NEWS & OFFERS: BA Scraps Best Price Guarantee, Virgin Holidays Hotel-Only Discounts & eGate Age Limit Lowered Again

British Airways Suddenly Ends Price Match Guarantee

British Airways has abruptly ended its best price guarantee. This long-running programme enabled you to book flights direct with BA departing from a range of countries, and if you found a cheaper flight elsewhere the same day, you could claim a BA voucher for the difference. Members of the British Airways club recieved double the difference to a maximum of £200 per claim. 

BA has now suddenly cancelled the programme with no advance notice. Some people have continued booking with BA under the assumption that the scheme was still running, only to receive the following email after submitting a claim:

An update from British Airways

Thanks for getting in touch about the British Airways Best Price Guarantee.

Unfortunately, our Best Price Guarantee proposition has now ended. We know this decision may come as a disappointment; however, we’re unable to accept any new claims.

Thanks again for contacting us.

The BA website is still giving the assumption that the programme is running. Here’s a screenshot from this morning enabling me to waste time filling out a claim:

However, BA has removed the flight promise page, and it now returns an error page instead. View here.

Even with the various exclusions, the programme acted as a useful safety net for booking directly with BA rather than through an online travel agent. Many airlines, including budget airlines, are still running similar programmes with holiday bookings such as Tui, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic.

This seems like yet another under-the-radar cost-cutting move from BA. The lack of advance notice is frustrating enough, but leaving parts of the scheme visible online is not a good look.

What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments below:

Save Up to £150 on Hotel Only Stays with Virgin Atlantic Holidays

You can now save up to £150 on selected stays with Virgin when you use the code HOTELONLY at check-out for stays between 8th May 2026 and 31st May 2027.

The savings you’ll get depend on the amount you spend, including:

• £150 per booking when you spend over £3,750
• £125 per booking when you spend between £3,000 and £3,749
• £100 per booking when you spend between £2,250 and £2,999
• £75 per booking when you spend between £1,500 and £2,249
• £50 when you spend between £750 and £1,499

Alongside the discount, there are a range of other reasons to book your hotel with Virgin, including discounted rates, waived resort fees, and complimentary upgrades. You can also pay a deposit and spread the cost of your stay with a fitect debit, plus you’ll earn Virgin Points on your booking.

If you have flights sorted for your next trip and only the accommodation remaining, it’s well worth checking what Virgin has to offer. That said, it is still worth comparing prices with booking direct for loyalty benefits and via other platforms such as Booking.com, where you can also earn Virgin Points when clicking through via Virgin Red. Virgin also doesn’t have as wide a variety of hotels or locations.

View the offer here >>>

UK Lowers eGate Age Limit

If you have children aged 8+, you may be able to get through the airport faster this summer. From 8th July, children aged 8 and 9 will be able to use UK eGates, which were previously only available to children aged 10+, after the minimum age was reduced from 12 in 2023.

During peak times, there are often huge queues in the family lane, while people using eGates can often get through much faster.

Children must be at least 120cm tall, must be accompanied by an adult and have a biometric passport. This opens up the gates to 1.5 million children.

eGates are in operation at Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted. They are also available at UK border control points in Brussels and Paris.

They can be used by British citizens, EU nationals, and passport holders from Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the US, as well as Registered Travellers.

This will be a welcome change for families, especially during peak time. Hopefully, the queues in the family lane will be a little shorter, and families with children aged 8 or 9 can also pass through immigration faster. That said, this could have a knock-on effect for other passengers if some children need several attempts before the gates open.