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We put two of the biggest January flight sales to the test, to help you book the cheapest flights.
Our snapshot price check of 10 routes on sale by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic found that you could save up to £276 by picking the right carrier.
We checked the prices of five sale fares promoted on British Airways’ sale page against the cheapest like-for-like return flight with Virgin Atlantic. We then did the reverse, taking five of Virgin Atlantic’s advertised sale fares and comparing them with the closest equivalent flights offered by British Airways.
In all cases, we compared direct flights and selected the cheapest economy fares available, as long as they included at least 23kg of checked luggage. All flights depart from London Heathrow, and we tried to match departure times as closely as possible.
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Our snapshot price checks revealed that both Virgin and BA offered the lowest fares on different routes.
British Airways was cheaper in six out of the 10 comparisons we carried out. The difference in price between BA and Virgin ranged from a few pennies to several hundred pounds. .
For example, return flights in March from London to Toronto with Virgin Atlantic cost £831.39 in the sale, but were £276 cheaper with BA, at £555.39.
North America. Four of our price checks were to New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Toronto, and all were cheaper in the BA sale than Virgin’s closest equivalents. After Toronto, San Francisco was the next best saving, with flights nearly £80 cheaper in the BA sale, at £509.69.
Our price checks also found that sale prices to Johannesburg and Mumbai were cheaper with BA.
However, there’s a caveat to bear in mind. Virgin far outranked British Airways in our latest survey of the best airlines, ranking 5th, with a 73% customer score. BA, on the other hand, was bottom of the table, ranked 19th, with a customer score of 65%. It beat BA for its customer service, seat comfort, boarding, food and drink, cabin environment, value for money,and track record for last-minute cancellations.
So, if the difference between the two sales is minimal, like the £1 difference we found between BA and Virgin’s NYC sale flights, book with Virgin instead.
Virgin’s sale fares to Malé, Riyadh and Dubai were all £70-£80 cheaper than their closest BA alternatives. The destination with the biggest savings was Antigua, where a return trip from 3-9 February was £210 cheaper in the Virgin sale than its BA equivalent.
Wherever you’re planning to visit in 2026, you may want to consider booking a package holiday for better protection. Although flight deals can help cut the costs of trips, package holidays offer better protection if something goes wrong.
Read more about the best package holiday providers, and the cheapest destinations for package holidays in 2026.
Which? Travel members can currently claim £100 off holiday bookings with Which? Travel brand of the year, Trailfinders
Inspiring destination ideas from the experts for only £49 for the year. Plus, get £100 off holidays with Trailfinders, the Which? Travel Brand of the Year
Join Which? TravelHolidays of 7-days or more with flights. Offer ends 27 February 2026 and is accessible through other Which? subscriptions. T&Cs apply.
Virgin Atlantic’s January sale ends on 2 February 2026, while British Airways’ January flight sale runs until 27 January 2026.
