NEWS & OFFERS: BA First class from £2251, IHG sale starts and China reopens but not to tourists

British Airways First class from £2251

In my article about the BA New Year sale, I mentioned that there are some non-sale fares in first that are great value. Most of these fares below are what you will pay in business class for much of the year. If you flew BA First before they reinstated most of the pre-Covid service and were disappointed, I can confirm it has definitely improved. I have done 4 First flights in the last few months, and other than one broken seat, I’ve been happy with what was provided. You can read my review here. 

• Atlanta – from £2451 return
• Austin – from £2451 return
• Boston – from £2447 return
• Chicago- from £2447 return
• Cincinnati – from £2251 return
• Dallas – from £2747 return
• Denver – from £2351 return
• Houston – from £2597 return 
• Las Vegas – from £2551 return
• Miami – from £3097 return
• Nashville – from £2351 return
• New Orleans – from £2451 return 
• New York – from £2347 return
• Philadelphia – from £2447 return
• Phoenix – from £3474 return
• San Diego – from £3324 return
• San Francisco – from £3397 return
• San Jose – from £2551 return (close to San Francisco)
• Seattle – from £3520 return
• Vancouver – from £2940 return
• Washington DC – from £2547 return

The easiest way to find dates that these fares are available is by using the BA Low Fare finder page. 

IHG Sale starts

From December 28th to January 16th, customers can save up to 25% off their next winter stay at IHG® Hotels & Resorts. The discount applies to participating IHG® branded hotels in the UK and Ireland and Europe for stays until 31 December 2023.

The Promotion offers a discount at participating hotels of a minimum 10% off, and up to 25% off, the hotel’s Best Flexible Rate. Members save an additional 10% off the Best Flexible Rate.

Bookings must be made at least five days in advance of arrival. The catch is that the rate is non-refundable, with full payment for the entire stay is due at time of booking. No changes or cancellations can be made. If you are staying at a high-end IHG hotel and need your stay to be fully refindable, it is always worth asking our partners GTC what extra perks they can offer. Many offer Guaranteed late check-out, $100 hotel amenity and Complimentary breakfast for 2 if booked through GTC. 

The Promotion is valid at participating InterContinental, Regent, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, voco, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites hotels and resorts located in the UK, Ireland and Europe.

You can find the sale page here. 

China reopens but not to tourists – why this is good news for UK flyers

In an unbelievably quick u-turn since the protests sprang up in China, the Chinese government have been removing many covid restrictions. In a surprise announcement, they have now removed most of the travel restrictions from 8 January 2023. You no longer need to quarantine on arrival. While they have said they will facilitate visits for business, family and students, they will not be issuing tourist visas yet. However, they will be gradually allowing outbound tourism to restart. 

China also will still require a PCR-RT test that must be performed within 48 hours of departure and that masks be worn on the aircraft. 

They have also lifted the limits on airlines which restricted them to one route with one flight a week. Outbound tourism will be allowed. So why is this good news for travellers? Part of the reason that flights to New Zealand and Australia are so high is that demand is exceeding supply. As Chinese carriers resume flights, this will add much-needed capacity into the system, which is likely to help drive prices down, particularly as Chinese airlines tended to be cheaper than most others pre-Covid. Initially, prices will be high as there is likely to be huge demand from the Chinese. However, once that settles down, it will be a further step to helping prices start to return to more normal levels.