Hoping this info will help some that are getting errors or not getting anywhere past the searching field (won't help those that get the technical error)

I would suggest clearing your history and cache (bookmark or save anything that is important to you so you don't lose it first) and delete any BA cookies if possible to ensure no cached or other previous errors affect results. I am guessing that you must allow cookies to be stored on your PC to get BA.com to work and log in…but I do not know for sure if this is important.

Then in a browser and on BA.com, log into your BAEC account. I have only tried accessing the avios tool from the UK page (logged in to the UK page as a German account as well as a UK account as we have both in our family) (I have only tried the UK page for this to work so maybe localised versions are causing the issue?)

Now go down to the book a flight area and select the payment type to book with avios,


1 Change payment type to Avios by BA_pics, on Flickr

it will then show a link below this for reward availability. Click on this link. (just in case you are getting the errors from accessing some other site or some other way of getting there).


2 Click on link reward flight availability by BA_pics, on Flickr

You should then arrive at the following page:


3 Avios reward flight checking tool by BA_pics, on Flickr

In the left hand side box you can change many settings. Going through them from top to bottom to see if this is where the errors in searching are coming up…

You can select the point of departure: It defaults to your home airport. click on it to change it in a box…use the regular wording for that city rather than airport codes as this may cause some errors apparently. Choose the class of travel and whether you wish to go round trip or one way. For this example I have chosen London (the pin will show red on the map afterwards if it wasn't your default)


4 Change departure point and choose class of travel if needed by BA_pics, on Flickr

If you then scroll in the window you will see the next area which allows you to filter by price. You can either choose to use the ruler to adjust the amount of avios you wish to use OR you can click on the tab to get to the choose zone method. *Note that all zone choices are direct flights only* For this example I have chosen Zone 1.


5 Choose pricing options either points needed or zones by BA_pics, on Flickr

Now scroll down a bit more and you can filter by availability. You can choose a month or 'all months' or you can search for specific dates by choosing the fixed date tab. For this example I have chosen flexible dates and 'December 2011'.


6 Choose dates by scrolling down in this window by BA_pics, on Flickr

Scrolling down further you will see 'more filters'…Here you can choose direct flights only (if you were searching by points needed above and not by Zone). You can also use the buttons to select by activity. I have chosen nothing other than defaults here for this example. You can scroll down a bit more if you wish to see temperature range and another option (didn't capture that sorry).


7 Choose other options including direct flights by BA_pics, on Flickr

Finally at the bottom of the whole search tool you can see the box to type in a specific destination…use the city name rather than airport here (again reports of errors or no results just searching…)..Then click on update…(the big blue button behind my auto complete example of destinations on the right). For this example I have left the destination empty so it would show all destinations available in Zone 1 for Dec. in Economy that are direct flights.


8 put in a destination if desired for specific routes by BA_pics, on Flickr

The tool will then go away and search for what you have used for criteria and come back with a map result as default like this one: The red pin is your departure point and the blue pins are the possible destinations.


9 screen displays results on map as pins here is LON to Zone 1 direct flights in Dec in Economy by BA_pics, on Flickr

Click on one of the blue pins and it will show you the available destinations. Here I have clicked on Glasgow.


10 click on pin to get more info and select city by BA_pics, on Flickr

It then shows this dialog box. Click on Find flights red button.


11 next choice shows city and general info click on find flights by BA_pics, on Flickr

You will now see the dialog box highlighted over a black background. This is the part that is more familiar to many of us from the old reward flight tool. Here you can finally change how many passengers there are going to be. You can select the flight classes as well (if you want to change this from your initial search criteria. If you select dates they show up as red. Once you have done this, the red find flights button becomes available.


12 results page showing options and dates by BA_pics, on Flickr


13 click on dates to then find flights by BA_pics, on Flickr

Then you get to the following example of choosing the flights on that day and airline, etc…the rest is very similar to a normal booking so I will stop here…


14 flight options are shown by BA_pics, on Flickr

Does this help anyone with the errors they are getting using the reward tool?

Hope this was of use. Let me know if I can help with any other checks or settings.

Cheers, BotB (Back of the Bus).