My Last-Minute Trick To Booking British Airways Club Europe For Cheap

Intro

Over the course of the last ten years, I have been traveling extensively around Europe and have often found myself in a pickle. Whether it be too hungover in Barcelona to take a cheap flight back to the UK, or having to get to Scotland from Libya the day before.

Well, over 25 times have I used this little trick, and it works a charm,

Last Minute Mileage Space

I know a lot of us probably don't have millions of miles to burn. if you do, good for you, but most people seem to fall in the hundreds of thousands. Thus, you are trying to maximize the points that you have.

British Airways' last-minute revenue fares are extremely high. As an example, I was supposed to fly from (Libyan Wings to Istanbul) Istanbul-London-Edinburgh. The day before, the cash fares were 600 for economy, and over 1,000 USD for business class. Mental.

The Airbus that took me up to Scotland that afternoon.

So what's the trick?

British Airways opens up a LOT of last-minute saver space in Club Europe on short-medium haul routes. Outside of summer (sometimes in summer), there can often be only one seat left in Club Europe, and it will be available via Avios.

Instead of paying 600 USD for a cash fare in economy, I ended up paying:

15,000 Avios+ 240 (ish) GBP through Avios in Club Europe.

If we take the original business class fare and subtract the fees, I got well over 4 CPP (I don't use this, but for those who do). I think that is a tremendous value personally.

Here's Where It Gets Better

What makes the British Airways program even better for short-haul flights is that you can minimize the mileage needed by paying a little extra cash (as I did above).

As an example, I was looking at a flight today from London to Ibiza. The options were as follows for Club Europe:

• Cash fare= 401$

• Standard Avios fare= 14,000+12.50 GBP

• Lowest Avios fare= 5,600+84.50 GBP

Paying an extra 70-odd quid to save 8,400 miles is a heck of a deal

Keep in mind, not only does this work for British Airways, but it also works for Fiji Airways and a few other partners. Not all, as the likes of Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines have not worked for me in the past.

As an example, I booked a fare for about 11,000 Avios+ 220 GBP from Los Angeles to Nadi. That is one heck of a deal, albeit in economy 😅

This was one heck of a deal, considering how beautiful Fiji is...

Lastly, I just want to add that even if you don't have any Avios in your account at the moment, the partners that transfer over to British Airways Executive Club are usually instant transfers. That means if you end up with a last-minute emergency, you should be able to ticket a flight within 5 minutes of finding out.

Side note: only do this on short-haul. The taxes on long-haul flights are already bad enough.

Final Thoughts

If you ever find yourself in a last-minute pickle or just need to get away from rainy old England in November, make sure to look at mileage options through British Airways. Not only does the airline release award space, but a business class ticket to Ibiza for 5,600 miles+85 GBP? Sign me up!

The only downside is no mileage earning on an award seat...