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For those who have used miles (or their employer’s budget) to sample Business Class products around the world, the British Airways Club Europe cabin can seem like a bad joke. After all, Business Class in Europe – not unique to British Airways, for what it’s worth – is little more than an economy seat with the middle seat kept free. Sure, Club Europe is now the only way to be fed and watered on a British Airways short-haul flight (without paying extra for the privilege), but flying Club Europe is hardly an aspirational goal for most.

Despite this, many Londoners pay attention when British Airways runs a fare sale for Club Europe. The cheapest fares are usually reserved for flights departing London Gatwick, which is typically seen as a leisure travel airport – where BA must compete with the likes of Easyjet and Norwegian.

These fares have been reported elsewhere, and are on sale until 30 January, 2018. Travel must commence before 19 March, 2018 for the cheapest routes. Some of the highlights are:

• Barcelona from £140 return
• Bordeaux from £136 return
• Catania from £215 return
• Genoa from £146 return
• Geneva from £156 return
• Nuremberg from £114 return

The best way to search for the destinations with the cheapest Club Europe fares is to click here to access BA’s low-fare finder. Select “Europe” and “Business”. As you might expect, these fares are non-refundable and come with a £100 date change fee. I don’t believe that it is possible to tag on a connection to/from the likes of Jersey, Edinburgh, etc.

Under the assumption that you aren’t a well-paid City type who habitually flies Club Europe for weekend getaways, what are some of the compelling reasons for taking advantage of this Club Europe sale?

1. Extra Baggage Allowance / Fast Track Security

Any skiers out there? If you are taking your skis and boots with you this winter to Andorra (BCN) or Chamonix (GVA), you will probably need to check in two pieces of baggage. Two 32kg pieces are included for every Club Europe passenger. In Euro Traveller, you would receive one 23kg piece, by paying extra for the “Plus” fare. And it won’t be cheap to pay for an additional piece of luggage in each direction.

Club Europe passengers are also entitled to access Fast Track Security. This can save you a substantial amount of time, especially if you are travelling at peak times.

2. British Airways Executive Club Tier Points

I bet that you thought this would be number one! Most of these BA routes will earn 80 Tier Points for a return in Club Europe. (Catania is listed above because it earns 160 Tier Points) As a reminder, each BAEC member has their own individual status qualification period, during which you require:

• Gold status –> 1,500 Tier Points
• Silver status –> 600 Tier Points
• Bronze status –> 300 Tier Points

I’ve done a few crazy Tier Point runs in my time – the kind where I hardly leave the airport – but when I am asked for advice about achieving British Airways status, I usually reply with some version of:

Just do a handful of weekend getaways in Club Europe to somewhere you’d like to visit. It’s more enjoyable than just flying around endlessly.

You want to be booking those weekend getaways during Club Europe sales such as this one…

It is also worth pointing out that many of the excellent Qatar Airways Business Class fares will earn 560 Tier Points. This will leave you 40 Tier Points and 4 British Airways / Iberia flights short of Silver status. Yet, if you simply take four cheap BA/IB flights, you will only earn 20 Tier Points. So, you will need at least one Club Europe flight to earn 40 Tier Points from the minimum 4 BA flights. So, if you are thinking about a long-haul holiday on Qatar Airways, you should consider a short-haul Club Europe getaway as well…

3. Earn Alaska Miles

If status with British Airways isn’t a major concern, then InsideFlyer frequently recommends that you consider earning miles with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan instead of Avios.

For example, the Gatwick to Barcelona route covers 717 miles. A British Airways ‘R’ class fare will earn Avios based on 150% of miles flown when credited to British Airways Executive Club. This works out to 2,150 Avios for the return trip. At our usual valuation of 1p per Avios, you would receive a rebate worth £21.50.

With Alaska, a BA ‘R’ class fare will earn 250% of miles flown. As a result, you can earn 3,584 miles from that return to Barcelona. Using a conservative valuation of 1.5p per Alaska mile, you could receive a rebate worth £53.75. (and you only paid £140 in the first place!)

4. Really… Choose Alaska!

Recognising that valuation exercises can be hard to grasp sometimes, let’s calculate how many Club Europe trips to Barcelona we would require to earn a free one-way flight to/from Hong Kong in Business Class.

A one-way Business Class reward on Cathay Pacific costs 42,500 Alaska miles. With 12 return flights to Barcelona in Club Europe, you’d earn enough Alaska miles for that reward to Hong Kong. (and that’s without taking into account that you’d earn Alaska status – with its mileage bonuses – along the way)

Crazy right? Well… not compared to British Airways Executive Club. A one-way, off-peak Business Class reward to/from Hong Kong on British Airways costs 75,000 Avios (plus surcharges). A peak period / partner reward to/from Hong Kong would cost 90,000 Avios.

You’re going to require 35!!! return trips to Barcelona in Club Europe to earn enough Avios for that reward to Hong Kong, and you’ll have to pay BA’s surcharges. A Silver member is going to earn more Avios of course, but even with that 50% bonus you’d still require 25 return trips to Barcelona to earn enough Avios to get yourself to Hong Kong.

I know that the majority of readers find it easier to earn Avios. Which is precisely why you should consider earning Alaska miles wherever you can, especially when Alaska are offering substantially more miles for the exact same BA flight…

Conclusion

Most people find it hard to justify paying extra to fly in British Airways’ mediocre Club Europe cabin. But when fares are low, there are other advantages that can make it worthwhile to splurge on Row 1…