A note to all British Airways Executive Club (EC) members (which is almost all frequent business travellers), we strongly recommend that you take a few minutes to read about the changes to the EC program regards earning and redeeming your Avios points.
Should you have any questions about the changes please do not hesitate to contact Paul Baker at pbaker@g-t-m.co.uk.
British Airways has once again launched its Upgrade to First campaign. Customers who purchase an eligible Club World fare will be upgraded (one-way) to First on whichever leg of their journey they choose and/or which is available.
The offer is also open to companies who are British Airways On Business members and who are, therefore, eligible for reduced BA fares via the Business Bespoke programme.
This offer is effective immediately for booking and until 13 March 2015. All travel must be completed by 18 April 2015, with outbound departures (this is a UK promotion) being made by 11 April.
British Airways has opened the latest of its refurbished lounges at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
The new lounge, which has been designed by international interiors group Graven, reflects the style and elegance of the airline’s flagship Galleries lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5. There is a deli area for light dining and a stylish bar with complimentary wines, spirits and soft drinks.
Power points are available at most of the seats around the lounge to enable customers to work from their own personal devices. They will also have the ability to print wirelessly to a printer in the lounge.
The move is part of the major transformation to the airports central security area. This also means that there is a temporary walk way to the lounge making the lounge to gate journey roughly a 15-20 minute walk. The lounge has views over the run-way so customers can watch the planes come and go at this busy airport.
This is the latest British Airways lounge to be refurbished with other recent refurbishments at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cape Town and Washington airports.
Height Cuisine.
British Airways First, Club World & World Traveller Plus customers can now guarantee their first choice of main course from the on-board á la carte menu up to 30 days before their flight. The option to pre-order their meal through the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com enables the delivery of a more tailored, individual service. The new service is available between London Heathrow and Las Vegas, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro, Vancouver, Dallas and Seattle with new routes to be added in early 2015.
New Routes For 2015.
A new direct service between London Heathrow and Krakow will launch in May 2015, in addition to the recently announced new double daily service to Bilbao in March. Also announced is the launch of our Airbus A380 service to Miami in October, the seventh destination served by the aircraft along with Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Washington, Singapore and San Francisco. Miami will be one of several British Airways destinations moving to a new Heathrow terminal in 2015 as a result of the closure of Terminal 1. We are taking the opportunity to consolidate our London Heathrow operations into two terminals – Terminal 3 and Terminal 5, with all moves completed by October 2015.
Planes, Trains…
British Airways is working with First Great Western Trains and Heathrow Express to introduce a new proposition available via it’s travel agency partners. From 5 December we (GTM) can now make integrated bookings to include both, a British Airways flight/s and a connecting train journey on selected First Great Western services, via the Heathrow Express from Paddington.
As well as giving you the convenience of being able to book a complete itinerary in one simple transaction, customers will have peace of mind that their onward journey is protected in case their train or flight are delayed.
This upgrade offer is currently only available to companies who are registered On Business members and eligible for Business Bespoke fares – please do check with us if you are unsure.
It is also worth noting that this upgrade offer has been launched in advance of the main promotion to the general public; so get in early whilst the seat availability is good!
The upgrade offer is available from today (Tuesday 29th April 2014) and bookings can be made in the discounted classes (R, D & C) until 2359 on 23rd May 2014. All travel must be completed by 7th September 2014.
Please note that bookings cannot be made via BA.com and some routes/aircraft do not have a First Class cabin and, so, are ineligible.
Happy travels.
Britsh Airways has once again launched its popular Club World to First upgrade offer.
Customers can book a reduced cost semi-flexible fare in booking classes R, D & C from today until 27 January 2014. Outbound travel can take place up to 21 March 2014 and inbound travel must be completed by 11 April 2014.
For those corporate clients with a British Airways On Business account, the aforementioned booking classes may also be used in conjunction with the upgrade offer.
Thereafter 27 January, only booking class J (this relates to BA’s fully flexible fares) may be used in conjunction with the upgrade offer. Book by 21 March – outbound travel must commence at the latest on this date too and all travel must be completed by 11 April 2014.
Please note that there are some exceptions to the above rules, so please call us for clarification.
Yesterday British Airways began operating a new service to Chengdu in Sichuan province in Southwest China. The city has a population of over 14m inhabitants and is BA’s fourth destination in China after Beijing, Hong Kong & Shanghai.
The service took off from London Heathrow and landed in Chengdu this morning. The nose cone of the aircraft had been painted to look like a panda – how twee!
British Airways’ first A380 flew its first official longhaul service today with its inaugural flight to Los Angeles.
Five A380 services a week will now operate between London Heathrow and Los Angeles, increasing to a double daily service from 10 April 2014.
From 22 October, daily A380 services will start between London Heathrow and Hong Kong. Johannesburg is the third A380 destination, with services planned to start from 12 February 2014.
British Airways took delivery of its second A380 over the past weekend, with a third due next month.
British Airways is currently flying its new Airbus A380 aircraft between London Heathrow and Frankfurt on selected flights.
The aircraft’s official inaugural flight is on Tuesday 24th September between London Heathrow and LAX. In the meantime, grab your chance of flying on the A380 in Europe. Please call us for further information.
British Airways has signed an interline deal with US budget carrier Jet Blue, covering a number of its routes in the United States.
The agreement includes the two carriers’ flights from JFK, Boston, Washington DC and Orlando and covers 18 daily transatlantic BA flights, plus more than 50 JetBlue US routes.
The deal is not technically a first between BA and a budget carrier as they already have an agreement with Westjet and Air Berlin.
For Jet Blue this is its 25th airline partner. The carrier is 19 per cent owned by Lufthansa. In recent years Jet Blue has grown away from the budget model, offering extra legroom options and a frequent flier programme.
