Furby

When you search for your trip even if you search in J (or F) you will see any fights that are available if both F and J. Therefore just pick the F flight out and the J flight back. The system should let you book a mixed itinerary. If that does not work call the call center they should be able to do it for you although they may charge you the call center fee.

There is another way which is a bit more work but will result in cost savings as a bonus. Book the outward online in F as a one way using the companion voucher. Then (if you have enough AVIOS) go in and book a separate one way back in J. They will deduct the full amount of AVIOS for the return fight but you then call the call center and have them apply the companion voucher to the return leg and they will refund you half of the AVIOS such that the total AVIOS charged is the same as if you had originally booked a round trip out F and return in J using the companion voucher. As a bonus, the taxes for flights departing ex UK are significantly less than those charged for trips that originate in the US. If you booked the trip as a round trip (versus the two one ways I am taking about here) you would be charged the ex US taxes for both legs but because you would be booking as two one ways you get charged the ex US taxes on the outbound but the ex UK taxes on the return. The costs savings will be several hundred dollars per person. Well worth the hassle. The advantage or disadvantage depending upon how you look at it is that you now have two one ways that you manage separately. So, if you change or cancel you will have two change/cancel fees. On the other hand you can change/cancel one leg without impacting the other.

Normally booking two one ways and having them apply the companion voucher to the return leg is not too difficult, The Executive Club team are familiar with the process. However right now it can be more of a challenge. I did this exact thing just a few days ago and was initially told by the call center that this was not possible. I told them it was, and I (and many others) had done it several times in the past couple of years (which is true). They still said not possible. After I asked to be put through to a supervisor he went offline and confirmed that indeed it was possible and proceeded to make it happen.

For what it is worth I have found that F seats for spring/summer 2021 are very elusive. I have seen F suddenly pop up for several consecutive dates, sometimes as many as 4 on one date, and then the next day they are all gone. I doubt that all of those seats on consecutive dates were taken at the same time. I booked 2 F seats a few days ago when some popped up and immediately all the other seats that had been available on separate dates in the same week disappeared. If I were you I would grab the F seat outbound while you can.

Jonesdds

I do appreciate this information, very useful and I don't mind the hassle of calling and maybe hanging up and calling again to get done what should be allowed. However, is part of the point of this telling me that no, I can't do what I am asking? If I didn't want this hassle, book as a round trip in J, could I not then upgrade to F on outbound if available and then later on do the same for the inbound, obviously for additional avios?

Furby

I am pretty sure you can. But each time you make a change (even an upgrade) you will get charged the change fee of $55. Not sure if that is per ticket or per booking if using a companion voucher, probably per ticket. Plus of course the extra AVIOS and taxes, and fees.

Bu I believe you can do a mixed itinerary online as I said before. So why not book F out now and J return online? No hassle and you will still be able to upgrade the return if it becomes available.

golfmad

Just to add to what's been said already... If you want to check for differences in the taxes and fees you can do dummy cash bookings for the two itineraries and compare the taxes/fees elements for each to see what extra you would pay in F. Also don't forget you should benefit from the $200 statement credit from Chase.

Jonesdds

I'd forgot about the $200 from the chase BA visa

If I were to book two separate tickets for my wife and I, and got her the chase BA visa again, I think its been 24 months since the last bonus for her, about 11 months since it was cancelled, could make sense. It's 24 four months since it posted, not 24 months since cancelling the card, correct?

Johnny Rocket

After reaching the $30,000 to trigger the companion certificate, is there any benefit to continue spending on the card given that we are in July?

golfmad

There is nothing specific after the travel together voucher. Your decision about where to allocate future spending will depend on your personal circumstances in relation to which other cards you hold and what kind of spending you have to incur. For example, if you have a lot of BA spend it's probably still worth using the card for the Avios multiplier.

Furby

24 month’s since you received the last bonus amount, meaning that if you got the bonus over several months you should use the date that you received your last bonus amount.

The $200 rebate is per booking. Your strategy would only work if you did not use the companion pass since both of those tickets must be on one booking. You would be saving $200 if you have two separate tickets but then using twice the AVIOS. Not sure that is the best strategy.

mia

I have spent $30,000 in 2020. Please remind me where the voucher will appear in my BAEC account when issued?

Furby

Mine usually appears right around the next statement closing date. One time when the spend requirement was met shortly before the next statement closing date I had to wait until the statement closing one month after that before it appeared. If you have had two statements close since meeting the spend I would contact Chase. I had to do that a few years ago and I received the voucher a couple of weeks after contacting them..

mia

Thank you, but I am asking how I will recognize that I have received it. The BA website is substantially different than it was the last time I had one of these.

Furby

Logon to BA, use the Manage tab to navigate to My Executive Club. Scroll down a little and in the main page area you will see a large banner with the title My eVouchers. They will be there if you have any,

lewis_saint

When you refund a Avios booking, presumably the Chase statement credit gets recharged to your account as soon as the refund posts? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Full Score

In my case I had two $200 credits for Avios bookings in June and Aug 2020. I cancelled the bookings on Oct 10 & 16 and two "BA Redemption Debits" for $200 each appeared on Nov 10. So, it had to work through the system. Interestingly, BA are still to refund my $4,500+ fines, so Chase are quicker to the draw.

lewis_saint

Many thanks!