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Tesco drops Avios
Tesco used to be a great source of Avios through their Club card scheme. In the old days, they used to have some great deals. I remember colleagues at work filling their trolleys with bananas or whatever the special offer for extra points was that week. Then there were the deals on Tesco Extra that people then flogged on eBay meaning that they got almost free Avios for a little work. Sadly all that came to end and BA have announced that they are closing the scheme with Tesco. The option to transfer to Virgin Flying Club will still remain.
The scheme will close after 18 January 2021, when you’ll no longer be able to exchange your Clubcard points for Avios. It could be that they join forces with another supermarket but we don’t know yet. In the meantime, you can still convert your vouchers with every £2.50 worth of Clubcard vouchers worth 600 Avios via the Clubcard website
You won’t be able to convert your Clubcard points into Avios once the scheme has ended. Once the scheme ends, any existing Avios will be valid for at least 36 months. There are various things you can do to stop your Avios expiring which you can read about here.
If you get your vouchers automatically converted, your Clubcard points will continue to be automatically converted into Avios up until the November statement. The cut-off date for the November statement is 22 October. Clubcard points earned from 23 October onwards can be converted into Avios manually online via the Clubcard website until 18 January 2021.
BA extends all Companion Vouchers and Gold Upgrade Vouchers
British Airways is extending all Companion Vouchers and Gold Upgrade Vouchers with an expiry date between 1 October 2020 and 31 March 2021 by a further six months. All extensions are being applied automatically today. For any Companion Vouchers issued before 31 March 2021 an additional six month extension will be automatically applied.
BA extends Book with Confidence indefinitely
For unknown reasons, British Airways had only extended their scheme for Book with Confidence for 13 days until 13 October at the last renewal. It may have been to gauge how bookings were going with the various promotions. (The half-price Avios redemptions are still available until 13 October).
The good news is that there is now no end date to book by which I think is very sensible. The travel by dates have not changed.
Bookings from 3 March 2020 onwards
Changing your booking
You can change the dates and destination of your booking without incurring a change fee, although you will need to pay any difference in price (applies to bookings made from 3 March 2020 onwards for journeys that are due to have been completed by 31 August 2021).
Cancelling your booking
If you decide you no longer want to travel, you can cancel your booking and BA will give you a voucher to the same value for a future booking (applies to bookings made from 3 March 2020 onwards for journeys that are due to have been completed by 31 August 2021). However, I would strongly advise not doing this until the last minute or unless you know you want to rebook something else. BA cancel flights all the time so you are better waiting to see if they cancel your flight until the last minute. That way you get a full cash refund. If you are on flight-only booking you can cancel anytime up until check-in closes! See below for holiday booking timescales.
Bookings before 3 March 2020
Changing your booking
You can change the dates and destination of your booking without incurring a change fee, although you will need to pay any difference in price (applies to bookings for journeys that are due to have been completed by 31 October 2020). It is likely but not certain that this date will be extended so try to hang on if you have flights booked later than that and you want to cancel. In effect, it means you have to apply for a voucher to change destination and then rebook.
Cancelling your booking
If you decide you no longer want to travel, you can cancel your booking and BA will give you a voucher to the same value for a future booking (applies to bookings for journeys that are due to have been completed by 31 October 2020).
However, I would strongly advise not requesting a voucher this until the last minute or unless you know you want to rebook something else. BA cancel flights all the time so you are better waiting to see if they cancel your flight until the last minute. That way you get a full cash refund. If you are on flight only you can cancel anytime up until check-in closes!
Holidays are much more complicated:
i. Bookings made before 3 March 2020
Eligible for travel dates up to 31 October 2020 | Notice required – 3 weeks
ii. Bookings made from 3 March to 10 June 2020
Eligible for travel dates from 3 March to 31 December 2020 | Notice required – 48 hours
Eligible for travel dates from 1 January to 31 August 2021 | Notice required – three weeks
iii. Bookings made from 11 June 2020 onwards
Eligible for travel dates from 11 June 2020 to 31 August 2021| Notice required – three weeks
