NEWS: BA gears up for Xmas and Hawaiian Air to join oneworld and become an Avios partner?

BA gears up for Xmas

To celebrate the festive season this year, British Airways is pulling out all the stops for those travelling during the Christmas period. I’ll be heading to Heathrow in a couple of weeks so I will report back on what I find. 

Customers travelling through the airline’s lounges will find bespoke Christmas menus, cookies, gingerbread and mulled wine, as well as a special festive scent featuring cinnamon and festive spices.

The airline has partnered with Hotel Chocolat to offer customers a hot chocolate winter warmer in its Concorde Room, or a festive chocolate cream cocktail in its First lounge. The airline has also commissioned a British Original artist to create a winter wonderland for customers on the walkway between its main lounges in Heathrow Terminal 5. The piece will be painted using ‘snow graffiti’ and feature a British skyline scene with snowy décor. 

As British Airways customers board, they will notice Christmas boarding music ahead and specially designed festive headrest covers, featuring the airline’s bespoke Christmas ribbon design. All customers will also be handed farewell chocolates when they depart from their flight. I’m a bit bah humbug on the headrest covers. I don’t know how often they usually replace them, but this seems like a lot of unnecessary spending when there are still a lot of areas that need improvements where the money could be better spent. Does anyone really care about a festive headrest?

On the airline´s long-haul flights they will serve traditional Christmas dinners served on festive-themed trays. The airline expects to serve a staggering 380,000 Christmas dinners, which includes more than 600,000 Brussel sprouts and 8,000 Yule logs. There’s even festive-scented soap in the airline’s onboard restrooms.

As a special gift to the airline’s First class customers travelling on December 24 and 25, British Airways will present each passenger with a beautifully hand-painted, bespoke glass Christmas bauble. I do like the idea of these as it makes a lovely moment of the flight. 

Calum Laming, British Airways’ Chief Customer Officer, said: “Christmas is one of our favourite times of the year – customers and colleagues alike – and we’re all really excited to spread some holiday cheer over the coming weeks, both at the airport and in the skies.

“We hope these special touches, both big and small, help make our customers’ journey, wherever it may be, as original and extra special as possible. To all our customers, however you are celebrating, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!”

The airline’s customers travelling in Euro Traveller on short-haul flights will also be able to choose from a selection of festive options available to purchase through airline’s High Life Café. This includes Tom Kerridge’s turkey feast sandwich, Pullin’s Gingerbread Muffin, and LoveRaw’s vegan M:lk Choc Cre&m bar. Customers can also choose from a variety of Christmas drinks, including Black Cow’s Christmas Spirit vodka and Brewdog’s Elf lager.

Festive meals will be served on long haul until 4 January 2024. Customers travelling in its First can enjoy a chestnut-stuffed British roast turkey main course with all the trimmings and a chocolate yule log dessert.

In Club World (business class), the airline is serving British roast turkey and a chocolate orange mousse. 

Those in World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy) will also be able to enjoy a traditional Christmas roast turkey dinner accompanied by a mince pie.  

British Airways has also launched its ‘Big Little Welcome’ campaign, giving customers the opportunity to greet loved ones with a welcome message that could be displayed across billboards and airport screens when they arrive at Heathrow, Gatwick and City airport over the Christmas period. The airline is inviting customers to spread their holiday cheer and submit their welcome messages here, for family and friends travelling to London from December 15 – 24.

Hawaiian Air to join oneworld and become an Avios partner?

A surprise announcement came on Sunday when it was announced that Alaska Air and Hawaiian announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Alaska Airlines will acquire Hawaiian Airlines for a transaction value of approximately $1.9 billion. This is still subject to regulatory approval, so it is not certain it will go ahead. The airlines expect that it will take 12-18 months for the merger to finalize.

The press release stated that they plan to preserve both brands on a single operating platform, and add international connectivity for travellers through airline partners, including the oneworld Alliance. However, when Alaskan bought Virgin America they soon got rid of that brand entirely. Hawaiian would also become a member of oneworld as well, meaning you could earn and redeem Avios on Hawaiian Airlines. 

The transaction will combine both loyalty schemes into one, giving Hawaiian Airlines loyalty members the ability to earn and redeem miles on 29 global partners and receive elite benefits on oneworld Alliance airlines and expanded global lounge access. Until now, Hawaiian has partnered with Virgin Atlantic. I would assume this will end if the merger goes ahead. 

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