T8191

Now I need to find out how she can do that! There wasn’t any obvious route via my account details.

AJA_

Here:

https://global.americanexpress.com/m...r&Face=en_GB#/

Enter her card details and 4 digit security code on the front of the card

GodAtum

yesterday there where some SIN-LON seats next June, but they've all been snapped up. Does that mean there will be no more released?

using rewardfligthfinder, but there's nothing for months

Full Score

Not necessarily "snapped up". You're talking about June 2021. As of today BA will have only released dates up to and including June 7, 2021 (i.e. 355 days in advance). Keep checking and read the advice on this forum about midnight booking.

At present BA seem to be constantly taking their award availability offline and then back, sometimes an hour or two apart. Last week for LHR-LAX in Z, RFF was showing only 2 dates in July 2020 when First is available, whereas in fact 12 dates were actually being offered. Likewise Aug 2020, same route, 15 vs 24. Since then things have become even more weird.

Ancient Observer

I agree with Full score. I have been keeping a lazy eye on Sin, Aus and Lax from LHR. (Lazy because SWMBO has not yet finally decided)
Availability seems to vary all the time. I don't have enough time to look for a pattern.

DaveS

I have the FOC version of the Amex card and am almost at the point of getting a 241 voucher. However, I probably would want to use that for a flight next August. Is there any dodge to delay the issuing of the voucher or extend it validity? Or should I stick the card in the drawer for a couple of months? I wont quite make the Ł20k by the end of June I don't think.

T8191

Depends on how far from the Ł20k you are. Would a speculative flexible BA Holiday trigger the 2-4-1?

Dselvan

If you are not too near your 20k spend but above 10k spend, another option is to upgrade to BAPP and you will pay the Ł195 fee and you will trigger the voucher immediately but you have a validity of 2 years (+6 months currently due to the Covid). You can then downgrade again for a pro rate refund. I have not done this personally but I know of people who have but they are normally just under the 10k limit of spend, so not 100% sure if this will work for you. I am sure other people will be able to advice more if you are considering this as an option. Do the maths and see if this works for you.
In relation to your question about issuance of the voucher, it is immediately triggered as soon as you hit the spend limit and there is no way of extending the date of issue and it will appear in your BA account a few days after you hitting the spending target.

DaveS

Thanks for the advice. I am about Ł700 short of the Ł20k. I would be happy to upgrade to the BAPP. Is there any reason why that should not work anyone?

T8191

When I upgraded to the PP card I had an instant 2-4-1.

Never played the subsequent downgrade game, as the PP benefits are, to us, worth the annual fee ... i.e. Avios earning rate, and faster 2-4-1 with longer shelf life!

vintagepilot

Yes. Until the end of June, all vouchers will have an automatic 6 months extra validity - so for the free card that would be 18 months. So if you wait to trigger it until August it could have a shorter validity than if you trigger it now. Or, if you upgrade now, even temporarily, you would get a voucher with 2.5 years of life. See this article on HFP - https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/0...ore-30th-june/

The 1-year expiry of the 241 voucher earned on the free card is probably the major limiting factor. Given that you often need to plan ahead, as far ahead as T-355 days on some popular routes, that doesn't give you much flex with a voucher that is only valid for a year (outbound travel must be before the expiry date of the voucher). For that reason the 241 voucher gained on the BAPP is much more attractive.

If you are regularly spending 20k through Amex, and you have a suitable 'significant other', you may want to look at the benefits of running 2 BAPP cards in parallel, or better still 6 months apart, where you would get 2 more useful vouchers per year for the same spend - plus more avios per pound - but at Ł195 per card, minus any pro rata refund if you downgrade the card once your vouchers are issued.

vintagepilot

Availability on popular routes goes pretty quickly but it can also be difficult on rewardflightfinder to see whether it is no availabilty or just too many days ahead. However, additional seats are often released - depending on your need, it might be worth signing up to one of the services seat-finder sites for alerts when seats become available.

If this is SIN-LON, is that the return leg for a previously booked outbound? If you are date critical you might need to be up at 01:00 to try to get in quickly as soon as the seats are added to the system.

wilsnunn

There still seems to be some seats on SIN-LON for June next year except in W or F:


Left: LON-SIN Right: SIN-LON (Grey: Y, Blue: W, Green: J, Red: F)

stephenjc

I read that the additional 6 months was being extended to end of September. Found it...

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vintagepilot

Even better, I stand corrected, thanks for the info.