Avios app adds basic – but FREE – reward seat availability notifications
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The Avios app – which is a separate download to the British Airways app – has introduced an interesting new feature.
You can now set up notifications to receive alerts if BA reward flights become available.
It is not as sophisticated as the service offered by SeatSpy, by a long way, but it is free.
How does it work?
The new Avios app reward notification service allows you to receive a message when Avios reward seats open up on selected British Airways flights.
It is very focused:
- you have to pick a specific calendar day, not a date range
- you have to pick one travel class, not a mixture of classes
…. but if you are OK with this, it will do the job.
What you CAN’T do is a search along the lines of ‘notify me if Avios seats in World Traveller Plus, Club World or First open up during any point in May to the Maldives’. You need SeatSpy for that.
You are restricted to ‘notify me if flights to the Maldives in Club World open up on 2nd May’.
You can, however, set up to 15 alerts at any one time. This allows you to monitor multiple dates and/or ticket classes, although it will obviously take time to set up.
How do you create an alert?
There doesn’t seem to be a dedicated alerts section in the Avios app.
What you need to do is search for a flight for a specific day. If there is no availability, this box will pop up:
All you need to do is tick the box and an alert will be created for the flight you searched. It couldn’t be easier.
IMPORTANT: It doesn’t seem to work on iPhone minis. As you can see from the screenshot, the box to activate the alert doesn’t actually appear!
For clarity, setting an alert does NOT mean that the Avios app will reserve the seat for you if it opens up. You still need to go into the app or ba.com and book your flight before someone else takes it.
It’s not clear what happens if a seat appears, you miss it and then another seat appears later. Is the original alert cancelled after you are notified of an available seat, irrespective of whether you book it?
You can unsubscribe from ‘no longer needed’ alerts via the Avios app.
Conclusion
This is an interesting step forward by Avios, and it will be interesting to see how it develops.
Will they keep adding SeatSpy-style functionality (date ranges, multiple classes)? Or will it remain a plain vanilla offering (one day, one cabin)?
More interestingly, will it cause more problems than it solves if it takes off? If 100 people are notified about the same seat opening up at, say, the start of the Easter school holidays, 99 people are going to be disappointed and may assume the system is broken.
Services such as SeatSpy have always been very niche, at least in the context of the number of Avios accounts out there, and there is a natural cap on their growth. If they get too popular, they stop being effective unless you are searching for niche routes or dates.
You can try out this new feature in the Avios app.
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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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.
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.
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