Using Avios to Upgrade Your Seats
When flying British Airways, you’ll frequently have the option to upgrade to a higher cabin with Avios points. Upgrading your seat is just another way you can get the most out of your Avios points when you’re looking to experience a whirl in First or Club World, or just want a quieter, more spacious experience in World Traveller Plus.
It’s worth noting that upgrading with your Avios points differs from upgrading with cash.
Upgrading your seats with cash can be done at any time before departure, including at the check-in counter and even in the departure lounge (if space is available). Avios upgrades are different to cash upgrades.
To be eligible for an Avios upgrade there must be reward flight availability and you won’t be able to use Avios to upgrade at the airport or on the plane.
We explain all the important details to keep in mind when upgrading using Avios points.
Upgrading with Cash Bookings vs. Reward Flights
Depending on availability, most cash bookings can be upgraded with Avios either at the time of booking or subsequently. The lowest economy (World Traveller) fares (Q, O and G) cannot be upgraded with Avios at any time.
You can upgrade with Avios points to the following cabin if there is a Reward Flight seat available.
Examples of Cabin upgrades:
- On a short-haul flight, you could upgrade from Economy class (Euro Traveller) to Business class (Club Europe).
- On a long haul flight, you could upgrade from Economy (World Traveller) to Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus), Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) to Business (Club World), or Business (Club World) to First. (Not all BA flights have First class seats available)
Additional details:
- You won’t be able to use Avios to upgrade at the airport or on the plane.
- An Avios upgrade is always to the next cabin up, which can vary depending on the route and airline.
- Non-refundable British Airways economy tickets CANNOT be upgraded.
- You CANNOT upgrade a companion voucher booking.
How are Avios upgrades calculated?
Factors that affect how many Avios points you’ll need to upgrade include:
- The Avios costs for reward flights in the cabins you are upgrading to and from.
- Whether the reward flight is scheduled on a peak or off-peak date.
- Taxes, fees and carrier charges apply.
For example
Say you are looking to fly a peak one-way flight from London to New York and want to upgrade from Premium Economy to Business Class.
This will cost you the Avios points value of the Business (Club World) seat minus the Avios point value of your existing Premium Economy seat (World Traveller Plus).
Business (Club World) = 60,000 Avios
Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) = 40,000
Required Avios to Upgrade = 20,000
Finding Flights with Seats to Upgrade
On all of their announced flights, BA offers a limited number of reward tickets, which are subject to availability. Reward Flight Finder helps you find reward flight availability for up to 12 months using our Calendar or Map View functionality.
I Know Where I Want To Go: Use Calendar View
See all available dates, across all cabin classes, on one page. Give us your departure and destination points, your preferred date ranges and the number of seats you need and we will search the airline for up-to-the-minute reward flight availability. If your seats aren’t available, don’t worry, BA generally releases more reward flight seats as the departure date approach and you can set up an alert on Reward Flight Finder for when they do.
I Don’t Know Where I Want To Go: Use Map View
We’ll show you everywhere you can go, for your points balance on one global map. Tell us your departure point, the ideal travel dates, and the number of seats you need. With these basic details, we’ll check with the airline for up-to-the-minute availability. To use the map view you will need to subscribe for our Silver or Gold membership.
Get Reward Flight Alerts
If your preferred date is not available, then set up a seat alert. New reward seats can be released at any time, day or night. We check once daily for free, or more frequently for our paying members. You will need to log in or sign up to set up an alert.
Original Source: https://rewardflightfinder.com/news-and-advice/using-avios-to-upgrade-your-seats
