A new Avios travel app for iOS – Avios Flight Finder

If you have an iPhone or iPad there is a new (beta) Avios travel app now available in the App Store – Avios Flight Finder.  It is not available on Android at the moment unfortunately.

It does what it says on the tin.  It is a fairly straightforward app that lets you search for Avios flight availability from London.  You can pick a specific month or you can have the app show you everything available.  Once you have found seats, the app drops into a version of the avios.com booking page to allow you to book your flight.

This app makes it substantially quicker to look for availability over long periods.  This is probably bad news from BA!

For example, it took me just 14 seconds from opening the app to discover that the first day that I can get 2 people to Los Angeles in Club World is Sunday January 1st 2015.  The first day I can get 2 people to San Francisco is November 25th.

Some of the findings are bizarre.  On the 4th July I can get 4 people to San Diego in Club World.  That is the ONLY day in the next 355 days, according to the app, that there are two San Diego seats in Club World available.  On December 31st, February 15th, March 17th and May 20th there is one seat.   That is to a destination which, frankly, is unlikely to be attracting floods of redemptions.

I really don’t think BA wants people to be able to discover this information in 14 seconds ….

Here are some things you should know before using it:

it is an avios.com and not BA app, so to book via the app you need to have your Avios in avios.com and not ba.com – otherwise you will need to use the normal BA website

avios.com has better availability for European economy redemptions than BA.  If you need to book one of those seats, you will need to do it via avios.com and so you wouldn’t be able to use a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher.

the app does not appear to show avios.com partner airlines in the headline search (eg Flybe, Aurigny, Monarch, Air Malta) although it will bring up their flights during the booking process – I found Air Malta seats for example.

airports only served by partners (eg Guernsey) are not on the drop-down city list so you cannot search for them at all.  The reason Air Malta comes up is that BA also has its own flights to Malta.

it only lets you search for flights from London.  If you want to look for a one-way flight TO London you would need to pretend you wanted to fly a return trip.

the app will not show oneworld partner airline seats because you can only book those airlines via ba.com and not via avios.com

All in all, though, I was impressed – as a way of checking reward seats on British Airways flights on the go it is quick and it is easy.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2025)

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Up to 60,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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