Flying Business Class With BA

We were lucky enough to fly to Barcelona with BA last week and even luckier to fly business class. Now no matter what class we have flown we have always enjoyed great service. The best we have received on any other airline. Even in the past when there have been minor problems with flights, planes, ash clouds etc. BA have always got us to our destination. This faith has ensured that in the last few years we always book with BA.

I thought I would share our business class experience. And my justification, why I feel flying business is worth the extra. 

Firstly cost, if you shop about you can get some great deals. We booked with our Avios points so for us it was a mega deal. It cost us; £50.00 each, 30 thousand Avios, and a companion voucher. For this we got return connecting flights from Manchester to Heathrow, then flights from Heathrow to Barcelona. 

Convenience, BA has a dedicated check in for business class, silver and gold executive club members. This is great as although we did have a slight queue at Manchester you generally do not have to wait very long at all before your bags are checked in. 

Airport security fast track, this was amazing. You get to go in a fast track queue through security that is so much quicker. The airport staff was still as thorough on security checks yet we sped through due to less crowd volume. 

Amazing Air-miles are Taking us To Miami.

Whoop whoop we have booked our flights to Miami for next year, and they were an absolute bargain, here’s how we did it. Now anyone that knows me, knows I have a bit of an obsession with collecting British Airways Avios. These are air miles that can be redeemed on British Airways flights, all over the world.  For me it is a no brainer, I just don't get why everybody I know doesn't collect them? 

During the years we have collected them, we have booked some amazing flights and saved a fortune. But this year we have been saving for the big one, a trip to Orlando. The flights have gone up so much over the years. Yet we love Orlando, so decided to start saving our Avios towards our Miami flights to bring the cost down. 

Here’s how it works; we have an American Express credit card with which every penny we spend we collect Air Miles, you also have the opportunity to build up companion vouchers. These are built up according to spend, I put all my shopping and petrol on my card, and when I pay it off I get points and my spend allocation builds up. Once you reach a certain spend level you get rewarded with a companion voucher. You can use up to 2 companion vouchers on a flight for a family of 4. 

Holiday Planning Mum, Budgeting for Family Holidays

I recently saw this opportunity to blog about budgeting for family holidays, and thought this is right up my street. Chris gets incredibly bored of me constantly pricing holidays and flights to get the best deal. In fact I think after blogging, searching for holidays is one of my favourite pastimes. I really should have been a travel agent and not a teacher. So here goes; my top 10 tips for planning and budgeting a holiday.

1.    Do your research, if it is a big holiday plan well in advance. I find flights are always cheaper as soon as they come out. For the Disney trip we are going on next year I researched prices and deals a year in advance, this way I got a feel for the actual prices. When a deal came out, I could recognise that it was infact a great deal. This paid off; We got the Disney Dining Plan Free for our holiday to Orlando next year, saving us a fortune.

2.    For cruises book early to get on board credit, the best cabins and early booking discounts. 

3.    Collect air miles, I use my American Express credit card, and Join the British Airways Executive Club to build air miles. We have flown business class on holiday for the last few years using our Avios points.