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Does anyone have any evidence that this is still working ? I’ve been looking at a couple of routes (CPT & DXB) and doesn’t seem to be a single day with additional avios availability.
Depends what you mean by still. A fortnight ago, there was definitively some additional KUL-LHR which was not available without. Whether things have changed since the fare being re-filed, I don’t know.
I’m having the same problem with the additional availability using an Amex BAPP voucher. BA social media say they have a policy in place but an agent wouldn’t even check this out for me on the phone today.
+1 here. Seeing no advantage in availability between BAPP abd Barclays voucher searches across a number of different trips in different months.
There was a post on FT about this. The answer was that agents on the phone can see the extra availability, so the only way currently was to phone BA.
The latest taken from a query on X –
“pls explain what has happened to the extra availability for BAPP Amex for redeeming a CV. It is impossible to find any on routes with multiple flights per day, your contact staff are unaware of the problem but SM staff say a policy is in place to book over phone”
The reply from BA –
” if you’re referring to extra redemption availability then I’m afraid you’re unable to use a Companion voucher with this. There are other restrictions which may apply too.”
Words fail me. What is the point of having BA PP Amex then.
The only way to see the extra BAPP CV in J is by selecting the voucher and directly looking at the route you want to fly. Last few years has worked fine for me 3-4 months before for routes such as SIN & HKG.
This year I have struggled to find anything eastbound, it’s very hit and miss especially with their poor systemsThis year I have struggled to find anything eastbound, it’s very hit and miss especially with their poor systems
The additional availability is shared with one of the cheap revenue fare buckets, so if the demand is high, you’ll obviously see less seats in this fare bucket. On eastbound routes, it’s common to see very good demand.
This year I have struggled to find anything eastbound, it’s very hit and miss especially with their poor systems
The additional availability is shared with one of the cheap revenue fare buckets, so if the demand is high, you’ll obviously see less seats in this fare bucket. On eastbound routes, it’s common to see very good demand.
Yep seems to be the case,I’ll keep looking I’m not one for the 355 days out thing…
Always plenty Westbound did a MAN-LHR-PHL recently felt cheated due to the short duration lolAt the time of writing, I believe there is extra reward seat availability but it’s not possible to see it on the website. I confirmed this by calling Exec Club and identifying a day with extra availability on a certain route – with Exec Club still on the phone I searched that day (with a companion voucher) on the website and couldn’t see it. Exec Club said they would feed it back to the appropriate team.
This can probably be traced back to the introduction of the new pricing system on 1 July, since when HfP reported that “Avios reward availability has been all over the place”. The initial problem was “bizarrely large numbers of seats showing for the ‘extra’ availability in business given to American Express 2-4-1 Companion Voucher holders.” Maybe in a bid to contain this problem, the opposite is now the case…
Covered in the AVIOS SALE article here: https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/07/17/avios-reward-seat-sale/
So as an update – after 3hrs on with BA they managed to find a lot (6 seats on one flight) of business availability (using the companion voucher) to Cape Town over the Christmas period, so well worth persevering.
Just a data point on this: ITA Matrix is showing I Class availability (for two seats) for a date in October; because I have already used the voucher (in WTP) I called BA; the agent knew about the additional availability and searched for it but nothing available.
That is simply normal behaviour. Any additional Amex voucher reward seats will come from I class inventory, but it is never automatic or guaranteed.
Just because there are I class cash tickets available does not mean there will be additional reward seats, and even if there were someone else might already have booked them.
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