A ba.com bug that Gold card holders should know about

One of the benefits of having Gold status in British Airways Executive Club is that you see additional Avios reward space.

This isn’t the bonanza you may think it is. It only applies to Economy flights and it only applies to flights on British Airways.

That said, there are likely to be times when it comes in handy.

Unfortunately, there is a bug on ba.com which means that Economy Avios seats do not always show as available for Gold members when they really are. This has been a long term problem, not a temporary issue.

To explain the bug, I need to explain where the extra Avios seats come from.

In BA’s ticketing system, Economy reward seats are put in a bucket called ‘X’ class. For Gold members, the cheapest cash Economy seats are also shown as available for Avios redemption.

So far, so good.

The problem emerges if you don’t search for the actual number of seats you want.

There is a logical reason to just search for one seat even if you want 2, 3 or 4

I don’t know about you, but I usually run my ba.com Avios reward searches looking for just one seat. I do this even if I need two, three or four seats.

This is because – as ba.com shows you how many seats are available on each flight in each class – you get a better feel for what is available.

For example, if I need four seats and search for four seats, I wouldn’t see flights with 2 x Business Class and 2 x First Class, or perhaps 3 x Business Class and 1 x Premium Economy.

I want to see results like this, however, because they may be acceptable to me. I may also be prepared to pay for some seats if I can’t get all the seats I need on Avios. This is why I search for one seat and not four seats.

There is a ba.com bug with the ‘extra’ Avios Economy seats for Gold members

However, there is a bug in ba.com when it comes to showing the extra seats for Gold members in Economy.

If the number of seats you search for can be fulfilled from standard Avios availability, this is the total of seats you are shown are bookable. ba.com does not tell you about the extra seats.

Yes, this is confusing. Let’s me explain it a different way.

Imagine there is one seat in standard Avios Economy availability but eight additional Economy seats are available for Gold members.

• If you search for one seat, you are told that only one seat is available, not nine seats

• If you search for two seats, you are told that nine seats are available.

This is because ba.com only shows you the extra seats for Gold members if you request enough seats to trigger them.

Still confused? Here is an example.

Here is what a Gold card holder searching for one reward seat to Seattle on 16th April 2025 sees:

This is NOT correct. There are NOT just three seats available to a Gold member. If this person was actually looking for four seats but had just searched for one, he would get a false result.

If I change the number of seats wanted to four seats, suddenly at least nine seats are shown as bookable (no cap shown = 9+ available):

Luckily, this is a bug which is easy to work around now that you know it exists.

If you are a British Airways Executive Club Gold member and are searching for Economy class Avios redemptions, make sure you search for the exact number of seats you need.

Don’t do a dummy search for just one seat as you will get a false result.

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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:

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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