News & offers: Companion business & first class deals from €1249, BA BOAC livery B747 & VR in the sky

British Airways BOAC B747 arriving at Heathrow

On Monday Heathrow will see the arrival of the first aircraft to have a retro livery in celebration of BA’s 100 anniversary. Both Paul and I will be attending so make sure you follow along with us live on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where we will be sharing our experiences.  The B747 will arrive back at Heathrow in the morning, and we will get a chance to get up close and personal with it in a hangar. Both being big avgeeks we are very excited and hope you can join us on social media to share the event! The B747 will enter service the following day. This coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first Boeing 747 flight only a few days earlier.

Companion business class deals from €1249

Probably thanks to Valentine’s Day there are quite a few companion sales around at the moment.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand has launched a flash Business Premier companion fare sale from London Heathrow to Los Angeles. The tickets cost £1,875 return per person when travelling as a pair or group of up to 9 people on the same ticket. Premium Economy is also on sale from £749 return per person.  As well as being part of Star Alliance you can also credit Air New Zealand miles to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Los Angeles travel periods Business Premier companion fares:
17 Feb – 23 Feb 2019 & 3 Mar – 28 Mar 2019

Los Angeles travel periods Premium Economy per person return:
24 Feb – 28 Mar 2019

Sale ends midnight, 18 February 2018. You can find the sale page here.

Lufthansa from €1249

Lufthansa has some ex EU deals in both First and business class. Lufthansa business class is rather average, but their first class is something special with its own private terminal at Frankfurt. The Germany fares are valid from Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Dresden, Hamburg. There is also a cheaper sale from Madrid.

The travel period is 01.03.- 30.11.2019 and you must book by 22 February 2019.

First class

The First class offer from Germany page is here.

Business class

German departures:

The business class offer from Germany page is here.

From Spain for two people:

The Spanish companion sale page  is here.

Iberia to offer virtual reality headsets

From February 18, Iberia will begin offering virtual reality (VR) and 3-D in-flight entertainment on board select flights in collaboration with Inflight VR. This will give them access to 3-D games, films, city travelogues and documentaries. The move follows a trial of Inflight VR’s solution in Iberia’s Madrid lounge.

During a six-month trial period, passengers travelling on Iberia’s twice-daily Madrid–New York flights and its once-daily Madrid–Tel Aviv service will be able to rent  VR headsets to experience 3-D and VR content.

“We learned about Inflight VR through Hangar 51, IAG’s start-up accelerator program,” said Ignacio Toval, Iberia’s director of Digital Transformation. “Since 2017, we’ve been working together to develop a VR solution that can offer a new experience to our customers.”

Toval continued, “An important aspect of Iberia’s digital transformation push lies in the incorporation of new technologies and digital innovation during the entire travel experience, from the moment they think about buying a ticket to arrival at the destination.”

The promotional price for the VR headset rental during the trial period will be €6. Once the trial period ends, a decision will be made about whether to expand the service to Iberia’s other medium- and long-haul routes and whether to change the rental fee.