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There seems to be a distinct lack of first class BA reward availability. Yesterday, using seatspy, there wasn’t a single first class reward seat to anywhere in the world. Today is not much better. Some of the better routes (normally) for F availability have nothing, including Mexico City, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle etc. Even New York is only showing a handful – think single figures – and all outbound, so no chance of a return. Is there a reason behind this? I appreciate they don’t guarantee availability First, but traditionally there has always been reasonable availability, particularly on some routes. One of the few benefits of the AMEX over the Barclaycard is the fact you can use it in First, but maybe not anymore 🤷♂️
You’re not the only one asking. There are some IT shenanigans going on which might account for it, discussed in other threads over the past few days.
All linked to the new RM system going live last week should be resolved shortly
should be resolved shortly
…according to who?
Still nothing visible on a majority of routes with the exception of last-minute First Class Rewards Seats 2 weeks from now…
We confident this is just glitch and des anyone know a way around it?
A reminder that BA has never guaranteed to release any F reward seats either at T-355 or at any other time before the flight.
So if you’re not seeing any it’s not a glitch but a sign BA hasn’t released any.
So any release will depend on a lack of demand for cash tickets and on some routes that’s just going to happen.
And no there aren’t any workarounds.
A reminder that BA has never guaranteed to release any F reward seats either at T-355 or at any other time before the flight.
So if you’re not seeing any it’s not a glitch but a sign BA hasn’t released any.
So any release will depend on a lack of demand for cash tickets and on some routes that’s just going to happen.
And no there aren’t any workarounds.
I’ve been tracking first to a few destinations. The likes of JNB had lots of F availability throughout the year. IT glitch, then nothing… same with MEX and NYC.
So that tells me it’s likely more a glitch rather than just removing the entire F availability for majority of routes.
And yet, oodles of seats in J to Singapore next summer…
It’s not just First though. I was monitoring JNB for J class and there were tons in Jan then the next day nothing whatsoever and nothing since. Same with some other routes.
A reminder that BA has never guaranteed to release any F reward seats either at T-355 or at any other time before the flight.
So if you’re not seeing any it’s not a glitch but a sign BA hasn’t released any.
So any release will depend on a lack of demand for cash tickets and on some routes that’s just going to happen.
And no there aren’t any workarounds.
Yes I think you’re missing the point on what we are saying here…
We all know there is no guarantee for 1st Class Availability on BA, but routes which consistently at least show SOME 1st class reward availability across the full year – NYC / ORD / BOS/ IAD / JNB / DXB / MEX – have all disappeared over night!
In fact scratch that, whilst I have not looked at every BA route, I have just looked at 15 routes that offer BA 1st Class. Beyond the end of July 2025, I can NOT SEE A SINGLE First Class Reward Seat bookable ANYWHERE on the British Airways website for the rest of the year!
I’m not missing the point at all.
I’ve been around the block more than a few times on this and seen numerous posts over the years about the lack of F rewards and if / when they will appear.
There are enough people looking for them that when they do appear they get booked up instantly whether the availability is next week, next month or next year. Twas ever thus.
BA has absolute control over when it releases them in the first place and will even withdraw them if they feel a reward release is affecting cash booking.
BA would rather have a few grand in the bank from an F seat than a reward any day.
I’m not missing the point at all.
I’ve been around the block more than a few times on this and seen numerous posts over the years about the lack of F rewards and if / when they will appear.
There are enough people looking for them that when they do appear they get booked up instantly whether the availability is next week, next month or next year. Twas ever thus.
BA has absolute control over when it releases them in the first place and will even withdraw them if they feel a reward release is affecting cash booking.
BA would rather have a few grand in the bank from an F seat than a reward any day.
Sorry, but you are indeed missing the point here.
LHR – JFK for example had an array of first availability across a number of dates. This has now since disappeared across the board. This isn’t people suddenly booking these up, this is a direct result of whatever BA has done in the backend.
I’m not missing the point at all.
I’ve been around the block more than a few times on this and seen numerous posts over the years about the lack of F rewards and if / when they will appear.
There are enough people looking for them that when they do appear they get booked up instantly whether the availability is next week, next month or next year. Twas ever thus.
BA has absolute control over when it releases them in the first place and will even withdraw them if they feel a reward release is affecting cash booking.
BA would rather have a few grand in the bank from an F seat than a reward any day.
Thank you for utilising that “around the block” wisdom to state the blindingly obvious. It is BA’s Website, BA’s Loyalty Scheme, BA’s Flight’s. It is totally their prerogative to decide what the put on sale and what they don’t. We know this because we can all clearly see this with our own eyes. BA has taken all First Class Reward Seats off sale and no First Class Reward Seats are on sale on any BA Route beyond the next few weeks…
What we are asking is the why?
– technical bugs as a consequence of web updates
– change in reward availability
– change in reward pricing
– change in rewards policy
– or all/none of the above.Many of us have also been around the block more than a few times on this and seen numerous posts over the years about the lack of First Class Reward and if / when they will appear. Many of us track them and know that something has changed and this current situation is not normal. What we don’t know is why and for how long…
It’s not just First though. I was monitoring JNB for J class and there were tons in Jan then the next day nothing whatsoever and nothing since. Same with some other routes.
I saw this too, 100% a bug – there were 9 seats available most days in Jan and Feb and then nothing. That was clearly fixed quite quicky.
The next question is, is the zero F availability a bug or revamp from BA?
Late PM on 27 Jun (Friday) I made an F redemption booking (one seat out of two available). When I checked again about 36 hours later there was nothing.
Every First seat that I can find is in the next few weeks only, with the latest being a return from NYC on 2 August. Surely there must be something going on for F availability to still be so limited?
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