a plane flying above the clouds

Let’s start with a little bit of truth: people LOVE to complain about British Airways. And to be fair, some of it is very warranted. But one extremely common comment, isn’t. Well, at least again now. British Airways has brought back their truly fantastic Reward Flight Finder Tool. Here’s why it’s great, where you can find it – and what it can do for you.

a screenshot of a phone

What

If you don’t already have it, we highly suggest you download the British Airways app. Yes, you can book tickets, check points balances and do other stuff, but the main thing, is that Rewards Flight Finder is back. This easy tool allows you to find seats in any cabin, in the easiest way possible. It’s shockingly easy and intuitive to use. It’s very similar to the non British Airways tool called BA Redemption Finder, which essentially does the same thing, but on desktop. We’re not sure when it returned, but it’s back.

a screenshot of a search box

How

The beauty of this tool is flexibility. You can search by region, city, date, or “anytime”. You’ll see entire calendar months of dates where there’s availability. You can search something as vague as USA (anywhere), First Class, Anytime. Or as specific as Shanghai, Business Class, September 25th. It’s awesome because you will clearly see what dates and cities are available, with no effort at all. So yeah, if you wanna just go wherever your points can take you on a certain date it’s no problem, or if you want to go somewhere specific any time, that works too.

a screenshot of a screen

Why

Every airline wants people using their mobile apps. It’s the future, without a doubt. But for a long time, British Airways Reward Flight Finder was “broken”. It’s great to see it return, and it’s already proven useful to countless travelers, including ourselves. Between setting free alerts for when seats open and this app, it could be argued that British Airways offers one of the most transparent systems for when and where you can use your points.

a screenshot of a flight schedule

Tips

Availability comes and goes regularly for flights using Avios points. For certain routes, especially searching for multiple people, availability may not be perfect on first search. Set alerts, check back regularly and consider nearby airports. For example, Shanghai almost always has great availability, and is only a short flight from Tokyo. And if dates are crucial, consider booking into whatever cabin is available, and upgrading if better seats become available at a later date.

Do you use Reward Flight Finder to use your points?

 

Gilbert Ott is an ever curious traveler and one of the world's leading travel experts. His adventures take him all over the globe, often spanning over 200,000 miles a year and his travel exploits are regularly...

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14 Comments

    1. There is no correct pronunciation of Avios. Some people don’t know what they are, so adding points make things simpler for all.

  1. I have the BA app and that feature “reward flights” is nowhere to be found. It’s not available for everyone? One has to accumulate a certain amount of points for it to be activated? Just like in video games? lol.

    1. Did you sign in to your BA account? It didn’t show up before I signed in, but after I signed in it appeared.

      And thanks GSTP, it’s extremely useful for finding BA award flights, or BA upgradeable flights. Like other commenters it would be even more useful if it showed partner availability, unlike them I’m not going to complain that the gift I got wasn’t perfect.

  2. It only show BA direct flights so not useful for partners such as Cathay or JAL which if it’s truly the case makes this option useless!

    1. The same app lets you choose the regular tool which gives partner awards. It’s as clunky as ever though which is why the direct BA flights is so useful if that’s what you’re looking for.

  3. All I get is “Sorry, Flight Finder cannot be accessed at the moment.” When will that “moment” pass??

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