Christmas lands in lounges and on board, American borders reopen and Avios celebrates a milestone tenth anniversary

Christmas comes to the skies
If you’re travelling with us this month, get ready for some festive feels on the ground and in the air. This season of goodwill sees the lounges decked out with decorations including Christmas trees and our jumper-wearing staff, as well as festive food and drink. At London Heathrow, you will be able to tuck into a turkey roast with all the trimmings (including stuffing and cranberry sauce), mince pies, fruit cake, mini turkey, ham and cranberry pies, mulled wine and festive milk punch. If you’re flying from US airports including New York JFK, San Francisco and Boston, you’ll also enjoy treats including peppermint Christmas truffles, Christmas pot roast and mulled cider.

On board, the Speedbird Café is offering three scrumptious Christmas cakes to pre-purchase or buy on board; travellers can choose from a berry Christmas crumble, choc orange tiffin tin or an iced Christmas cake.

We mark the end of US border restrictions
The long-awaited reopening of American borders last month saw the return of our BA001 flight number on our first flight from London to New York since the pandemic began. Previously reserved exclusively for Concorde, the number was used to mark the end of a 604-day lockdown of American borders imposed by the pandemic and formed part of an emotional event that saw friends and family reunited, documented by royal photographer Chris Floyd.

Even more USA routes
November also saw our first transatlantic departure from Gatwick take off – to Tampa Florida (pictured below) – kicking off a thrice-weekly service to the city. We will operate to more routes than any other transatlantic carriers next year and feature a new flight to Dallas from 27 March 2022.

Celebrating ten years of Avios
Since the launch of the Avios scheme back in 2011, more than 15 million reward seats have been booked, taking you, our wonderful Members, to sunny and snowy holiday destinations the world over. Today, close to half a billion pounds have been saved by using Avios on flights.

To commemorate this special milestone anniversary, we will be giving away ten lots of 10,000 Avios, to be spent however you choose: on that next flight, car hire, hotel or favourite wines. 

To find out more about the flying experience and to book your 2022 adventure, click here

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This article has been tagged BA, Travel Tips