s1362083

I'm trying to book GIG-MAD-LHR on Iberia.com but it gives an error when trying to book the MAD-LHR on BA. It works OK for IB but that forces a very long layover. I'd like to avoid booking via BA as the price comes out higher.


I have called IB three times; first time was told they can do it so I hung up to transfer points from BA. When I called back the agent said there is no availability on BA despite website showing it. Third agent seemed to find availability but hit the error when trying to take payment. I was told to call back in a few hours but the website has been giving this error for over a week so I don't think its temporary.


Am I missing any simple tricks to get this to work? If not, may be better to pay bit more via BA than to risk losing availability.


Error is:
"An error has occurred. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask you to please try again after a few minutes. If the error persists please contact us."

craigthemif

Well, you could potentially book an IB flexible tourist reward for the MAD-LHR and change your flight if a more suitable time becomes available.

Brazil has no surcharges, though, so I'm a bit confused as to why you can't book IB metal via ba.com and still get the same taxes payable.

BA6501

ba.com IME doesn't show fuel surcharges in the flight selection stage but pushes the tax up (significantly!) when you click through to the next page.

It doesn't seem to happen over the phone if OP wishes to try by phone.

LupineChemist

The point is it specifically doesn't for Brazil departures.

s1362083

BA.com gives about £30 higher tax for IB/BA over IB/IB for both flights in J. However, as I needed J/Y I tried to do it over the phone and the tax did go back down. I'm travelling during BA peak/IB off-peak date and IB (I think) prices the BA flight at off-peak cost whereas BA will charge extra 1000 Avios. In any case, I ended up booking IB/IB with a longer layover via Iberia to keep things simple and avoid wasting time on the phone.

BA6501

I'm aware. BA however interpret this as not applying to revenue tickets but does apply to Avios tickets (at least to members with a BAEC address other than Brazil).

I've taken screenshots showing how BA.com shows YQ-less tax initially then bumps it up online at the next stage.