Huge amounts of BA US First Class Avios availability released – for the next 45 days

In our article on the Avios sale yesterday, we discussed some of the weird patterns that we had seen in Avios availability since an IT update on 1st July.

This initially led to no First Class seats being made available, anywhere.

As I said yesterday, availability had started to come back. Last night it came in a flood – but only for the next 45 days and only, I think, on US routes.

Here is a SeatSpy screenshot of First Class availability to/from New York, as at 10.30pm last night:

There are a LOT of seats available on some flights. 6th August, for example, has 4 x First seats on one JFK flight and 5 x First seats on another, plus one or two seats on a further three flights.

Here is Boston:

Here is Los Angeles:

The pattern is similar on the other US routes with First Class (this is a HfP-created list, it may not be 100% accurate):

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Chicago
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• Nashville
• New Orleans
• New York
• Pittsburgh
• Portland, Oregon
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Washington DC

However, when I used SeatSpy to look at non-US routes – Johannesburg, Dubai etc – there has been no mass opening of seats.

If this availability is still there when you read this on Friday morning, you may want to jump in if you want to give British Airways First Class a try this summer.

You can read more about British Airways First in our guide here, albeit this article is three years old. Note that the seat pictured at the top of this article is not actually flying yet!

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is doubled to 40,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 40,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £5,000 within SIX months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 80,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £10,000 within SIX months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The American Express Business Platinum Card is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 120,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £12,000 within three months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The American Express Business Gold Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 60,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £6,000 within three months of approval. The card remains free for the first year. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

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