British Airways Releases 10,000 Extra Business Class Award Seats for the Holidays

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.


Business travel dries up over the holidays. British Airways has inordinately large premium cabins.
So there are plenty of unsold seats.

These are often discounted for paid tickets, and made available as awards. They’re highlighting that their inventory management folks have dumped extra seats six months out, as is common.

From 13 June 2017 an additional 10,000 seats in our business class cabin are now available when you book long haul flights for travel between 18 December 2017 and 5 January 2018.

Wherever you chose to go, you now have the chance to get there and back in style.

Of course, British Airways business class isn’t a great product. Seats are fully flat, but they squeeze 8 seats across in a Boeing 777 compared to just four on American and Delta.

And British Airways business class awards come with fuel surcharges using almost any frequent flyer currency in the world. That means taxes and fees on a transatlantic roundtrip booking can approach $1000 (although lower if you book two one ways instead of a round trip).

You can use British Airways Avios to book and you can use American Airlines miles to book British Airways awards online at aa.com.

Alaska Airlines miles work, so do Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles (transferrable from American Express Membership Rewards and from Citi ThankYou Rewards), along with other oneworld frequent flyer programs.

Award space around the holidays is a good thing — even when it’s an average product and involves a cash outlay.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  1. ‘Of course, British Airways business class isn’t a great product. Seats are fully flat, but they squeeze 8 seats across in a Boeing 777 compared to just four on American and Delta.’

    American and Delta are both 8 seats across in J they just handle the overlap between bodies better. Draw a line across the cabin of any of the configurations of Delta, American or BA and you’ll find space for 4 torsos and four sets of leg.

    BA may be worse but it’s not because of this.

  2. You said there are fuel surcharges in almost any currency… Is there a ffp where you can book ba without fuel surcharge?

  3. Gary-
    I booked 3 SJC-LHR business class seats using AA miles during July right in the middle of the big strike that was announced. What should I do? Sit tight and let BA figure out how to get me to London, or do you recommend I try to do something proactively…?

Comments are closed.