How far in advance are Avios seats released by BA?

[Guest]

This year's trip was cancelled, so I'm back at the start of the process for planning next year's trip, which I'm entirely confident will be the best ever (I hope). We're hoping to book our BA flights with Avios - can anyone remind me how far in advance reward seats are released? Are they released at the same time of day, or just randomly?

[Procrastinator]

355 days and it is either midnight or 1am depending on if it is BST or not.

Depending on where, how many, seat class and when you might be better off paying £3 a month to set up alerts on BAredemptionfinder. They check a search for you every hour and email you when new seats are released.

We wanted 4 seats in summer hols. Can't get PE or Business at 355 days, but they do release more. We were due to fly out 48 hours from now in PE and back in 17 days in business on avios seats.

I have since picked some up for feb half term with business seats for the return on the sat at the end of the hol.

I have seen but didnt book PE and Business seats that sat in the easter hols.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Procrastinator

355 days and it is either midnight or 1am depending on if it is BST or not.

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Many thanks. Looking to travel at the end of July or beginning of August in Club, if I get lucky with availability.

Good suggestion to pay the subscription for the redemption finder website. I've set up free searches before, but on time sensitive bookings like this it's probably worth spending a few quid to get the info more frequently.

[Peko]

Just a note that there have been a few reports recently of BA not opening flights for sale on certain routes at 355 days, with delays of 5-7 days. Possibly related to expected aircraft changes etc due to retiring 747s, timetable changes etc.

Also to note that you can get the seats on the outbound as soon as they are released, and then add the return when that date is released. Unlike with cash fares, you don’t have to wait until the return is available, and in fact for most people it is advisable not to wait, particularly for business class seats on popular routes.

[Procrastinator]

Depends how many tickets you are buying. If 2 club tickets, then getting out and in at different times is one route to go - though you end up paying a lot more in taxes.

If you are after more than 2 tickets then i think you just need to set up an alert at BA redemption finder for as big range as you can and be patient.

But it has worked for me on all 3 of my last searches. 1 in Summer hols, 1 in feb half term and 1 at easter. And out of those 3 i booked 2 of them.

Also be flexible on TPA and MCO to increase your chances. Fly in and out different airports if you need to.

All 3 times i got notified of seats available it was somewhere between 7-10 months out. Not seen them open up closer than that to travel.

When i have had the email I have then booked within about 90 mins of getting the email. Luckily both times the email arrived when i was reasonably free to do so.


Good luck!

[Teach0778]

I use the executive club reward app to look for seats. It worked well for me a few weeks ago for my flights in June next year. Managed to book Club using Avios and companion voucher so very happy. Seats in Club (as of 7.15pm) are shown below - almost at the end of July.

[tonymc]

As mentioned above, usual release is 355 days beforehand at 01:00 (BST) or midnight when the clocks go back.

If you live in London, it's worth using LON as the London airport as this will show both Gatwick and Heathrow, and check availability on the Tampa and Miami routes if you don't get any joy with the Orlando flight. If you use the Reward Flight Finder, you can check for flights to up to three airports for up to a year (as per the images below):

The results below show currently good availability to all three destinations (MCO, TPA and MIA) - note that MIA still has availability for this month and next month:

As well as direct BA flights, the site will often offer direct flights with other one-world partners (so AA for Miami), or connecting flights (e.g. via Madrid with Iberia, via Boston with AA), hence the greater availability for Miami.

Worth also trying to make a dummy booking a week or so beforehand, as any issues that may come up can be sorted out before then. I was booking 2 Club World seats from London to Sydney for next March, but a dummy booking brought up an issue with payment - turned out that I needed to use an Amex card in order to use our Comnpanion Voucher. Had I had to run around trying to find an Amex card when making the real booking, it's likely the seats would have gone.

[Stevelovesfl]

Originally Posted by Peko

Just a note that there have been a few reports recently of BA not opening flights for sale on certain routes at 355 days, with delays of 5-7 days. Possibly related to expected aircraft changes etc due to retiring 747s, timetable changes etc.

Also to note that you can get the seats on the outbound as soon as they are released, and then add the return when that date is released. Unlike with cash fares, you don’t have to wait until the return is available, and in fact for most people it is advisable not to wait, particularly for business class seats on popular routes.

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Yes I’ve noticed flights not being loaded at midnight as usual on a few routes. Book the outbound as soon as you find it! If you have a 241 call up to book inbound and tag it on.

[munmun]

Originally Posted by Stevelovesfl

Yes I’ve noticed flights not being loaded at midnight as usual on a few routes. Book the outbound as soon as you find it! If you have a 241 call up to book inbound and tag it on.

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If you use an AE companion voucher and book each flight when available it is worth noting this may increase tax payments as whilst excess avios paid will be refunded the tax paid will not, a few years ago it was.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by munmun

If you use an AE companion voucher and book each flight when available it is worth noting this may increase tax payments as whilst excess avios paid will be refunded the tax paid will not, a few years ago it was.

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Thanks for that. Is the tax that you pay on a one-way journey (which is what would happen if you booked the outbound leg first) more than half of what you would pay for a return journey?