Make sure you book in advance for those Avios flight rewards

I have taken two long-haul flights recently and collected a large number of air miles. But following the merger of BA and Iberia, these have been dubbed “Avios”.

Their member website says I can use my Avios to take at least two short-haul flights to Europe for free. I had amassed 25,000, so I assumed I’d be able to find something.

But when I tried a few weeks ago to book flights for my partner and I for a break in September – for a holiday in Faro – there were no flights available. I rang the call centre to ask why this was the case or if there was a problem. She informed me there were only two or three seats per flight available for Avios users.

This seems very unfair and I don’t understand how the company can advertise that you will get useful air miles if you travel with them when they seem almost impossible to use.

EA, Edinburgh

A spokeswoman for Avios said: “Since the launch of the UK Avios programme, members have been able to continue to access a wide network of flight routes and destinations including British Airways and Iberia along with air partners, BA CityFlyer, Openskies, Air Nostrum, Aurigny, Flybe,Loganair, Aer Lingus and other airlines to follow. With British Airways alone offering around 13 million seats a year, we’re very confident that the Avios programme offers outstanding value and availability for flights world-wide. However, we do always advise members to book as far in advance as possible, and as with all travel, to expect increased demand around holiday periods. The best way for members to check availability across Avios rewards is through the new zone map on Avios.com which allows members to view 12 months of availability and to filter availability by month to see which destinations are available.”