BA American Express 2-4-1 Voucher Discussion
Feb 15, 2020, 5:17 pm
#2041
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: UK oop north
Programs: BMI Diamond Club RIP,BAEC Silver
Posts: 1,692
Hello All,
So as mentioned last week thought id provide you an update on the return redemption flight. Hopefully this helps someone as much as all the help I received from here.
Added the Vodafone international call bundle for £3 a month which gives you 100mins. (It auto renews every month so you’ll need to cancel it manually).
Called the US office at 11:40pm GMT the day before I needed to, to test the water. First point of contact is someone who direct your calls to the relevant team (this took a good 10mins). Kind of stumbled my words and was put through to new bookings. Once I got through - the kind customer service agent advised that I should ask for Avios and Miles Team (cant remember the exact name, though will edit the post once I remember) as they deal with these requests. All in all took around 15mins.
Next day waited again till 11:40pm this time it took me 5mins to get through to the first point of contact. Asked to speak to the Avios Team which took another 5mins. Went through security, the booking reference, and that was it. They knew exactly what I wanted and just confirmed it. The cringy part was keeping the lady on the phone for what seemed and eternity until it turned midnight. However she was lovely and was counting down the minutes with me with some brief chit chat in-between. 1minute to midnight she put me on hold and said she will come back once reserved. 5mins later she came back and pretended they went, before it set-in she said don’t worry I have the tickets. Confirmed the price and Avios plus card paying with and was booked. She asked me to check my emails to make sure I have the confirmation and all details are correct.
So all in all went so smoothly and now have my 241 voucher booked to the Maldives in Club World both ways. May thanks to all that helped me, the wiki, and for others that had to read all my questions and bumping this topic to the first page for weeks.
Lastly – BA Customer Services were absolutely brilliant. I did ask the agent while trying to kill time, what in her opinion was the hardest route to book on redemption as she just works on Avios bookings. Cape Town apparently.
So as mentioned last week thought id provide you an update on the return redemption flight. Hopefully this helps someone as much as all the help I received from here.
Added the Vodafone international call bundle for £3 a month which gives you 100mins. (It auto renews every month so you’ll need to cancel it manually).
Called the US office at 11:40pm GMT the day before I needed to, to test the water. First point of contact is someone who direct your calls to the relevant team (this took a good 10mins). Kind of stumbled my words and was put through to new bookings. Once I got through - the kind customer service agent advised that I should ask for Avios and Miles Team (cant remember the exact name, though will edit the post once I remember) as they deal with these requests. All in all took around 15mins.
Next day waited again till 11:40pm this time it took me 5mins to get through to the first point of contact. Asked to speak to the Avios Team which took another 5mins. Went through security, the booking reference, and that was it. They knew exactly what I wanted and just confirmed it. The cringy part was keeping the lady on the phone for what seemed and eternity until it turned midnight. However she was lovely and was counting down the minutes with me with some brief chit chat in-between. 1minute to midnight she put me on hold and said she will come back once reserved. 5mins later she came back and pretended they went, before it set-in she said don’t worry I have the tickets. Confirmed the price and Avios plus card paying with and was booked. She asked me to check my emails to make sure I have the confirmation and all details are correct.
So all in all went so smoothly and now have my 241 voucher booked to the Maldives in Club World both ways. May thanks to all that helped me, the wiki, and for others that had to read all my questions and bumping this topic to the first page for weeks.
Lastly – BA Customer Services were absolutely brilliant. I did ask the agent while trying to kill time, what in her opinion was the hardest route to book on redemption as she just works on Avios bookings. Cape Town apparently.
Feb 16, 2020, 12:10 am
#2042
formerly fdemoulin
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Programs: SPG Lifetime Platinum, BA Silver, Virgin Flying Club Red
Posts: 916
Managed to nab 2 CW to Bangkok next January and was waiting for the return looking at 2 F from kul. Just got back from bkk on the day flight and it was not great, food awful and seat uncomfortable. Have been seeing 2 F each day but ideally wanted a day later, but my fault all F gone ( earlier flights as well) guess will have to wait and see if any released later. Something I don’t understand is why can BAnot just divert your calls to an office that is open like hotel groups do. Would be so much easier
Feb 16, 2020, 1:16 am
#2043
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 63
Great! Thanks for the reassurance will look to book those SEA seats and keep my eye out for YVR.
Feb 16, 2020, 2:31 am
#2044
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,387
I have a complex question regarding adding an open jaw return...
I managed to nab a one-way flight LON-SYD with 2-4-1 earlier this year as I will be moving there for a while (F will give us 6x32kg bags - perfect!) ... however looking ahead for booking future trips back to the UK, it seems that business class tickets are much cheaper ex-EU than ex-AUS (is this true?) ... so now i'm thinking I should try to tack on a return trip to my original Avios flight and continue to book ex-EU flights to AUS with 6 month+ gaps between outbound and return legs.
- Is there a max time limit on Avios bookings between the outbound and return flight? (eg outbound in March, back in December?)
- Can i tack on a return trip to my original booking anytime upto a few days before the outbound flight?
