares available)

USA

  • Boston – From £1,478
  • Chicago – From £1,474
  • Las Vegas – From £1,721
  • Los Angeles – From £1,763
  • Miami – From £1,676
  • Nashville – From £1,377
  • New York – From £1,476
  • Orlando – From £1,660
  • San Francisco – From £1,583

Asia & The Middle East

  • Abu Dhabi – From £1,599
  • Dubai – From £1,871
  • Hong Kong – From £2,983
  • Mumbai – Form £2,070
  • New Delhi – From £2,184
  • Shanghai – From £1,807
  • Tokyo – From £2,299

Caribbean

  • Antigua – From £1,716
  • Bahamas – From £1,783
  • Barbados – From £1,700
  • Bermuda – From £1,780
  • Cancun – From £1,645
  • Trinidad & Tobago – From £1,711
  • Turks & Caicos – From £1,916

Africa & Indian Ocean

  • Cape Town – From £2,126
  • Johannesburg – From £2,230
  • Mauritius – From £1,984
  • Seychelles – From £1,932

South America

  • Buenos Aires – From £2,000
  • Lima – From £1,679
  • Rio De Janeiro – From £1,984
  • Santiago – From £2,300
  • Sao Paulo – From £1,984

The better value here is definitely on the transatlantic routes to the US with a number of destinations reachable for under £1,500 roundtrip – that may not be great if you’re used to flying out Scandinavia or certain cities in continental Europe but for travel out of the UK those are pretty good fares.

I can’t see anything too tempting on any of the other routes and, considering how close some of the Business Class fares are to the First Class fares, you’ll get better value by paying a bit more for First Class and escaping Club World.

British Airways 787-9 Dreamliner Business Class
British Airways 787-9 Business Class

Note: If you’re thinking of heading to Dubai, I strongly suggest you consider flying to Abu Dhabi and taking a taxi to Dubai – the taxi won’t be expensive and you’ll save a lot on the airfare.

Access the Club World deals via this link and use the low price finder to find the cheapest fares

British Airways Sale – World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) Deals

a row of seats in an airplane
British Airways new Premium Economy cabin – Image courtesy of British Airways

Here are some example roundtrip fares (many more fares available)

USA

  • Boston – From £678
  • Chicago – From £755
  • Las Vegas – From £732
  • Los Angeles – From £759
  • Miami – From £864
  • Nashville – From £778
  • New York – From £762
  • Orlando – From £788
  • San Francisco – From £753

Asia & The Middle East

  • Abu Dhabi – From £613
  • Dubai – From £623
  • Hong Kong – From £936
  • Mumbai – From £726
  • New Delhi – From £720
  • Shanghai – From £664
  • Tokyo – From £985

Caribbean

  • Antigua – From £676
  • Bahamas – From £947
  • Barbados – From £610
  • Bermuda – From £591
  • Cancun – From £740
  • Tobago – From £697
  • Turks & Caicos – From £786

Africa & Indian Ocean

  • Cape Town – From £890
  • Johannesburg – From £888
  • Mauritius – From £959
  • Seychelles – From £935

South America

  • Buenos Aires – From £1,080
  • Lima – From £745
  • Rio De Janeiro – From £984
  • Santiago – From £1,084
  • Sao Paulo – From £984

There are some good deals across the board here and it’s interesting to see how some of the fares match up with Virgin Atlantic’s deals that I published yesterday.

I would pick Virgin’s Premium Economy cabin over BA’s almost every time (Virgin’s seat is a lot better) and I’d probably also pay a small premium to fly Virgin over BA too (yes, the difference is that noticeable) so make sure you do your research before you book.

On most of the non-US routes it looks like the Premium Economy cabin offers a lot more value than Business Class as, in a lot of cases, Premium Economy costs less than half the Business Class fare.

an airplane seat with two monitors
British Airways new Premium Economy cabin – Image courtesy of British Airways

Where Business Class to Johannesburg costs £2,230 you can get there in Premium Economy for £888, where Business Class to Hong Kong costs £2,983 a Premium Economy seat will cost £936 and where Business Class to New Delhi will set you back £2,184 the Premium Economy cabin will cost just £720.

Yes, Business Class will get you a lie-flat bed while Premium Economy won’t but, having flown extensively in Business Class with BA, I know that I wouldn’t pay some of the premiums over Premium Economy that BA is charging.

Access the Premium Economy deals via this link and use the low price finder to find the cheapest fares

Other Deals

There are so many other deals on offer in the British Airways Winter sale that I don’t have time or room to fit them all in so here are some links that may be of help:

Bottom Line

There are some VERY good deals in here if you’re prepared to do a bit of work to weed them out.

If you’re just looking to book flights don’t forget to use the Low Fare Finder as it’s the easiest and quickest way to find the cheapest flights but don’t forget that, sometimes, it can be cheaper to book a flight and a hotel than booking a flight alone (you can book the hotel for a single night and never actually check in) so make sure you check what BA Holidays is offering too.

Has anyone found any good/great deals they’re going to book? Share and brag in the comments below 🙂

3 COMMENTS

  1. We go to S Africa a lot and often go from there to Sydney.
    However, I looked at the prices for a 2 week trip to Johannesburg and it’s £1300 per person for flight and hotel in February and this is for business class flights . What would happen if we didn’t get the flight back to UK but instead went off to Sydney at the end of the 2 weeks? Would they just ignore the fact that we hadn’t got on the flight? Or I am bad for even suggesting this?

Comments are closed.