When does British Airways release Avios reward flights?

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

If you want to guarantee yourself the best chance of booking the Avios reward flights you want, it is important to know when British Airways releases Avios reward flights.

It is fairly easy to understand system but there are a couple of quirks to it.

The British Airways booking system lets you book flights up to 355 days in advance. This applies to both cash and Avios tickets.

If you want to fly on 20th April 2020, you can book the outbound from 30th April 2019.

This matters, because British Airways guarantees that two Business Class and four Economy seats will be released for Avios booking as soon as the flight appears in the booking system.

More tickets will probably be released over the following 355 days, but the 2 + 4 are guaranteed.

Similarly, there is no guarantee that World Traveller Plus / Premium Economy seats or First Class seats will ever be released for any specific flights, but they do usually pop up at some point.

If you would like to fly First Class, you may want to consider booking the two Club World seats to be safe and then look to change later if First Class does appear. Remember that not all routes have First Class.

If you want to be 100% certain of getting the seats you want for a particular day, you need to call British Airways on the dot of midnight (1am during British Summer Time) when the seats open up 355 days in advance.

This is your ONLY chance of getting tickets to ‘peak’ destinations such as Sydney or, over Christmas, many other places.

The UK call centre is closed at midnight so you need to call the US – you can Google the current number equivalent to your membership tier. You will only be able to book the outbound flight at this time. You will need to call back a few days later to add your return flight when it becomes available. BA does not, at the moment, charge a change fee for doing this.

It is important to note that you shouldn’t try to use the website instead. The flights WILL appear on ba.com at the stroke of midnight GMT. However, whilst you may be able to get the flights into your ‘basket’, they are not removed from the sale. By the time you have typed in all of the passenger and payment data, it is too late. A telephone agent will already have put the seats on hold – and when the call centre puts a flight into their basket it IS removed from sale.

To be honest, I have never booked 355 days ahead. My family never plans so far ahead and, as we tend to need four seats in Business Class, we are reliant on waiting for additional availability to pop up over time anyway. If you don’t have flexibility in your travel dates, however, you will need to follow the guidance above.

What about using Avios to book on other airlines?

Whilst you can book flights on many other airlines using Avios – here is the full list of airlines – BA has no control over when those airlines choose to release seats. Partner airlines such as Qatar Airways do NOT release seats so far in advance.

The other thing to remember is that, irrespective of the airline policy, ba.com can only book 355 days in advance. Even if another airline has reward seats showing more than 355 days in advance on its own website, you won’t be able to book them via BA with Avios until we get to 355 days.

This actually works in the favour of UK residents. American Airlines passengers can book BA reward seats using their own American Airlines frequent flyer miles, but the American Airlines website only books 335 days in advance. This gives Avios members a one month advantage to book before the 20+ million members of the AA scheme can jump in!

What I hope you have learned from this article is that, now you know when British Airways released Avios reward seats, you can maximise your chances of getting the tickets you want.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works. You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 1.8 million monthly page views. Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios? Click here to read our latest news stories, click here to join our email list and click here to read our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series.)

How to get 20,000 Avios from Amex Gold or 30,000 Avios from Amex Platinum (December 2021 offer)

The sign-up bonus on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold converts to 20,000 Avios and the card is free for the first year. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

You don’t qualify for the Amex Gold bonus if you have a British Airways American Express card. You DO qualify for the bonus on The Platinum Card, which converts into 30,000 Avios. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have your own small business, the best way of earning Avios is via the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa. It has a sign-up bonus which converts to 10,000 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also look at the British Airways Accelerating Business card, because it currently has a limited time offer of 60,000 Avios when you sign up by 14th November. You can apply here.