- Could I tack on an open jaw return (returning from SIN/HKG/KUL etc) if i struggle with availability all the way from SYD?
- Can the call centre do all this without putting my outbound flight at risk? (eg do they have to release inventory and rebook)
Big thanks in advance
I managed to nab a one-way flight LON-SYD with 2-4-1 earlier this year as I will be moving there for a while (F will give us 6x32kg bags - perfect!) ... however looking ahead for booking future trips back to the UK, it seems that business class tickets are much cheaper ex-EU than ex-AUS (is this true?) ... so now i'm thinking I should try to tack on a return trip to my original Avios flight and continue to book ex-EU flights to AUS with 6 month+ gaps between outbound and return legs.
- Is there a max time limit on Avios bookings between the outbound and return flight? (eg outbound in March, back in December?)
- Can i tack on a return trip to my original booking anytime upto a few days before the outbound flight?
- Could I tack on an open jaw return (returning from SIN/HKG/KUL etc) if i struggle with availability all the way from SYD?
- Can the call centre do all this without putting my outbound flight at risk? (eg do they have to release inventory and rebook)
Big thanks in advance
No- just the restriction that you can only book 355 days ahead.
Yes
Yes
Yes (no they don’t release your outbound seat to add a return)
Feb 16, 2020, 3:22 am
#2045
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
This doesn't detract from the practical correctness of fruitcage's answer, but I think that there is technically a limit imposed by ticket validity, which AIUI cannot be more than one year from the date of the outbound flight even if you keep amending the inbound half of the trip. Outbound March, inbound December is not a problem so far as this limitation is concerned.
Feb 16, 2020, 3:57 am
#2046
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Brisbane
Programs: BAEC Blue/Bronze, Krisflyer, Qantas
Posts: 419
This doesn't detract from the practical correctness of fruitcage's answer, but I think that there is technically a limit imposed by ticket validity, which AIUI cannot be more than one year from the date of the outbound flight even if you keep amending the inbound half of the trip. Outbound March, inbound December is not a problem so far as this limitation is concerned.
Feb 17, 2020, 4:58 am
#2047
formerly Christopher Sutton
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 214
Glad you got it sorted in the end. Two points though:
1. I very much doubt invoking FT on the phone with an airline will get you any further. The agent was wrong as you noted, but it is a relatively new way to do 2-4-1 bookings - I am not saying that as an excuse, just merely as a reason the agent wasn't aware, although they should have been of course.
2. I would very strongly advise anyone not to use that method of booking two separate one ways when going to the US. I know I keep repeating this and I am sure most regular readers will be bored of me saying this. The main downside of doing it by doing two separate bookings and having the 2-4-1 applied across both is that taxes/charges/fees are not recalculated when the voucher is applied across to the second booking. Sometimes this will work out well for you (bookings exHKG for example), but for exUS or exCA bookings it is not recommended at all.
exUS/CA TFC is much higher and doing it this way will lead you to pay probably several hundred pounds more overall than you need to. If doing exUS/CA bookings the old method of calling and adding in the inbound to the existing booking is much better since TFC is recalculated and repriced as a return. For example:
I hand't realised when this new two bookings method was added to the wiki back in February that this important caveat was not included, but in any case I will add it now.
I apologise for banging on about this, I don't apologise for trying to save you money. I am sure the money is better in your pocket than in BA's
1. I very much doubt invoking FT on the phone with an airline will get you any further. The agent was wrong as you noted, but it is a relatively new way to do 2-4-1 bookings - I am not saying that as an excuse, just merely as a reason the agent wasn't aware, although they should have been of course.
2. I would very strongly advise anyone not to use that method of booking two separate one ways when going to the US. I know I keep repeating this and I am sure most regular readers will be bored of me saying this. The main downside of doing it by doing two separate bookings and having the 2-4-1 applied across both is that taxes/charges/fees are not recalculated when the voucher is applied across to the second booking. Sometimes this will work out well for you (bookings exHKG for example), but for exUS or exCA bookings it is not recommended at all.
exUS/CA TFC is much higher and doing it this way will lead you to pay probably several hundred pounds more overall than you need to. If doing exUS/CA bookings the old method of calling and adding in the inbound to the existing booking is much better since TFC is recalculated and repriced as a return. For example:
I hand't realised when this new two bookings method was added to the wiki back in February that this important caveat was not included, but in any case I will add it now.
I apologise for banging on about this, I don't apologise for trying to save you money. I am sure the money is better in your pocket than in BA's
Feb 17, 2020, 5:08 am
#2048
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,968
Hi SurreyFlightPath. I am not sure. Have you checked? It should be easy to do, just price up a cash return on ba.com for your flights and have a look at the figure given for taxes/fees/charges, then price up two one ways and see what the sum of the taxes/fees/charges is in comparison.
Feb 18, 2020, 2:53 am
#2049
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: BA/VS Gold
Posts: 276
Managed to book 2 CW seats to Bangkok for Feb next year. Tried to call BA US team - got through to the first guy, who then directed me to the second team - but waited more than 10 mins. In the end midnight came and I booked it myself - an adrenaline boost!
Now to get the return flights...which will be the clincher!
