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British Airways news: more lounges open, BA and Kenya Airways launch codeshare

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BA news in brief:

British Airways reopens more European lounges

British Airways is reopening three of its directly controlled lounges in Europe. Rome and Milan opened this week and Geneva will follow next week.

These are all modern lounges which are BA branded and fitted out to a high specification. You can see our review of the British Airways lounge in Geneva here and a picture is below.

A photo from Rome is further down below – sadly we haven’t managed to make it down there since the makeover.

British Airways Geneva lounge reopens

British Airways launches codeshare with Kenya Airways

British Airways and Kenya Airways have launched a new codeshare agreement.

A British Airways flight number will be added to Kenya Airways flights to 20 destinations from Nairobi. These will include Douala, Zanzibar, Lusaka, Mombasa, Addis Ababa and Entebbe, as well as leisure routes to Mauritius and Seychelles.

Benefits of the codeshare deal include:

  • you can book flights from the UK to, say, Mombasa on ba.com with a protected connection in Nairobi
  • you will earn Avios and tier points on the Kenya Airways connecting legs to and from Nairobi

Two things you can’t do, unfortunately, are:

  • book Kenya Airways flights from Nairobi under a BA flight code without a connecting BA flight from London
  • book Kenya Airways flights on Avios (Kenya Airways is in the SkyTeam alliance and not alongside BA in oneworld)

A codeshare deal has also been agreed in the opposite direction, with Kenya Airways flight numbers being added to 26 short-haul British Airways routes from Heathrow.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

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Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (49)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • SammyJ says:
    23 Oct23 October 05:52

    Used the Amex £100 offer to book 2nts at Lapita P&R Dubai. Not bothered about losing the points, but would the hotel be likely to recognise any of the Gold benefits (breakfast mainly)?

    • Volker says:
      23 Oct23 October 10:28

      In my experience, this will depend on the hotel and even on the staff member at check-in. An Accor Gold member, a couple of years ago, I booked the Sofitel LHR T5 through Amex (for some reason, this was significantly cheaper than booking through Accor who wanted more than £300 for a Classic Room). I mentioned that at reception and was told that I had been „naughty“ and therefore couldn’t get points nor a welcome drink; however, the receptionist upgraded me to a Superior Room, while I usually get a two-category upgrade (Classic to Luxury Room).
      As Rob pointed out above, booking through Amex is best for flight bookings, but if you are keen on getting the perks linked to your hotel status, the hotel website is the place to book…

      • Sammyj says:
        23 Oct23 October 10:51

        Thanks. I’ve found similar with IHG hotels – usually book direct but when it’s part of a package eg BA hols, they generally still give some recognition, but it’s not guaranteed. Never really used Marriott hotels – only got the Gold that comes with Amex so not sure what to expect.

  • MisterE says:
    23 Oct23 October 06:24

    When it say this applies to ‘personal Amex card holders’ does this include
    1 – BAPP
    2 – Marriott Bonvoy; and
    3 – PRG?
    Thx

  • Stuart says:
    23 Oct23 October 06:34

    Went to the Rome lounge in 2018 when it virtually brand new. The bar was nice, no toilets in the lounge itself and food was limited. Also when we were in there the seating arrangements seemed to cater for single travellers rather than couples.
    I’d like to know the reasoning behind these lounges stating and my beloved Newcastle lounge going as well as Manchester

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:
      23 Oct23 October 11:51

      My guess with Newcastle was they may have planned to switch to the new lounge the airport is building which was due to open last year. Manchester currently has T3 closed so their lounge couldn’t be open now anyway and it’s not known when T3 will open. They may have come to a deal with the airport to expand the Escape lounge into the BA space if it’s needed. The fact that NCL and MAN have not had a full refurb since the Terraces days suggests that BA might have been considering the future of these lounges for a long time. The NCL team were so good they managed to keep the lounge looking good despite the old furniture. I hadn’t realised when I went to the lounge in Jan 2020 it was the last time I’d be there! As for MAN I turned out to have been in the lounge on the last day it was open in March 2020. There was only 3 other passengers in there

    • AJA says:
      23 Oct23 October 21:50

      My last flight on BA was in Feb 2020 when I went to Rome..I like the lounge and thought the food was nice and I liked the bar too. I found the seating OK. Not sure what you mean about it not being suitable for couples. I think the lounge is bright and airy and has nice views from the big windows. As you say no toilet in the lounge itself and a bit of a walk to the gate so you have to leave the lounge earlier than I’d like.

  • Dan says:
    23 Oct23 October 06:42

    The £100 Amex offer works very well if, like me, you are going to stay on a small Thai island without any hotels-with–benefits.

  • Andrew says:
    23 Oct23 October 07:15

    Used the offer yesterday for a £415 flight – very pleased as I was about to book it anyway when the offer arrived so just booked via Amex instead. Another £100 benefit for my annual fee on top of the £200 last month.

  • Kumar says:
    23 Oct23 October 07:36

    I had my new Amex Platinum this Tuesday , I did request for the dining offer to be added manually by Amex Chat Agent .Do i need to do the same for Travel offer?

    • Andrew says:
      23 Oct23 October 07:41

      You can ask, but this offer is just like a normal targeted offer whereas the dining offer is more of an advertised benefit at the moment which is why they are giving it to all, even new members.

    • Rob says:
      23 Oct23 October 10:30

      If it isn’t showing under ‘Offers’ then yes.

  • Ian McDowall says:
    23 Oct23 October 07:55

    Not on my list of offers 🤷‍♂️

  • capecam says:
    23 Oct23 October 08:37

    Bit off topic, but has anybody else encountered problems trying to log on to BA App ( Android)? It tells me i am not online, when all other apps work. Uninstalled and Reinstalled but to no avail, seems lke a software glitch. BA only accessiblethrough web browser

    • MD says:
      23 Oct23 October 09:16

      I’ve been getting the same thing with the app on my android phone. It doesn’t work if I’m connected to 4/5G , says I’m not online (clearly I am and everything else is working), but it will then work if I switch my phone to WiFi. Been happening for a week or two. App is up to date.

    • Ikaz says:
      23 Oct23 October 09:25

      Same here, the BA only accepts to connect when I am on Wifi

    • ChrisBCN says:
      23 Oct23 October 09:27

      How strange. I just tested mine on wi-fi and on 4g and it works fine on both. App version 4.57 if it helps.

    • ChrisBCN says:
      23 Oct23 October 09:30

      Ah found the bug. If the app is opened when on WiFi, it will continue to work fine even without WiFi. If you open the app when you have no WiFi, you get the not online bug until you return to WiFi.

    • Alan says:
      23 Oct23 October 11:27

      Almost daily issues for both iOS and Android reported on the FT thread in recent months. Seems BA have managed to make both UI and functionality worse! I’ve not had cause to use it since March 2020 though so don’t even have it installed just now.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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