NEWS & OFFERS: BA bans taking photos of crew, 30% off Avios flights, Virgin £300 off and new Amex IHG offer

British Airways bans taking photos of crew

On my BA Euroflyer flight back from Spain, I noticed that the onboard announcement had changed, mentioning not taking photos of the crew. On further investigation, I found that British Airways has updated its General Conditions of Carriage to explicitly prohibit passengers from filming, photographing, or livestreaming cabin crew and other staff members without their express consent. This is not unusual, as many other airlines, such as Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic, have had similar rules for a long time. Personally, I usually try not to photograph crew, but if I ever need to, it would seem very obvious to ask for permission. Some people are confused by the general rules of taking people’s pictures without permission. If you are in what is deemed a public place, then you can take photos without asking permission; however, an aircraft is not viewed as a public place, so legally, no one should have been taking photos of the crew anyway.

This rule, listed under “unacceptable behaviour,” also extends to fellow passengers and covers devices ranging from smartphones to wearable tech like Meta AI glasses and GoPros. The policy is a response to the rising trend of secret recordings being used on social media. It is still fine to take photos of meals, seats, or window views. The penalty for breaking the rules is fairly severe, including removal from the aircraft, cancellation of onward flights, or even criminal prosecution.

30% off Avios flights with Iberia

If you were thinking of booking an Avios flight, it could be worth considering flying with Iberia, as they currently have an offer for up to 30% off Avios flights. It is easy to transfer Avios from BA or other airlines to Iberia.

You need to book by 10 May and travel until 15 September. The discounts vary by destination and apply to reward tickets on Iberia Group routes (Iberia, Iberia Express and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum). Taxes and fees are not included in the promotion.

This offer does not apply to Iberia Group Air Shuttle services, Vueling or LEVEL flights.

Discounts apply to flights from Madrid to the following destinations and vice versa:

Destinations with 30% off using Avios:

• Milan (Business & Economy)

• Bordeaux (Business & Economy)

• Split (Business & Economy)

• Zagreb (Business & Economy)

• Oslo (Business & Economy)

• Rome (Business & Economy)

• Turin (Business & Economy)

• Athens (Business & Economy)

• London (Business & Economy)

• Porto (Business & Economy)

• Casablanca (Business & Economy)

• Tirana (Business & Economy)

• Lyon (Business & Economy)

• Manchester (Business & Economy)

• Seville (Business & Economy)

• Santander (Business & Economy)

• Alicante (Business & Economy)

• Valencia (Business & Economy)

Destinations with 20% off using Avios:

• Bologna (Business & Economy)

• Dubrovnik (Business & Economy)

• Prague (Business & Economy)

• Budapest (Business & Economy)

• Brussels (Business & Economy)

• Faro (Business & Economy)

• Lisbon (Business & Economy)

• Toulouse (Business & Economy)

• Tivat (Business & Economy)

• Marrakech (Business & Economy)

• Amsterdam (Business & Economy)

• London (Business & Economy)

• Lanzarote (Business & Economy)

• Palma de Mallorca (Business & Economy)

• Ibiza (Business & Economy)

• Bilbao (Business & Economy)

• Orlando (Business)

Destinations with 10% off using Avios:

• Venice (Business & Economy)

• Catania (Business & Economy)

• Olbia (Business & Economy)

• Düsseldorf (Business & Economy)

• Hamburg (Business & Economy)

• Munich (Business & Economy)

• Santorini (Business & Economy)

• Marseille (Business & Economy)

• Paris (Business & Economy)

• Frankfurt (Business & Economy)

• Stockholm (Business & Economy)

• Vienna (Business & Economy)

• Florence (Business & Economy)

• Nantes (Business & Economy)

• Corfu (Business & Economy)

• Mykonos (Business & Economy)

• Nice (Business & Economy)

• Dakar (Business & Economy)

• Cagliari (Business & Economy)

• Palermo (Business & Economy)

• Ljubljana (Business & Economy)

• Cairo (Business & Economy)

• Copenhagen (Business & Economy)

• Berlin (Business & Economy)

• Dublin (Business & Economy)

• Naples (Business & Economy)

• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Business & Economy)

• Fuerteventura (Business & Economy)

• Menorca (Business & Economy)

• Malaga (Business & Economy)

• Almeria (Business & Economy)

• San Sebastián (Business & Economy)

• Granada (Business & Economy)

• Jerez de la Frontera (Business & Economy)

• Vigo (Business & Economy)

• Santiago de Compostela (Business & Economy)

• Bogotá (Premium Economy & Economy)

• Rio de Janeiro (Economy)

• São Paulo (Economy)

• Santiago de Chile (Economy)

• Caracas (Business & Economy)

• Santo Domingo (Business, Premium Economy & Economy)

• Monterrey (Business & Economy)

• Buenos Aires (Business & Premium Economy)

• Fortaleza (Business)

• Recife (Business)

• Montevideo (Business)

• Panama (Business)

• Toronto (Business)

• Miami (Business)

• Chicago (Business)

You can find the discount page here.

Virgin Atlantic £300 off holidays

Virgin has a new promotion for up to £300 off bookings over £10,000 for Flying Club members using code FLYINGCLUB, with tiered discounts starting at £100 for smaller bookings. You need to book by 26 May 2026, but can travel between 5 May 2026 to 31 December 2027.

Here are the levels of discount:

• £75 off when you spend £200+
• £150 off when you spend £4,000+
• £200 off when you spend £6000+
• £250 off when you spend £8000+
• £300 off when you spend £10,000+

There’s also a low-deposit offer that can be combined. You can pay just a £75 deposit on Virgin Holidays for departure from 24 July 2026 onwards.

Don’t forget there is also a separate promotion offering 300 bonus Tier Points for qualifying 2026 bookings over £4,000.

For full details, visit Virgin Atlantic Holidays.

New IHG offer on Amex for £75 off £300 spend

There’s a new cashback offer for IHG hotels for £75 back when you spend £300, which is cumulative. Most Amex offers are just for Europe, but this one does include the US and Canada, which is handy. The offer runs until 27 July and is for checkout spend only, so no pre-paid bookings. However, it is always worth a punt if you will only have a pre-paid stay, as sometimes it does work.

The brands included are:

• Crowne Plaza
• Garner
• Holiday Inn
• Holiday Inn Express
• Hotel Indigo
• InterContinental
• Kimpton
• Regent
• Staybridge Suites
• Vignette
• voco

The list of participating hotels is here.