At the beginning of last month I wrote that British Airways had increased the size of its discount to AARP members traveling in economy ($100) and premium economy ($200), while the discount for business and first class remains the same ($400). This is a great deal for anyone willing to spend $16 on an annual AARP membership, which is not restricted to any particular age group.
Some people have been able to combine the discount with other sales to book business class travel for as low as $1,000 round-trip to London. But the discount was set to expire at the end of July. I cautioned readers not to worry as it’s been extended several times before at the last minute.
According to One Mile at a Time, that extension was just published last week. At the same time the discounts were returned the original amounts for economy ($65) and premium economy ($130). The lower discounts are reflected on both the British Airways and AARP websites. In any case, you can now secure these discounts when you book through AARP’s portal on or before October 21, 2016.
However, is there still reason to worry? It’s interesting that the discount was only extended by a few months and not an entire year. Furthermore, the “travel by” date is still the same: March 31, 2017.
That could suggest British Airways is planning to phase out this discount rather than go through the usual motion of extending it year after year. A temporary extension of the booking deadline suggests little actual commitment to AARP but rather a convenient opportunity to promote its flights during an economically difficult time for the U.K.
Or maybe two months from now we’ll be having this conversation again as we wait for another last-minute update.
