Business Class: British Airways Companion Sale – good prices + a ton of Alaska miles

British Airways has launched a Club World Business Class Companion Sale, offering some very good prices between North America and London when traveling as a couple with prices from $2,043 round trip per person based on 2 adults traveling to and from a number of cities. The prices below are what’s advertised — but in searches, I found some prices even lower than advertised. You can go directly to the sale page here. This sale is valid for bookings made by May 21st for travel from July 1st through January 8th, 2018.

This afternoon, we posted about family mileage running for Star Alliance Gold. That post explains what looks like a great hack for earning Star Alliance Gold. However, those with or chasing Alaska MileagePlan status will want to take a look at this sale. Paid British Airways business class fares earn a lot of miles with Alaska Airlines:

According to the terms of the sale, these fares should book into “I” class. A member with no status on Alaska would earn 250% redeemable miles. If you have MVP status, that goes up to 300%, MVP Gold members earn 350% and MVP Gold 75K members earn 375% redeemable miles on these I-class fares. On a flight between New York and London, that’s a nice haul:

A member with no status would earn 17,257 redeemable miles if crediting to Alaska (as a couple, you’d earn more than 34,500 total). An MVP Gold 75K member would earn about 25,886 redeemable miles on a round trip. I believe that for elite status qualification purposes, you would earn 150% miles flown — or more than 10,000 miles towards qualification/re-qualification.

Availability is decent. Here is a calendar between New York and London:

And these were departure dates in July for a 7-day trip at the $2230 price point:

The prices are a bit cheaper than the best available from competitors, with Virgin Atlantic / Delta coming in close (but without the massive haul of Alaska Airlines miles):

Of course, London isn’t the only city available. A trip to Rome actually costs less and earns thousands more Alaska miles. Round trip all on BA metal comes in around $2118 each on select dates:

At 8,700 miles flown, that’s between 21,750 (no status) and over 32,625 (MVP Gold 75K) redeemable Alaska miles flown per traveler – and over 13,000 miles earned toward re-qualification. Is that enough to do this as a mileage run? Definitely not. But if you’re considering a business class ticket to Rome, these fares would be better than the competition and earn a nice number of miles.

Don’t trust the advertised prices

In this case, I mean that in a good way. In the picture at the top, you see that Chicago is advertised to Helsinki for $2435. The prices are actually cheaper. The absolute lowest-priced option on many dates is a direct flight on Finnair (only one-way shown here):

Unfortunately, the problem with that flight is that it won’t earn miles on Alaska. In July, I didn’t immediately find an option that only included BA metal. I did find this option with 3/4 legs on BA:

As you can see, that’s just $2099.35 each – hundreds cheaper than the advertised price and a nice price from Chicago to Helsinki in the middle of the summer. Crediting those 3 BA-operated legs to Alaska should earn about 22,642 miles without status up to about 33,963 miles with top-tier status. And that’s not including the London-Helsinki leg. If you can find dates with all British Airways metal, you should earn 25,000-38,000+ redeemable Alaska MileagePlan miles and more than 15,000 miles towards Elite status qualification.

Bottom Line

This sale is worth a look if you’re in the market for paid business class to Europe. Departures are additionally available from Philadelphia and perhaps from other cities as well. Good prices combined with great earnings make this a nice sale and a great way to get to Europe comfortably while gathering a nice sum of miles. Bookings for this sale must be made by May 21st for travel from July 1, 2017 to September 10th, 2017. Also see our Complete Guide to Extreme Stacking British Airways discounts. I’m not sure whether or not any of those hacks will apply here, but perhaps you can find a way to save a few more bucks.

Terms from BA:

*Terms and Conditions apply. 1. Offer can be booked online at ba.com or through a travel agent. If you book through a British Airways call centre, you will be charged an additional $25 per ticket for processing. 2. Business Class Club World Companion offer is based on purchasing 2 adult round-trip “I” class airfares for travel between July 1, 2017 – September 10, 2017. 3. Promotional roundtrip fares quoted include all taxes, fees and carrier charges. 4. Transatlantic business class sale fares quoted are roundtrip, in “I” class for travel from select US cities to London and Europe on British Airways, American Airlines, Finnair, & Iberia Airlines & Open Skies. Offer not available On British Airways JFK to London City (LCY) flights. British Airways flights from Fort Lauderdale to London are for travel starting from July 6. 5. Business Class Club World Companion “I” class fares must be purchased together and on exact same itinerary no deviations permitted. 6. Promotional round trip fares quoted include all taxes, fees and carrier charges. 7. Fares require a 28 day advance purchase with a Saturday night stay. With a max stay of 6 months. 8. Club World Companion fare is valid for new bookings only made and purchased May 18 through May 21, 2017 (11:59 p.m. EST). 9. Refunds from previously purchased higher fare types not permitted. 10. Business class sale fares (I class fares) are changeable/cancellable for a $500 fee per ticket before departure and are not refundable once travel commences. 11. Please refer to airfare rules of flights selected before completion of payment. 12. Executive Club Members can earn Avios points per the terms and conditions of the Executive Club. 13. Children (ages 2-11) and Infant discounts are not permitted. 14. Minors 17 and under can travel as companion as long as they’re accompanied by an adult aged 18 years or over. 15. Open to U.S. residents paying in U.S. dollars only, with travel beginning and ending in the U.S. 16. Limited availability of flights at these prices. Individual travel dates are subject to availability. Promotional travel is subject to availability and capacity control, and availability may be limited over peak periods. The number of seats available on each flight at a particular fare may be restricted and it is possible that seats allocated to a particular fare on a particular flight may be fully booked even though seats are still available for sale at a different fare or booking class in the same cabin. 17. All travel on BA operated flights is subject to BA’s General Conditions of Carriage for Passengers and Baggage (see http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/information/legal/british-airways/general-conditions-of-carriage) and the notice and conditions of contract contained on each ticket and itinerary. Passengers carried by code share services are subject to the ticketing carrier’s conditions of carriage. 18. British Airways is not liable for the reproduction of this offer or indirect access via third party websites of these terms and where such reproduction misstates or omits any of the information or terms and conditions connected with this promotion. 19. Cannot be combined with any other offer. 20. This offer may be withdrawn or limited by British Airways without notice. 21. Other significant restrictions may apply. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY BOOKINGS THAT VIOLATE ANY OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

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