BA Avios News!?!

[AMH]

British Airways brings back First Class to five routes
According to a post on LinkedIn by a British Airways employee, a bit of jiggery pokery with the long haul fleet means that First Class will return to the following routes this Autumn:

Atlanta
Cape Town
Tokyo Haneda
Shanghai
Beijing
The exact start dates are unknown.

There is no guaranteed First Class Avios award availability although it is likely that some seats will pop up. A SeatSpy subscription is your friend, letting you set an alert to be notified of anything that comes available.

Following digging at Flyertalk it is believed that the aircraft are coming from two sources:

removing First from some services to Philadelphia, New York Newark, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago
selling First Class on aircraft that have it but where the cabin is currently sold as an extension of Club World, with seating priority given to BA elite members if Club World is full enough to justify opening it

[AMH]

Get FREE helicopter transfers when you book a British Airways short break in Monaco


British Airways has teamed up with the Monaco Government Tourist & Convention Authority to offer a free RETURN helicopter transfer with a ‘flight and hotel’ booking.


This offer has run in the past, but has improved from the previous iteration in 2022 as you now get a return transfer, not a one-way.

Here is the small print:

you must be a UK passport holder and/or UK resident (the BA marketing website contradicts the official terms – the former says UK passport holder, the latter says UK resident)
you must book a flight + hotel package with selected partner hotels for at least four nights (September) or three nights (1st October – 18th December)
you must book for 2-8 passengers – not available for solo travellers
you must book by 17th December (which presumably means that the 18th December deadline to stay is a check-in and not check-out date)
you must book seven days before departure
Note that the helicopter transfer is only available between 08:00 and 16:30.

You also get a free shuttle bus transfer from the heliport to your hotel and vouchers for “entrance to museums and attractions in the principality of Monaco”.

Because it’s a helicopter, you are restricted in the luggage you can bring. You are limited to one standard sized bag per adult (60cm x 45cm x 25cm) which may not exceed 21kg, as well as one small handbag or briefcase.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/destinations/europe/monaco?DM1_Campaign=UKI_GB_EN_PHG_ALWAYSON&DM1_Channel=AFF&DM1_Site=PHG&clickref=1101lxKnYCHr&dclid=CNjItf2Go4EDFYVDQQIdRPAHTA