Companion award booking - best tactics?
Oct 17, 2014, 11:57 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
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Companion award booking - best tactics?
I'm trying to put together a 10-14 day trip to Chengdu with Mrs. jib in April, May, or June next year. I'd like to use a companion award to fly in business class. We're flexible on dates, but BA availability has me stumped:
For the outbound segment (London to Chengdu) I can find no business class seats between 4/Jan/2015 and 6/Jul/2015. For the return segment (Chengdu to London) there are several dates with business awards.
I've never used a companion award before, Could someone tell me the best approach? Can I reserve for Economy outbound + Business inbound, and then keep an eye out for Business awards to become available later and change the reservation if they do?
Are there any good tactics for this situation?
For the outbound segment (London to Chengdu) I can find no business class seats between 4/Jan/2015 and 6/Jul/2015. For the return segment (Chengdu to London) there are several dates with business awards.
I've never used a companion award before, Could someone tell me the best approach? Can I reserve for Economy outbound + Business inbound, and then keep an eye out for Business awards to become available later and change the reservation if they do?
Are there any good tactics for this situation?
Oct 17, 2014, 12:05 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: London
Programs: IHG Spire Amb, Accor Gold, HH Diamond, Krispy Kreme Brown with chocolate sprinkles
Posts: 507
Yes you can book what is available now and change flights/class later if availability open up but you would need to pay a fee. I'm not sure how much the change fee would be on your route but I was quoted just over Ł100 to make changes to a LHR-EWR flight (2 seats).
Last edited by davrossuk; Oct 17, 2014 at 12:11 pm
Oct 17, 2014, 12:22 pm
#3
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 692
Hi,
Yes, you can do this and change later. You would have to phone up to change and pay the difference in taxes etc. plus the offline service fee of Ł30 per person (I think this is the latest price).
Remember that reward flights for those dates have been available for quite a few months so what has happened is the availability has all been taken up. Sometimes, but definitely not always, a further batch of seats are made available very close to the date of the flight.
For Chengdu I have seen posts that say the loads on these flights are not great so you may have more chance on this route than others.
Yes, you can do this and change later. You would have to phone up to change and pay the difference in taxes etc. plus the offline service fee of Ł30 per person (I think this is the latest price).
Remember that reward flights for those dates have been available for quite a few months so what has happened is the availability has all been taken up. Sometimes, but definitely not always, a further batch of seats are made available very close to the date of the flight.
For Chengdu I have seen posts that say the loads on these flights are not great so you may have more chance on this route than others.
Oct 17, 2014, 1:06 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,631
Thanks for the advice.
Is it possible to use the companion pass for an open jaw - flying out to Shanghai and back from Chengdu, for example. That might increase our chances of a seat in first or business (but I am not sure if we want to go that way).
Is it possible to use the companion pass for an open jaw - flying out to Shanghai and back from Chengdu, for example. That might increase our chances of a seat in first or business (but I am not sure if we want to go that way).
Oct 17, 2014, 4:04 pm
#5
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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Posts: 38,644
Yes, you can. The current limitation in the rules is only that the open sector (between Shanghai and Chengdu in this example) must be shorter than both of the flights.