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Douglas
Last Updated: 23 Sep 2026
After the deprivations of the pandemic, those who can are looking forward to splurging on a bit of luxury.
An upgrade to business class, or the heady heights of first, is likely to be top of many people’s travel treat lists. And, if you have British Airways Avios that have been piling up over those no-fly months, this doesn’t necessarily mean splashing too much cash.
At Reward Flight Finder (RFF), we’ve been noticing more people searching for seats in premium cabins over the last few months. They’ve also been using our Reward Flight Finder (RFF) to set Alerts for these kinds of reward seats. So, if you’ve got your eye on that particular prize, you’ll need to move quickly.
You need to pay cash for an economy, premium economy or business seat to then upgrade it with Avios. (Though it’s worth remembering you’ll earn further British Airways Avios plus Tier Points on the part of the flight that you pay for). Curious about how British Airways Tier Points work? You can find a full breakdown on our dedicated page here.
British Airways treats the upgrade like a reward flight. The price you pay in Avios will be the difference in value between a reward flight in the cabin you have booked and a reward flight in the cabin you are upgrading to.
As with other BA reward flights, you will still have to pay the taxes, fees and charges in cash, and you will pay those for the cabin you end up in, not the one you originally booked.
If you’re using your Avios, there’s no chance of requesting an upgrade at the airport or on the plane, you must find an available seat and book it before check-in. However, you can book your original flight with cash and then make your upgrade later, so long as you do so before you travel.
The process is trickier than upgrading a flight with cash, or part paying for a flight with Avios, as you’ll still need to chase after reward seats in the cabin you wish to upgrade to so you can make your booking.
You can use BA’s ‘book and upgrade’ search and its reward availability tools but you’ll get more flexibility and search speed if you use RFF to set Alerts for seats on routes you are interested in.
Find available reward seats with British Airways and Iberia.
If you have enough British Airways Avios you could choose to upgrade your whole return flight. If not, you could upgrade just one way. You might, for instance, want to upgrade to business class to arrive feeling fresher and more rested at your destination, or you might prefer it on the way home to end your holiday in style.
The timing of your flight can be a clincher. If one of your legs is by day and the other by night, it’s more likely that you’ll benefit from upgrading the night flight when, if you’re in business or first, you can enjoy BA’s lie-flat bed.
If you’re booking a journey with multiple legs and want to upgrade them all, you can do so one at a time as reward seats become available.
You could use your Avios to upgrade your flight not only on BA but also its partner airlines in the OneWorld alliance, including Iberia and American Airlines, but if you are booking a BA upgrade you must make the booking with British Airways itself or a BA-registered travel agent.
When buying a flight with BA in economy class (what the airline calls Euro Traveller for short-haul or World Traveller for the long-haul), the cheapest fares won’t be eligible for an upgrade. These fares will have the code G, O or Q. Most Premium Economy and business class fares can be upgraded, however.
On short-haul BA flights, you’ll only have a choice of Economy (Euro Traveller) or Business Class (Club Europe), so you can buy an economy flight and then upgrade to business.
On long-haul flights, the choice can be wider. On those where premium economy or first class also exist, you can upgrade from Economy (World Traveller) to Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus), from Premium Economy to Business (Club World), or from Business to First.
Companion Vouchers are earned by British Airways American Express customers and effectively give you two-for-one on reward seats. You can’t use them in an upgrade scenario. But, if you have enough Avios, you can use your British Airways American Express Premium Plus Companion Voucher to book a BA reward flight for two in one of the premium cabins.
Find available reward seats with British Airways and Iberia.
There are always limited seats for BA reward flights, and these are not all released at once. By using our Availability Calendar, you can check the reward seat availability for the higher cabins on the flight that you have already booked in cash, or for a flight that you are considering booking.
If there's no availability when you look, set an Alert with us and we’ll do the searching for you while you get on with your week. RFF will notify you when your preferred upgrade seats are released, so you can snap them up as soon as possible.
Once we have helped you find availability in the cabin class you want to upgrade to, all you have to do is log in to the BA website, go to Manage My Booking, and choose Upgrade this flight with Avios.
You may have a particular reason for wanting to use your upgrade short-haul – for instance, if the legroom is important to you or you have no long-haul plans. However, do bear in mind that the difference between cabins on flights across Europe is minimal compared to the big difference in flying economy or business class on a long-haul aircraft, so you may want to save your Avios for a bigger prize.
Thinking of bagging an upgrade on your next reward flight? Start your reward seat search today
