drmish1

Hi all,

Just booked a one-way redemption using a 2-4-1 voucher.... the outbound is not until end of Sept '17.

Unable to book a return at the moment, as it won't be until early Sept '18 (yes... away for a full year...)

What are the rules on the return leg- I know you can ring up to add a return on to a one way companion voucher booking, but does that leg have to be within 1 year of the date the booking was made (i.e. Today), or within 1 year of the outbound leg (so sept '18 would be fine)..... ??

Advice will be much appreciated

Thanks

qwest01

I just did the same, but not for such a long trip. I have done this in the past and you need to call in as soon as the return flight becomes available and ask for the trip to be updated with the return flight added to the booking. You will need to pay any additional fees due plus the additional AVIOS. Bear in mind that in your case you will be somewhere other the UK when you need to call in and so should pay attention to the time in the UK when the flights will be released for your dates and also which offices will be open at that time.

Getafix

Flights are only available 355 days in advance. So a full year will not be possible.
As mentioned book it as soon as your Flight is available.

louie-m

Whilst the rules for other return flights seem to be that the return has to be flown within a year of the booking date, BA seem to waive this for 2-4-1 bookings. I've just returned to the UK on the return leg of a 2-4-1 booking, having flown the outbound in January 2016 and booked the outbound in January 2015. So you should be fine.

omk298

Anyone who has a trip away of more than 10 days on a 241 will have returned >1 year after booking the outbound, so it's definitely possible. A word of warning though from my (so far only) experience of booking the return:

I called the Japanese line at 1am when the return flight was released to add it to the booking. They seemed remarkably efficient, the return flight showed up in MMB after a few minutes and they said I'd need to phone back to pay the additional fees later on. They did tell me I'd need to phone Japan back, which isn't true, but I thought all was well.

Around an hour later I was woken up by a phone call from them saying that they were having to cancel the return as it was >1 year after I booked the outbound. I couldn't get them to explain why this was, other than the >1 year gap. They wanted my permission to cancel the return. I repeatedly told them not to do anything to the booking and then put the phone down (and then didn't answer the 3am call!)

I was rather worried when I called the UK line at 9ish but they just took the money and didn't mention the issues overnight at all. Having read a bit more on here I learned the magic word was "re-ticketing"

KARFA

It is entirely possible and this is what many folks do - i.e. call to book the outbound when rewards get released at 355 days, and then calling several days later to add the return when those get released.

JAXBA

But they can't call several days later; they want to return a whole year after the outbound, which won't come into range until up to 10 days after they've already flown...

I think they might need to book a placeholder flight in about 11 months which they can then change when their real date comes into range.

louie-m

He does say end Sep 17 to early Sep 18 so hopefully that won't be an issue.

drmish1

Thanks all for the helpful replies....

To clarify, yes I am heading outbound at the END of Sept '17, to HKG, and I would like to book the return leg before I leave the UK on that flight, probably booking the day before departing, for a T-355 return date..... i.e. a return date in Early/Mid Sept '18

So from what I read this is totally acceptable and common practice, is there any number that is best to call handlers who know how to book this, hopefully will be returning in F (only club avail on outbound), so if so I presume You First the best bet?

Further to my question though... the outbound is to HKG, and I would like to make the rtn leg from Sydney, which I believe should be possible as an open-jaw return.... am I correct?

Thanks

jerry a. laska

You just call a BAEC that is open. See these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...en-i-call.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...xperience.html

The open jaw must be shorter than either leg and so your proposed routing should be fine.

JAXBA

You can make the outbound booking online and then just call to add the return. The best, and appropriate number to call will be that for your Executive Club tier.

Anonba

Ok so as mentioned the system limit is 355 days. On amex voucher booking you would book the outbound only and call back to add the return once it can be booked. The way ticket validity works the inbound must then be within one year of the outbound flight.

Anonba

This isnt a restriction waived for amex vouchers. The ticket validity on any ticket works in such a way that the inbound flight must be within one year of the outbound.

The date of booking only limits when the outbound could be changed as it would need to be flown within a year of booking.

So if you booked 01jan 17 the latest you could travel outbound would be 31dec 17 and then the latest the inbound could be would 30 dec18.

JAXBA

Except, on 01JAN17, system range is 21DEC17. And travel would be permitted until 21DEC18 (last flight must arrive on this day). IATA regulations actually allow 1 year plus 1 day.

11JAN > 31DEC > 31DEC