Using Amex 2-4-1 Long way in advance
 

Hi some quick questions about using an Amex 2-4-1 as I've to used on for a long time!

1) Am i right in thinking I can only book a flight 355 days in advance?

2) In order for me to book a return a long way away I need to do the following:

- Book the outward bound flight as a "one way" using the Amex 2-4-1 for both of us.
- If I successfully book my outward bound today and was going for a 20 day trip I would need to wait 20 days to secure the return flights.
- Once my return date is available for me I then book two Avios one way flights back from my destination

3) Once I've done this I then call BA Exec Club and ask them to combine all the bookings under the Amex 2-4-1.

Is this the right way to do this? :confused: I'm looking at redeeming in F therefore nervous of seats being snapped up quickly!!!

Using Amex 2-4-1 Long way in advance
 

Where are you looking to redeem from and to? Availability on many routes can be very scarce, so I would be mindful of booking an outbound without being safe in the knowledge that the return was open too.

No to the methodology question

Book the outbound then you need to call up to add the return. You can't book a return one way then join it to the original flights.

Three things:
(1) You may well need to be up in the middle of the night to grab the outbound seats online for busy routes.
(2) You will need to call up to add the return. Check for availability online then call up whichever BAEC call centre is open at the time. Not always advisable to wait for UK to open.
(3) If you have to be back in 20 days I would try for 18, 19, 20 days just to be sure. You don't want to only aim for a precise date and miss out. When I booked for HKG I had a +1 and -1 day in mind too. Track availability in the few days (or more) ahead too.

I don't think you need to book the return and then phone - just phone and have them add it to your booking. They should do this without service fees.

Just be aware that not all flights are released exactly on schedule. 355 is the earliest flights can be released - it doesn't mean that's when they are released. But if you check the route you want frequently, you can probably get a good idea of if/when seats are released.

Start praying

I'm looking to get to Singapore in F

So based on the above, do I use my Amex 241 to book 2x one ways to Singapore and then call up the Gold Line and then book my return legs?

If so, can I do this immediately after I've booked my outbound flights, or do I need to wait the 355 days to call them once the flights are released and cross my fingers that I can get the returns flights?

I did this to get flights to Seattle.

You call up once the return seats are released.

What I did was monitor the route for about a month in advance to see how many seats in f and J were released and for what days . Be aware that a sale seems to change the release pattern.

You need to wait until the flights are released with Avios availability showing.

Nope. You can't do anything until T-355 at the earliest, and then only if you see availability.

Yes, cross everything, wait to see availability (it may or may not be at exactly T-355) , then get on the phone pronto.

Sorry to bump this, I understand that I need to call the Exec centre to secure the return flights, but if my outbound flights come available (I'm getting close to my dates opening up!) do I book my outbound using the Amex 241 voucher (ie redeem a voucher for both of us one way) or just book two one way Avios trips (without using the voucher)?

Finally, is there a list of BA Exec Club call centres and opening hours anywhere?

Use the voucher for the outward and then call to add the return as/when it becomes available.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BB10; Kbd) AppleWebKit/537.35+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/10.2.1.2141 Mobile Safari/537.35+)

Can the return be an open jaw? I.E. Fly the outbound as LHR-SIN and get HKG-LHR as the return?

Yes, as long as the open sector isn't longer than the flown sectors I believe.

My current 2-4-1 booking is an open jaw, booked outward online as soon as flights released, then phoned up three weeks later to add the return as it became available. No change fees, and no problems with the very helpful agent.

Oh that's great news as am considering SIN / HKG / BKK / KUL as options to fly back from so opens up a whole lot of options for potential return availability :)

Well its 01:40 GMT and looks like nothing released :confused:

Am looking to fly Thursday 17th Dec 2015 LHR - SIN and nothing coming up

Am I doing something wrong or is the T + 355 days for release of redemptions seats an urban myth or purely anecdotal evidence from other FTers?