Quick answer: BA releases seats at midnight GMT
British Airways generally releases new Avios reward seats 355 days before departure at 00:00 GMT.
During UK winter (GMT): seats are released at midnight UK time.
During UK summer (BST): seats are released at 1:00am UK time.
So, if you are trying to book a popular British Airways reward flight as soon as it is released, you need to be ready at midnight in winter or 1am in summer.
How BA's 355-Day Reward Seat Release Works
If you're trying to book British Airways reward seats with Avios, particularly in Premium Economy, Business or First, when you search can be almost as important as where you search.
British Airways makes flights available for reward bookings 355 days before departure. On the most sought-after routes, the initial allocation of reward seats can disappear extremely quickly.
Here's how the BA T-355 release works, what time you need to be ready, and how SeatSpy can help if you don't manage to grab the seats first time around.
When does British Airways release new reward seats?
British Airways reward flights become available 355 days before departure.
The new day's flights are generally released at:
00:00 GMT
That distinction is important for UK travellers because the release time stays aligned to GMT rather than moving with British Summer Time.
That means:
Winter (GMT): 12 midnight UK time
Summer (BST): 1am UK time
So if you're trying to grab seats the moment they're released during the summer, staying up until midnight isn't quite enough — you'll need to wait until 1am UK time.
How many BA reward seats are released?
British Airways guarantees a minimum number of reward seats on every BA flight to and from Heathrow and Gatwick.
The guaranteed minimum is:
8 seats in Economy
2 seats in Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus)
4 seats in Business (Club World)
There is currently no guaranteed minimum allocation for First Class.
These are minimum numbers, not maximums. BA may make more seats available when the flight is first released, and additional seats can appear later.
Why T-355 matters
For many BA flights, there's no need to stay awake until 1am waiting for reward seats to appear.
But some routes are a very different story.
If you're looking for several Club World seats to somewhere like Sydney, Tokyo, Cape Town or another particularly popular destination — especially during school holidays, Christmas or other peak periods — the initial reward allocation can be snapped up very quickly.
That's when T-355 matters.
If your ideal flight leaves on 25 August 2027, for example, work back 355 days to find its release date. When that date arrives, the seats should become available at 00:00 GMT.
Being ready at the release time gives you the first opportunity to book them.
Can I book the seats online at midnight?
Yes.
BA says its contact centres see the same reward availability as you see online, so for a straightforward booking the obvious first option is to be logged into your British Airways Club account and ready to search as the seats are released.
For particularly competitive seats, however, some experienced Avios collectors have traditionally preferred to telephone BA.
There's also an important reason for doing that when using a BA American Express Companion Voucher and booking the outbound and return separately.
And there's been a significant change in 2026 that makes the telephone option much easier for UK travellers.
NEW: BA's UK Avios booking line is now 24/7
Until recently, there was an awkward problem for UK travellers chasing reward seats at T-355.
The seats could become available at midnight GMT, but BA's UK telephone operation wasn't open at the crucial time.
As a result, experienced Avios collectors developed a rather strange ritual: calling an overseas British Airways office that happened to be open when the seats were released.
The US BA number was one commonly used option.
That may no longer be necessary.
As of August 2026, British Airways now lists its UK number for booking flights using Avios as available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
British Airways UK: 0344 493 0787 — option 2
BA's own website currently states that the line is open 24/7.
That's potentially a very useful change for anyone trying to secure reward seats immediately at T-355.
But there's an important caveat
The change is new, and early reports from people actually trying to make overnight Avios bookings have been mixed.
Some customers report successfully reaching agents and making bookings through the UK number. Others have reported difficulties getting the overnight service to handle the booking as expected.
So, for an especially important T-355 booking, we'd currently suggest:
Try online and have the UK BA number ready — but don't assume the new overnight telephone service will work perfectly every time just yet.
The position may settle down as BA's new 24/7 operation becomes established.
Should I call BA or book online?
