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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Julie Delahaye

British Airways booking hack could help parents get cheaper flights for whole family

A British Airways scheme could help families bag cheaper flights and holidays - and it's completely free to sign up.

For frequent flyers, the airline's loyalty programme means you can rack up Avios points which can be spent on 'reward flights', holidays, upgrades, car rentals and plenty more services.

However, most people don't realise that British Airways allows you to extend this scheme to your whole family, thanks to its Household Account scheme.

Essentially, you can 'pool' your family's points together to use Avios points on reward flights, or in part payment for a flight - meaning potentially cheaper family holidays.

British Airways has a useful Household Account for its Executive Club members (Getty Images)

The BA website explains: "If you’d like to make travelling together a more rewarding experience, then perhaps a Household Account is for you. It’s free to create, and means you can pool your Avios with up to six people who live with you, letting you make full use of the collective balance. Even children can join, so everyone in the family can collect Avios each time you travel.

"We recommend that all parents/guardians become third party nominees for any Members who are under 18 joining a Household Account. Please see the Manage My Account section of the Members’ Area on ba.com for more information on third party nominees."

You'll need to be an Executive Club Member - but the good news is that it's free to sign up. You can find out more on britishairways.com.

It's not the only airline to offer a scheme of this nature.

Virgin Atlantic also has a handy loyalty scheme families can use (Virgin Atlantic)

Virgin Atlantic has a similar offering with its Flying Club scheme. Children under 18 can be signed up to the programme, although parents will need to fill out a consent form.

The airline allows members of its Flying Club to transfer points to each other - there is a maximum limit of 100,000 points in a calendar year.

You can find out more on flywith.virginatlantic.com.

Unfortunately there aren't many airlines in the UK that have loyalty schemes where you can add your children as members or pool your points.

The good news is that there are other ways you could help keep the costs down, such as supermarket rewards schemes.

For example, if you have a Tesco clubcard there are some travel vouchers you could claim on the likes of Eurotunnel, Royal Caribbean cruises, airport parking, hotels, package holidays abroad and flights. (Or if you're booking a staycation, you can find deals on railcards and UK hotel stays).

Meanwhile Nectar Card holders can use Nectar points on a host of travel perks such as hotel stays, British Airways flights, Eurostar journeys and even travel insurance.

Have you found a great travel hack you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com.

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