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BA has loaded what seem to be some Chinese New Year flash sale fares. These are excellent prices for Business Class direct from London Heathrow.

The only catch is 2 people must travel together to get these prices, and you must stay a Saturday night, and book by 21st Feb 2018.

This has been flagged on FlyerTalk since yesterday afternoon – so availability is dropping, but still pretty decent. Use BA’s low fare finder to search easily for available dates.

Currently for Beijing to get the headline price you need to travel in April, September or November:

Availability for Shanghai is better: April, June, Sept, Oct and Nov.

But I haven’t got £2000 lying around right now…

These fares are also appearing via BA Holidays which has three advantages:

With these fares, it can actually either make it cheaper than the headline price according to some reports, or not cost significantly more for including a hotel for a week, like the below example:

Another upside with BA Holidays is you can just pay a deposit now, with the balance due 5 weeks before travel – so if you’re looking at the autumn dates that’ll give you some breathing room to save up.

You also get an extra 1 Avios per £1 when booking through BA holidays… Every little helps!

Tier Points & Miles

These fares book into “I” class, so return to Beijing a Blue member would earn 15,160 Avios and 280 Tier Points, and for Shanghai; 17,158 Avios and 280 Tier Points. Obviously Elite members would earn more Avios.

If you credit to Alaska, this could net you in the region of 25,000 Alaska miles (assuming my maths is right! – I class earns 250% miles flown) which might be more interesting for some!

Visa Reminder

Unless you are continuing travel to a THIRD country (not i.e. not back to the UK), you will need a visa to visit China. These start at around £151 so bear that in mind when booking these fares!