Avios Award Search Calendar
There's a better way to find that business class flight. Avios, the mileage currency of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways, rolled out a new award search calendar tool this month. You can now use it to search for award flights through British Airways Club, Aer Lingus AerClub and Iberia Club. As this is still a new tool, it comes with some limitations for now. But it should still be useful for starting searches. Let's take a look at the new Avios award search calendar.
How To Use the New Avios Award Search Calendar
The new Avios award search calendar makes it much easier to see at-a-glance availability. Note a few caveats before searching, though. Currently, it is only available for British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia award flights, not for Finnair or Qatar Airways. You can also only search nonstop flights with this tool, though the site notes that connecting-flight functionality is in progress and should be added soon. For now, you'll want to concentrate your searches on hub airports like Dublin Airport (DUB), London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD). Finally, be aware that you cannot book directly through the Avios site. You will have to complete your booking through the airlines' sites instead. Still, this could be a good way to start your search and pinpoint availability.
To start, navigate to the Avios Find Reward Flights page. Input your travel preferences, including origin, destination and month. You can search for either one-way or roundtrip flights.
On the search results page, you can filter further. Narrow down the results to your preferred cabins by unchecking and checking these boxes.
Then, browse the calendar for availability. Full circles denote stronger availability, while half-circles represent more limited availability. Hover over a date to see how many flights and seats are available.
Click on a date for a look at award pricing and itineraries. Find an award flight you are interested in? Navigate to the operating airline's site next. That's where you'll want to check taxes and fees before deciding whether to make a redemption.
How to Earn Avios
It is relatively easy to earn Avios for the participating airlines, thanks to transfer partnerships with many of the major credit card currencies:
- British Airways Club: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Wells Fargo
- Aer Lingus AerClub: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Wells Fargo
- Iberia Club: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Wells Fargo
Plus, you can also move Avios between all of its airline programs at a 1:1 ratio, including Finnair and Qatar Airways. Watch for transfer bonuses to the participating airlines to make a good deal even better.
Avios Award Search Calendar: ToP Thoughts
Award searches without a calendar tool can be cumbersome. So it's great to see Avios catch up with other award programs' calendar tools, like Flying Blue. The calendar tool does still have some limits, including checking taxes and fees, which may hinder its usefulness. Still, this is a welcome improvement—and we hope to see more updates along the way. Have you played with the new Avios award search calendar yet? Let us know in the ToP Facebook group.
