BA appears to be putting 7-9 day delays on some Avios transfers to Qatar, Iberia, Finnair

A reader dropped me an email yesterday about a block that had been placed on transfers from his BA Club account.

He wanted to book a redemption via the Qatar Airways website. Since Qatar Airways does not acknowledge BA Household Accounts, the reader had paid £50 to transfer Avios from his wife to himself so their points were in one place.

He attempted to make the booking via the Qatar Airways website but found he was blocked.

This is what he got:

For clarity, and despite the message, there is NOTHING that the support team can do to help you. You need to sit and wait.

I looked into this and it appears to be a common problem in recent weeks. Unfortunately, it is a real issue for people who need to consolidate Avios in one account before making a redemption.

To put it simply: when you move Avios from another airline into British Airways Club, a block of 7-9 days on transfers OUT of BA Club may be placed on your account.

The same occurs if you transfer Avios between British Airways Club accounts.

The problem is that the very reason that people transfer Avios into British Airways Club (or between BA Club accounts) is that they WANT to make a redemption outside ba.com!

The main issue for readers is making Avios redemptions on the Qatar Airways website. Qatar Airways has a lot of extra availability on its own flights (albeit for more Avios in most cases), you can book 360 days in advance (vs 355 days via ba.com) and they have unique partners such as Garuda Indonesia, Airlink and Virgin Australia.

Here are some examples from this Flyertalk thread:

I got automatically ‘unlocked’ after 6/7 days. Did Aer Lingus > BA transfer on Monday, was unable to transfer points from BA to Qatar until Sunday.

Tried transferring more Avios, Iberia → BA and then BA → Qatar. Turns out Iberia → BA triggered the lock in my account again.

Just been able to transfer from BA to Qatar. Took just under 9 days.

I waited two weeks before trying my BA–>Qatar transfer again, and today it worked on the first try. After that, I realized I had recently accumulated a fresh bunch of Avios in my Iberia account, so I ran a test; I moved them over to BA and then tried BA—>Qatar again, all I got was the same suspicious activity / lockdown message. So pathetic and frustrating.

I’ve hit 7 days today and managed to move points from BA to Qatar. Reward flight gone.

There’s no advice we can give you, to be honest, except to say that if you were thinking of making an Avios redemption via another platform except ba.com, be VERY careful about moving Avios into your BA Club account in the preceeding 7-9 days.

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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.