For most people, online is simpler.
Be logged in before the release time, have sufficient Avios available and have your passenger details ready.
For an exceptionally competitive route, though, you may want to have both options available.
A telephone agent doesn't have access to a secret pool of reward seats — BA explicitly says its contact centres see the same availability as is shown online.
The advantage of the telephone isn't additional inventory. It's that an agent may be able to deal with a booking that is more complicated to construct online.
What if my return flight isn't available yet?
This is one of the most important things to understand about booking at T-355.
Imagine you're planning a two-week trip.
When your outbound flight reaches 355 days before departure, your return flight is only 341 days away.
It hasn't been released yet.
Waiting another two weeks so you can book the whole return journey together could mean losing the outbound seats you wanted.
For popular routes, many Avios collectors therefore:
Book the outbound as soon as it appears at T-355.
Wait until the desired return flight reaches T-355.
Book the return when it is released.
If you're using a Companion Voucher, this is one of the circumstances where speaking to BA can be particularly useful.
Does BA only release reward seats 355 days in advance?
Definitely not.
T-355 is the initial release, not your only chance to find a seat.
Reward availability changes throughout the life of a flight.
BA may release additional reward seats as its forecasts for paid bookings change. Seats can also reappear when another passenger changes or cancels a reward booking.
That means a flight showing:
0 Business reward seats today
could show:
2 Business reward seats tomorrow
—or next week, next month or shortly before departure.
Unlike the predictable T-355 release, there is no published schedule for these additional releases.
And that's where SeatSpy becomes particularly useful.
You don't have to search BA.com every day
You can use our British Airways Reward Flight Finder to see reward availability across an entire year in one search.
Missing the initial T-355 seats doesn't mean you've missed your chance.
SeatSpy monitors British Airways reward availability for you.
Instead of repeatedly searching individual dates on BA.com, you can use SeatSpy to see reward availability across an entire year in one search.
If the seats you want aren't available, create a SeatSpy alert for:
your route
your preferred travel dates
the cabin you want
the number of seats you need
SeatSpy will then keep checking the availability.
When matching reward seats appear, we'll let you know so you can go to BA and book them.
Depending on your SeatSpy plan, alerts can be delivered through channels including email, WhatsApp, Telegram and SMS.
The two ways to use SeatSpy for a difficult BA reward flight
There are really two different strategies.
Strategy 1: Be there at T-355
If your plans are fixed well in advance and you're chasing a particularly popular flight, calculate when your flight reaches T-355 and be ready when the initial seats are released.
Remember:
00:00 GMT = midnight UK time in winter
00:00 GMT = 1am UK time during BST
For highly competitive seats, be logged into BA.com and consider having BA's new 24/7 UK Avios booking line available as a backup.
Strategy 2: Let SeatSpy watch for seats
If you missed T-355 — or you simply don't fancy staying awake until 1am — search the route with SeatSpy.
If there's nothing suitable, set an alert.
BA can release additional reward seats at any point before departure. SeatSpy watches for those changes so you don't have to keep checking manually.
BA reward-seat release: the numbers to remember
355 days
BA reward flights initially become available 355 days before departure.
00:00 GMT
The new day's initial reward availability is generally released at midnight GMT.
01:00 BST
During British Summer Time, that's 1am in the UK.
8 Economy seats
Minimum guaranteed reward availability.
2 Premium Economy seats
Minimum guaranteed reward availability.
4 Business seats
Minimum guaranteed reward availability.
First Class
No guaranteed minimum.
0344 493 0787, option 2
BA's UK Avios flight-booking number, now officially listed by BA as operating 24/7.
One final tip
If the reward seats you want aren't there at T-355, don't give up.
The initial release gets a lot of attention because it's predictable, but it isn't the only time BA makes reward seats available.
Availability can change right up until departure.
Search your route with SeatSpy, set an alert for the cabin and dates you want, and let us watch for the next opportunity.