Now to get the return flights...which will be the clincher!
Feb 18, 2020, 3:14 am
#2050
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,262
If you have sufficient Avios, you can book the return as two full price Rewards using regular Avios at the stroke of 00.00 online, then call back later the morning and have half the avios returned - so much more relaxing
Feb 22, 2020, 5:29 pm
#2051
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: England
Programs: BAEC: Bronze; Marriott: Gold
Posts: 399
Brilliant agent on the phone tonight. I called the US number to add our return leg back from PUJ next February. Called at 23:50, passed through the screening and talking with the Avios agent by 23:55. She instantly knew what I wanted to do and informed me that time was of the essence so she would go ahead and hold the seats before doing anything else.
the agent wasn’t able to take payment, but assured me that her colleague would phone back in the next 1/2 hour to process the Avios and cash payment. I’ve checked on MMB and the return leg is already showing, so just waiting for the call to process payment.
the agent wasn’t able to take payment, but assured me that her colleague would phone back in the next 1/2 hour to process the Avios and cash payment. I’ve checked on MMB and the return leg is already showing, so just waiting for the call to process payment.
Last edited by bakera; Feb 23, 2020 at 9:18 am Reason: Corrected typo
Feb 23, 2020, 11:55 am
#2052
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 1
Hi,
First time posting so wondering if anyone can help. My mum had a BA Premium Plus AMEX card and earned her companion voucher last year. She subsequently cancelled the card as she no longer had a need for it. We booked some return flights today from LON to YYZ for her and her friend, in Club World - and used the voucher. When we got to the payment page, found out it had to be paid via AMEX but we did not have her AMEX any more as she cancelled it. We used my sisters AMEX card instead to pay for the taxes and charges and the booking went through ok.
The confirmation email says : "If the payment cardholder is travelling, you must bring the card used to pay for this booking to the airport with you, for verification, before you can travel"
The receipt shows the card holder as my mum, but it was my sisters card we used and her billing address.
Will this cause a problem at check-in?
Thanks in advance
Paul
First time posting so wondering if anyone can help. My mum had a BA Premium Plus AMEX card and earned her companion voucher last year. She subsequently cancelled the card as she no longer had a need for it. We booked some return flights today from LON to YYZ for her and her friend, in Club World - and used the voucher. When we got to the payment page, found out it had to be paid via AMEX but we did not have her AMEX any more as she cancelled it. We used my sisters AMEX card instead to pay for the taxes and charges and the booking went through ok.
The confirmation email says : "If the payment cardholder is travelling, you must bring the card used to pay for this booking to the airport with you, for verification, before you can travel"
The receipt shows the card holder as my mum, but it was my sisters card we used and her billing address.
Will this cause a problem at check-in?
Thanks in advance
Paul
Feb 23, 2020, 12:06 pm
#2053
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 39
I have a voucher expiring in June. I'm planning a trip in April, but redemption availability is only available one way (outward).
Can I use the voucher for the outbound flights and then book a random return flight (that I have no intention of flying at the stage) with a view of perhaps changing that flight for a possible return leg from elsewhere before June if I make another trip?
I hope that makes sense?
Can I use the voucher for the outbound flights and then book a random return flight (that I have no intention of flying at the stage) with a view of perhaps changing that flight for a possible return leg from elsewhere before June if I make another trip?
I hope that makes sense?
Feb 23, 2020, 12:52 pm
#2054
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
I have a voucher expiring in June. I'm planning a trip in April, but redemption availability is only available one way (outward).
Can I use the voucher for the outbound flights and then book a random return flight (that I have no intention of flying at the stage) with a view of perhaps changing that flight for a possible return leg from elsewhere before June if I make another trip?
Can I use the voucher for the outbound flights and then book a random return flight (that I have no intention of flying at the stage) with a view of perhaps changing that flight for a possible return leg from elsewhere before June if I make another trip?
First, there are restrictions on the route of the inbound half because of open-jaw rules.
Second, the change to the inbound half must be to return from a place in the same Avios zone as the place in the original booking. So, for example, if the inbound half is booked now as JFK-LHR, you can't later change it to MIA-LHR as MIA is in a different zone.
Third, if after you have flown the outbound half you decide not to use the inbound half, you won't get a refund of the Avios for the inbound half. There have been recent reports of people being permitted to cancel the inbound half before they start the outbound half and to get an Avios refund for the inbound half, but I'm not sure whether technically that's permitted by the rules.
Fourth, ISTR that technically you can't actually change the inbound half after the outbound half has been flown, although in practice BAEC is allowing this. In theory, that could potentially pose a problem.
Feb 23, 2020, 1:44 pm
#2055
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 39
OK, I have just booked LHR-BOM in CW, one way only, using my voucher.
There is no appropriate return reward availability, so I guess I will book and pay for the return tickets.
I appreciate your replies, but I am still a little unclear as to how I can make use of the return portion of the voucher for a different trip. I don't intend on going to India again.
There is no appropriate return reward availability, so I guess I will book and pay for the return tickets.
I appreciate your replies, but I am still a little unclear as to how I can make use of the return portion of the voucher for a different trip. I don't intend on going to India again.