badoc

Got outbound tickets to JNB in F for 4 of us using a 2-4-1 and miles for the other two.

Really struggling to get back to UK...

As so far ticketed on one PNR BA are finding it difficult to split the booking, though there are 2 + 2 CW seats on the 58/44 flights. This would mean not only having to schlep down to CPT but also splitting up the family which is not ideal as it is a special holiday for us.

I've played around a fair bit as we will also be in MRU (but nothing at all available from there) and so I though of trying QT for a one way fare. BA are ludicrously priced for this route but QR come out at just over £1000 each.

What would fellow FT'ers do - wait and hold out for BA to try and help or just go for it and book the QR one way fare. Less attractive to my wife, as she says it splits the nice direct overnight into two but hey ho...

If I bite the bullet and book with QR tonight before tomorrows availability opens up then do they offer a 24 hour cancellation like BA do?

Swiss Tony

When is the flight?

badoc

Got LHR-JNB on 2nd or 3rd Aug next year and looking to come back on or around Sat 20th Aug. Picked Sat as that's when the Comair flight comes back to JNB from MRU (at about 6.30pm I think) but don't mind a day or two later. If we were going to turn it into a 3 week trip I'd rather come back from CPT than JNB as we'd do a bit of a wine run but the return availability seems to have dried up. I was watching while on holiday last week and there were J and F redemptions every day but too early for us to come back. Suddenly they have all gone and I wondered if a sale was looming on that basis.

EsherFlyer

4 seats in WT from JNB, CPT or MRU show up every day I think. WT+ occasionally.

Can you not find those to complete an itinerary? Although WT in particular is not usually a good redemption it gets a bit more palatable if a 2-4-1 is in the mix.

It may need a 1am call to Japan to secure the 4 WT seats as they are released.

badoc

Sorry - I wasn't clear. Will only fly J of F. For WT you may as well pay. My 4 outbound F seats on the A380 cost £320 each...

It's looking more and more like QR will get our £ for the return

EsherFlyer

Similar to ours I guess. We're doing similar with F to JNB and WT from MRU. Two 2-4-1 in the mix. I'm hoping to move to WT+ or J availability if it opens up. Or maybe even AUP on the day...

Since you're heading towards a connecting return you could look to open jaw back to LON from somewhere that Air Mauritius would fly you to and hence make use of the 241 on the second segment of the inbound.

Swiss Tony

What I don't understand....

If the flight is a year away, why can't you just sit tight? No need to pay cash to QR (or anyone else) for something that's a year away. A lot could change. Maybe even take those 2 pairs ex-CPT & check (daily) for another pair opening up. August must be low season for Cape Town. And everything won't sell out - you're not going to be stranded.

EsherFlyer

Not sure if that is just to OP or to each of us .

I agree with that for the cash fares part. We wanted direct flights though, and although WT redemption is sub-optimal that leg is easily cancellable / changeable if other things start to look better, and the 2 x 2-4-1 makes it a bit more palatable.

In our case both 2-4-1 were held by the same pax, which means that to use them all 4 have to be on a single PNR. Although OP could (I think) have got 2xPNR each with 2F on it they also have 4pax PNR. You can't then put the pax on two different return flights. Conversely, if our 2-4-1 were each held by a different person we would have had to use 2x2pax PNR, which does give more flexibility for putting 2 pairs into J on different aircraft, or different cabins on the same aircraft.

Swiss Tony

Sorry - thought you were the OP...

I know BA can do funky things with 2-4-1's - I held them both, but they were willing to do a split between J&F for us on a return leg.

badoc

Best chance of getting 4 seats on the same flight is T-355, especially to SA. Need to firm up an internal Comair itinerary too, and then start looking at hotels - call me organised

The two pairs from CPT have gone, whilst BA was looking at splitting our PNR I know this can be done as have done it before but getting through to someone who knows what to do is challenging. Was on phone for almost an hour yesterday.

The thing is when you could fly back for about £1K each with none of the hassle it's looking more appealing. Yes it's going to be about £700 each dearer but at least we know we have a completed rtn.

If we wait until nearer the time there may be no redemption availability and the QR fares will have jumped up hugely I'd imagine...

henkybaby

Family bookings with kids.... If you want security, I would consider paying. CPT is a tough one for redemptions. Besides: A QR paid ticket you should compare by subtracting the BA 'fees and charges' on a redemption. Makes it a lot cheaper in the mind.

I would not book a paid ticket this far out. Wait for a sale or something.

Some good offers with KLM out of AMS (direct to CPT) around €1800 in their new (and very good) business class.

EsherFlyer

Me too !

This is where our strategies diverge. I've booked MRU-LGW WT redemption to ensure we have something, and am hoping that other redemption things will open up. We might still book an Air Mauritius, SA, BA, etc revenue though.

badoc

What about holding the QR fare with a TA? How long can they hold seats for anyway - is it days, weeks, months?

badoc

Are there 4 of you? With 2 I'm much more easy going but 4 is always tricky...

henkybaby

Not a clue... Never use them.

When my company used a TA we were forced to always book flexible fares, so the answer would then be 'until departure'.