What can the British Airways “You First” team do for you if you are booked in First Class?

“You First” is a dedicated call centre set up to help anyone holding a British Airways First Class ticket.  Not many people know it exists, which is a shame because – irrespective of the wait times at the main British Airways call centre – telephone calls to “You First” are generally answered quickly.

The last time I used it, back in August 2020 at the height of the pandemic when getting an airline to answer your call required a minor miracle, I got through within 30 seconds and within five minutes my tickets were changed following a cancellation.

‘You First’ is by far your best opportunity to get an affected flight rebooked or refunded.

The British Airways “You First” telephone number is 020 7949 3055.  If you are in the UK, there is also a free version which is 0800 408 7667.

‘You First’ is open 24/7, although if you call outside UK office hours you may be diverted to an offshore call centre and the service level may be different.  It is, I believe, the same team that look after Gold Guest List members.

You can also ring this number to make a First Class booking for cash or Avios, as well as call to make any changes or cancellations.

What else can “You First” do for you?

The British Airways website is rather vague about what “You First” offers.  On the webform for contacting “You First” it suggests using them for:

• Travel queries
• Journey disruption
• Mishandled bags

To be honest, I don’t think I have ever used it for anything other than flight changes.

Much of the value used to be in booking spa treatments or cabanas in The Concorde Room lounges in London and New York, but these features no longer exist.

You can ask “You First” to send you the menu for your particular flight in advance, if you contact them within a few days of departure. This can be especially useful if you are wondering whether to pre-order a special meal or not.

The British Airways “You First” service is NOT meant to be a concierge service.  They will, however, answer the telephone quickly and deal efficiently with the basics such as ticket changes – although you could justifiably argue that you shouldn’t need to have a First Class ticket to get this level of service!

There isn’t much about “You First” on the British Airways website, but the little there is can be found here.

Don’t forget that we have a full guide to redeeming Avios for British Airways First Class seats which you can find here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.