What are the 2024 British Airways peak and off-peak Avios flight dates?

What are the peak and off-peak calendar dates for redeeming Avios points in 2024? 

Unfortunately British Airways no longer officially publishes its peak and off peak dates for reward flights in advance. Instead, it drops then in day-by-day as tickets come on sale 355 days in advance.

As in previous years, we have been able to get our hands on the official (but unpublished) Avios peak and off-peak calendar for 2024 which we are reproducing in full below.

The 2023 British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus peak and off-peak calendars are here. We don’t have 2024 dates for Iberia or Aer Lingus yet.

Remember that flights are not bookable, for cash or Avios, until 355 days before departure.

(I should also remind you that, as we are now in British Summer Time and British Airways releases flights at midnight GMT, that you will need to be online or on the telephone at 1am if you are UK based and want to book 355 days ahead for the 14 ‘guaranteed’ Avios seats per flight.)

There are three things to remember:

This calendar only applies to British Airways. Iberia and Aer Lingus have their own peak and off-peak dates. This is useful because you will often find that when BA is peak during UK half-term school holidays, Iberia (and occasionally Aer Lingus) are running off-peak fares.

The BA calendar applies wherever you book a BA redemption, whether it is on ba.com, iberia.com or avios.com.  Similarly, if you try to book an Iberia redemption on ba.com it will NOT follow the dates below.

All redemptions on partner airlines such as Qantas are charged on a separate chart at peak date rates, 100% of the time. The partner chart does not apply to Qatar Airways redemptions which now have their own pricing.

Peak dates are in red whilst off peak is in white.  Click to enlarge:

The British Airways peak/off-peak chart has become very ‘bitty’ in recent years. For example, the 2021 calendar made virtually all of July and August peak, with June mostly off-peak. For 2024, BA has chosen to break things up: in July and August, for example, every single Tuesday remains off-peak.

As you would expect, peak dates cover all the school breaks (driven by the private school calendar, which has far longer breaks than state schools) as well as the majority of bank holidays.  The only Bank Holiday on an off-peak day is Boxing Day. Even Christmas Day is peak, even though flights are generally very quiet.

We have created an online peak/off-peak calendar for 2024 (it also includes 2023) that you can subscribe to on your mobile device or calendar app. Click here to subscribe.

If you want to learn more about how to spend your Avios most efficiently, read our beginner’s guide to redeeming Avios points here although that article will soon get a full update. You can read more about how the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher works in this article.

PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, please consider signing up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters. They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 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.