The BA Amex 25th Anniversary Avios-only flight: Booking opens tomorrow at midday

Right, this is it. The moment a lot of you have been waiting for.

If you registered your interest back in June for that ridiculous BA and Amex Avios-only flight to New York, the wait is nearly over. American Express have finally announced that booking opens at 12 noon BST tomorrow, 15 July, on the dot.

If you missed the original post, quick recap: one-off charter flight, LHR to JFK and back, paid for entirely in Avios with zero taxes and fees, starting at 25,000 Avios return in economy. Yes, really.

So what's actually happening tomorrow?

If you have successfully registered you'll have a received a booking link by email, and from 12 noon tomorrow you can use it to secure your seats. This is first-come, first-served, so "I'll get round to it at lunch" is not a strategy here guys. Be logged in, be ready, and have the email open.

Do I need anything ready before I click?

Yes. If you're booking for others, then the people you’re booking for must also be a member of your Household account, or on your Friends and Family List. You must also have the passport information to hand of everyone you are booking for.

It's also worth double-checking your actual Avios balance in your own British Airways Club account beforehand, since that's what gets used, not a household pot. If you do not have enough you won't be able to book, so today is the day to get any transfers / boosts / purchasing of Avios done (BA are currently offering a 40% bonus if you buy Avios).

What are the Avios amounts?

I'll let the below graphic do the talking!

How many seats, again?

Up to four in your chosen cabin, and you can use up to two Companion Vouchers on top if you've got them. Same rules as before: the Avios come out of your account the moment you book, but if you're using a Companion Voucher, that gets debited within 14 days, so don't try to use the same voucher on anything else in that window.

What if it sells out before I get there?

You'll be offered a spot on the waitlist instead. Seats get released to people in the order they joined, and you'll be contacted by phone rather than email.

The waitlist itself isn't open forever either, it closes at 23:59 BST on 22 July.

I've booked. Now what? (A question for tomorrow)

You'll get a confirmation email straight away confirming you've got seats. Then, within 14 days, a second email arrives with your actual booking reference, and that's when you can head into Manage My Booking to pick your seats properly, add bags, and flag any meal or assistance requests.

After that, it's just a countdown to 15 October and pretending you can wait that long.

All that is left to be said is "good luck, see you on the other side", and if you are successful in booking a spot, let us know ... we might have an assignment for you!

Helena

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