Please forgive the new thread but I’d like to help a friend out by using our collective brains.

He has booked the outbound of his honeymoon to Nairobi with his companion voucher. They plan to safari then get some beach time in the Maldives. He soon needs to add the return over the phone and I’ve advised him that the Maldives is one of the most difficult routes to find availability on.

If he misses the 2x Club seats that get released then can anyone think of other options to get them home?

We looked at one-waying to a ME destination served by BA but none of Emirates, Qatar or Etihad sell one ways at anything close to sensible prices even in economy.

One way options exist eastward but this involves a substantial detour and a night stop in a hotel to get the BA flight home the next day (eg Bangkok, KL, Singapore, Bangalore).

The best idea I have is to pay for a one way premium economy ticket directly home with BA in cash then use the Avios spared by the wasted return portion of the companion voucher to part pay with Avios to take the edge off this cash payment.

Is my idea the best backup or are there any others? Unfortunately he has no points with other airlines or alliances in case that would have helped.