Step-by-Step: How to Search for British Airways Award Flights Like a Pro!

On the next screen, enter your personal information and register for your free Executive Club account.  The whole process should take less than 3 minutes.

After entering your personal information, write down your account number and password so you don’t forget it.  Once you are registered and logged-in to your Executive Club account, you are ready to start booking award flights.

Step 2.   Searching for Award Flights

To get started, head back to Britishairways.com, hover over “Executive Club” and click on “Spend Your Avios.”   Finally, click on “Book a Reward Flight” under “Reward Flights” to take you to the award booking page.

Or click on this link to be taken directly to the award flight search page.

Note:   If you have not yet logged-in, you will not be able to click through to the award flight booking page.

Part 1.   Enter Your Desired Travel Information

After clicking “Reward Flights,” you will be taken to the screen to begin your award search.

Then, enter your origin and destination, dates of travel, travel class, and number of passengers.  I also recommend that you select “One way only” and search for your flights one segment at a time.

Then press “Get flights”, and wait while your results load!

For example, here is a sample search for a one-way flight for 2 adults in coach from Washington, DC to London.

Part 2.   View Available Flights

After clicking “Get flights,” wait for the results to load with available award seats.  For the example above, I found multiple available flights in different classes of service.

Note:   Remember to check your departure airport, because some cities have more than one airport.  For example, this search from Washington DC includes both Dulles (IAD) and and Baltimore – Washington (BWI) airports.

To view the specific price of a flight that fits your schedule, select the flights you want.  The total price of your flights will display under “Journey summary“ towards the bottom of your screen.

Note:   All prices quoted are the amount for all passengers.  In the above example, 40,000 British Airways Avios plus ~$256 is the total price for both passengers.

British Airways charges high fuel surcharges on award flights, so using British Airways Avios points can sometimes be frustrating.  But this award search is a great example of how British Airways award flights can cost very few miles, but sometimes higher fees and surcharges.

And the cost of the taxes and fees goes up significantly if you want to fly Business Class or First Class!  For example, this trip for 1 person from Washington DC to London costs:

• 20,000 British Airways Avios points plus ~$128 one-way in coach
• 40,000 British Airways Avios points plus ~$128 one-way in Premium Economy
• 60,000 British Airways Avios points plus ~$506 one-way in Business Class
• 80,000 British Airways Avios points plus ~$506 one-way in First Class

Part 3.   Details

You should view the details of each flight before you book them.

This will open a separate window that will include your flight details, including aircraft type, duration, airport names, and any additional stops.

Note:   This can be a great feature if you want to try out a specific type of plane, like British Airways’s double-decker Airbus A380 or Boeing 747!

Or, you can change the date of your search by clicking on the different date tabs at the top of the screen.  This allows you to quickly view different days in case your first choice has no award flights.

Part 4.   Confirm Booking

If the prices and details for the flight you selected look good, you can book them by selecting the “Continue” button to the right of the price.  Enter your passenger details, payment information, and contact information, and you’re all set!

Step 3.  Consider Booking Business Class or First Class

For folks who want to fly Business Class or First Class, the British Airways online tool makes it very simple.  When searching for award flights, select the class you want to view.

Note:   The British Airways tool will always display the class you chose, plus 2 lower classes.  For example, selecting First Class will display First Class, Business Class, and Premium Economy.  While selecting any of the other classes will display Business Class, Premium Economy, and coach.

Search results are displayed side by side, so selecting Business Class or First Class allows you to easily compare available award seats.

When looking at the availability calendar, all dates with available flights in the class of service you searched will be populated.  For example, the below calendar shows dates with 2 coach award seats from Washington, DC to London.

This view also makes it easy to revise your search criteria on the left side of the screen.  This can be helpful if you are willing to fly in different cabins of service or if you need to change your number of passengers.

Note:   The availability calendar only displays dates with award seats on British Airways.  Partner flights will not display on the calendar.  This means that even if the date does not show up, there may still be available flights on partner airlines such as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, etc.

Strategies for Booking

1.   Complex Itineraries

The British Airways tool does a fair job of piecing together complex itineraries.  Typically, the system can only handle 1 or 2 connecting flights.  If you think your itinerary will require more than one connection, I would start by searching for your longest flight segment first.

Then, you can add on individual flights that are easier to find.  For example, a couple who wants to fly from Savannah to Barcelona might start by searching for the longer, transatlantic flight first (such as New York to London or Washington DC to London).  Then, they could search for the shorter flights from Savannah to New York and from London to Barcelona.

If you have to piece the itinerary together one flight at a time, take note of the specific flights that you want.  Then, call British Airways Executive Club at 800-452-1201.  The folks at British Airways customer service are very helpful and typically don’t have long hold times!

Note:   When calling British Airways, you can save time by having your Executive club account number ready.

2.   Trends for Finding Award Seats

British Airways lets you book award flights ~355 days in advance.  To find the most award flights, try searching as far in advance as possible.

But remember that available award seats on British Airways’ partner airlines depends on when each individual airline makes award seats available.  So some award flights on airlines like Qatar and Qantas might not be available until ~330 days in advance, for example.

Unfortunately, British Airways isn’t very generous with releasing last minute award flights.  This means that you are typically better off booking your flights as soon as you know the dates you want for travel.

For the most award seats, try booking as early as possible and being flexible with your dates.

3.   Avoiding Fees and Fuel Surcharges

The biggest downfall of booking with British Airways Avios points is undeniably the high surcharges and fees charged for award flights.  Award flights that cost $500 in fees are hardly a bargain!

A strategy to avoid high fees is to use your British Airways Avios points for flights on certain partner airlines.  For example, flights on Cathay Pacific have much lower fees and can be a great value.

Additionally, the United Kingdom charges hefty fees for long-haul flights departing from any airport in the UK.  This means coach flights from London to the US will often cost more than $200 in fees in addition to the required amount of British Airways Avios points!

To lower the fees, try to avoid flying British Airways through London Heathrow airport.

You can still get great value on European vacations with British Airways’ partner airlines (like Aer Lingus from Ireland, Iberia from Madrid, Finnair from Helsinki, or American Airlines from a variety of European cities).  This can represent considerable savings, and is one of my favorite uses of British Airways Avios points.

Award Search Tools to Help

If you can’t find award seats that fit your schedule, you can consider setting an award alert with an award searching tool.  An annual premium membership to one of these tools ranges from $75 to $129.

But if you frequently book award flights, it can be a worthy investment!  The following 3 tools are the most commonly used:

• Award Nexus
• Expert Flyer
• KVS Tool

Each of the above tools has the capability to search the British Airways Executive Club site.  But if you still need help finding specific award seats that aren’t available (yet!), consider using one of these Award Booking Services.

Want More British Airways Avios Points?

1.   Earn British Airways Avios Points Directly

You can earn British Airways Avios points directly with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card.  The sign-up bonus is a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points after completing tiered minimum spending requirements.  Here’s my review of the Chase British Airways card.

But remember that British Airways often adds incredibly high fuel surcharges.  Be sure to search for an itinerary that has lower taxes and fees, like on certain partner airlines!