How to book American Airlines flights with Avios whilst ba.com is not working properly

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• Daniel says:

  3 Jun3 June 05:38

  Slightly OT but talking of broken, it is not possible right now or yesterday to combine Avios either on ba.com or avios.com. Just comes up with an error…

  Error 404–Not Found
  From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol — HTTP/1.1:
  10.4.5 404 Not Found
  The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI. No indication is given of whether the condition is temporary or permanent.

  If the server does not wish to make this information available to the client, the status code 403 (Forbidden) can be used instead. The 410 (Gone) status code SHOULD be used if the server knows, through some internally configurable mechanism, that an old resource is permanently unavailable and has no forwarding address.

  • Anna says:

    3 Jun3 June 06:09

    Have you tried a different browser/device? I’ve had that message numerous times in respect of avios.com functions, though it might now be something to do with the major changes going on!

  • John says:

    3 Jun3 June 06:42

    You say all this but it obviously requires competent IT techs to configure servers properly

  • IanT says:

    3 Jun3 June 07:38

    Same here.

    I’ve got a Lloyds voucher I want to use for a Vancouver-London one-way next May, but alas I can’t combine my Avios to be able to use it.

    Avios really has turned into a basket case of a reward programme over the last couple of years imho. I think I’ll be winding down my participation in it, as it’s getting more trouble than it’s actually worth.

    • the real harry1 says:

      3 Jun3 June 08:38

      More for us! 🙂

      Easy enough to get them to do it on the phone if CMA not responsive

      • Mikeact says:

        3 Jun3 June 08:46

        Exactly.

      • IanT says:

        3 Jun3 June 09:17

        Well, yes, of course I can do it over the phone.

        I’m just saying that a prominent feature of the programme is, yet again and typically, not working. The IT infrastructure within BA/Avios isn’t getting better….it’s actually getting worse.

        I know it’s sounds like I’m having a moan, but it’s a real issue for BA moving forward if they’re going to compete long term.

        Add that to devaluations, a second-rate hard product, exorbitant charges and the lack of availability and sooner or later people will just switch off, or get cosier with an alternative scheme e.g. Flying Club.

      • Doug M says:

        3 Jun3 June 11:52

        If you think FC better suits you do it. However, do not kid yourself the Virgin website is flawless. Are charges lower on FC redemptions? Is FC even a meaningful comparison to BAEC/Avios with no SH network, meaning you need a large pot of miles before you can redeem. Each to their own.

  • Paul says:

    3 Jun3 June 09:18

    I transferred my avios yest morning and now have them in both accounts so have doubled my points!

    • the real harry1 says:

      3 Jun3 June 11:44

      🙂

    • andrew says:

      4 Jun4 June 08:05

      same for me but i suspect that the system will catch up with its self and they will claw back the Avios

  • Mr Dee says:

    3 Jun3 June 09:26

    Can’t transfer to Avios.com from either Iberia or BA, so assume they have blocked it

    • IanT says:

      3 Jun3 June 09:36

      You would think if it was a permanent block they’d actually have a response which told you so, oh and maybe remove the link from the main page.

      Or am I expecting too much… ?

  • onlysuites says:

    4 Jun4 June 10:36

    Been down since Saturday. BA doesn’t have a time when it will be back up.

• Daniel Evans says:

  3 Jun3 June 06:15

  I just tried Chrome my normal browser. The page itself has vanished by the response code “404”.

• DTB says:

  3 Jun3 June 08:04

  I got it to work by doing the same search multiple times. Worked on about the 10th attempt

  BA refused to admit there was a problem when i asked them on twitter

• Alan says:

  3 Jun3 June 08:27

  Apparently hitting refresh a few times or stepping forward/backwards a day or so on the BA search will often do the trick in making flights you know are available from AA.com show up.

• George says:

  3 Jun3 June 09:01

  Yes the refresh trick seems to work 95% of the time, with patience. But this has been a problem for much longer than two weeks, it has been the case since February! And it took until March for some BA agents to even start admitting there was a problem, with some still maintaining now that there’s just no availability. Whether this is by sheer ignorance or on purpose I don’t know but either way, another huge IT/PR fiasco entirely of their own making. God help us when they launch their new variable pricing system, another disaster in the making not to mention that I think it will be the end of the Executive Club as we know it. There will be plenty of premium seats available with Avios, but at prices more akin to their cash equivalents. We are seeing huge devaluations with other airlines at the moment and BA will surely follow suit. If there are any bookings you were thinking of making in the next year, make them now.

• Kevin H says:

  3 Jun3 June 09:45

  Anyone any feel for how much notice BA will give for the effective date of their upcoming devaluation? If they announce it on, say, 4th June, is it likely to be effective the following day, week or month (or longer) – at least based on previous experience?

  • Mark says:

    3 Jun3 June 11:42

    Last time they were nice and gave some notice. I think it would depend on what changes they’re making.

    For example, if they are keeping the 4 + 2, but additionally allowing people to use Avios to purchase tickets in traditional non-redemption classes (for more Avios), then i’d imagine a move like that wouldn’t need any notice given.

• Mark says:

  3 Jun3 June 10:03

  The Indian call centre open from 10pm-6am GGL line can see availability.

• Terri says:

  3 Jun3 June 10:14

  I had another problem with BA avios website last week when trying to book an AA redemption.

  I did eventually manage to get the BA website to bring up the AA reward flights using the multiple repeat method. However, I then could not enter the names of any passengers other than those already connected to my account. The boxes to put in new names were grayed out and the typing feature not working. I tried several browsers without success – each time having to repeatedly search to get the flights again.

  I gave up and called EC. Booked it on the phone – 38 minutes wait time before call picked-up on silver line and another 30 minutes to get it sorted. It was acknowledged there was a problem and the fee was waived. It took half my day getting the reward flights booked. The child in my party has been entered as an adult but i’m not going to let that worry me!

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