YOUR INSIDE TRACK • October 2021

The Club’s greatest moments ever

Let the retrospective commence. Here, we delve into the archive to reveal some of the milestones and dainty morsels that have defined the last 100 issues of your Club magazine…

The After Hours Club

Bringing together Members for an evening of travel-inspired revelry, all four of our After Hours Club events took guests on a virtual tour of some of British Airways’ dishiest destinations, from America’s deep south to St Kitts. The Taste of the USA was a celebration of all things New Orleans, including jazz and Bourbon cocktails and buttermilk-fried chicken (it even saw an Executive Club Member get down on one knee…), while our Nashville-themed evening at Soho’s Ham Yard Hotel hosted festivities inspired by the airline’s new direct route.

Pilot packing tips top leader board

Scoring the most clicks in Club history is our How to pack like a pilot piece, which laid bare Members’ enthusiasm for roll-over folding and Ziploc bags, while offering vital advice such as why you should always keep one shoe in your in-room safe. Also on our pilots’ list of must-take items was a mini hot water bottle for nippier hotel rooms and tin foil for turning cheese sandwiches into toasties with an iron – ingenious!

Read our latest pilot packing feature

The Club’s 50th issue

In November 2017, The Club marked its 50th issue with a bevy of special features. Among the line-up was an illustrated guide to the best of the first 50 issues, during which time we’d spotlighted a dazzling 436 destinations on the network, transported readers around the world 8.4 times on our Epic Drives, and shared more than 376 travel tips. We also asked experts what travel would look like in 50 years’ time. Let’s check back in 2067 for that one.

That time we met…

The Club being The Club, we’ve played host to a spectrum of celebrities, our very first being songstress Katie Melua back in 2013. Since then, it’s been a starry line-up including national treasure Richard E Grant, Californian crooner Gregory Porter and intergalactic icon William Shatner. Our top takeaways? Why Pizza Express is Celine Dion’s favourite overseas restaurant, which budget hotels Grayson Perry swears by, and where Isla Fisher would relocate to in a heartbeat.

The best of pilot talk

They’ve conquered their childhood dreams of making it to the cockpit, and now they share their most tremendous travel moments and tips for making the most of your time in the skies. Throughout The Club’s Pilot Talk series, we’ve heard from First Officer Amie Kirkham on the myth of autopilot, learned how to lead a performance in the sky from the Red Arrows’ Martin Pert, and taken advice from Captain Rob Johnson on how to get comfortable on a long-haul flight.

Read our pilot’s guide to confidence in the skies

100 years of sensational service

August 2019 saw British Airways celebrate 100 years on the wing, and with it our centenary issue which dived deep into quintessentially British pastimes, from amazing afternoon teas and pubs for the perfect pint. We also gave advice on how to pack for a British holiday, marked ten stellar moments from the last century of aviation, and offered up neat nuggets of British Airways trivia, from the Queen’s first flight with the airline to how many bags of pretzels you’re likely to find on board.

How we stepped up during the pandemic

When Covid-19 continued to stall Members’ travel plans with added WFH and home-schooling hassles, The Club amped up its frequency to two issues per month. Each was packed with useful content, such as our expert guide to working from home, how to host a showstopping virtual party, ingenious ways to keep kids entertained and strategies for staying fit while isolating at home. We also sated our wanderlust with a suite of travel quizzes, delving into the world’s most obscure airport codes, plus ‘guess the city’ picture puzzles.

Our most iconic Epic Drives

Can you tell we love a road trip? The hundreds of Epic Drives that The Club has served up account for some serious mileage, notched up by celebrity petrol-heads across some jaw-dropping terrain. Among our top drives were the winding roads between Lahaina and Hana in Maui, Hawaii, enjoyed by British racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart, while stuntman Ben Collins, more fondly known as The Stig from Top Gear, recommended the A82 in the Scottish Highlands, where he drove an Aston Martin DB5 while filming Skyfall.

Book car hire and collect Avios with Avis

Christmas giveaways for one and all

Few things are more satisfying than nabbing a prize draw, and at Christmas what better way to spread the holiday cheer than with a ten-day countdown chock full of giveaways, VIP experiences, luxury gifts and more. Among the treats up for grabs last year were a VIP night at the English National Opera, a two-night stay at the Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard in London, a trip in watchmaker Bremont’s 1950s monoplane and the chance to nab 100,000 bonus Avios with purchases made at the eStore.