You are the first person to confirm that this works. Was it easy enough to do next day on the phone and how long did it take for the Avios to be returned into your account?

Hi
I think what they mean is that since not everyone knows about the ringing of US or Japan customer services at midnight when the seats are released and since the UK line is closed, UK customers are ringing the UK line at 0600 when the UK line opens to find customers from other countries/ people in the know such as in these forums, have already pounced and booked the tickets. So to level the playing field, now anyone with enough avios can book the seats when it comes online at midnight and then apply the voucher next day. So it saves time and also cost of an international phone call since BA Gold line for example is free to call. Doesn't change the availability of 2 CW reward seats though.

That's the plan since it does seem a lot of faf otherwise. Probably ring US and see how it goes.

it may be possible, but I still don’t understand what the advantage would be for the OP in doing it that way? Overseas calls can easily be done with Skype these days, or even if that’s not possible overseas calls do not cost a fortune on a landline.

the best advice is to still follow the method as set out in this thread and call US/JP to do it, instead of going though booking it without the voucher online at midnight (assuming one has enough avios for 2 people) then calling BA and getting a refund assuming that is done quickly, and then presumably going through the whole thing again when your inbound dates are released. What the agent has suggested is more complex and more time consuming for the customer.

EDIT: just to also add if booking to the US the booking online and calling later method is even more disadvantageous since the standalone exUS inbound flights would incur a very high carrier surcharge. When you call later I would hope that it would be repriced as a return, but now you have to wait for a refund of the excess surcharge you have paid, and BA is not always know for quick refunds. If you call to add your exUS inbound flights the surcharge will be calculated correctly at that point so you will not pay more than necessary and not have to wait for a refund.

You misunderstand what Dselvan is proposing (post 582). He/she is not proposing that the outbound flight be booked "without the voucher online at midnight ... and then calling BA and getting a refund." In fact, Dselvan has already booked the outbound flight, online, using his/her voucher. No refund is sought, or due. And the voucher has already been applied, online. There is no need to "go through the whole thing again."

Dselvan is simply proposing an alternative method for securing the return flight online, and applying the voucher to it the next morning. And there would be no monetary refund due since it is unlikely that the ticket has been billed and the credit card charged by the next morning. This is precisely what occurred when I did this in 2015 ---- no monetary adjustment was needed.

Whether you or I believe this method is more or less convenient to the customer is largely irrelevant. That's for the customer to decide, based on their individual circumstances/preferences. When I did this in 2015, it was simply because I was travelling at the time and, while I had internet access, I did not have easy access to place an international call.

Also, I was more confidant that I could get instantaneous online access to the seats being released at midnight, instead of making an international call, being placed on hold, or being at the mercy of a CSR who might not timely grab the seats at the moment they are released.

If this provides another option for folks, what is the harm? Why argue so adamanty against it?

My worry about ringing either US or Japan is exactly this that the agent refuses or misses booking the seats and that creates a lot of hassle. The cost of the call is negligible. At least there is a plan B of booking online and ringing the Gold line in the morning to apply the voucher.
In regard to your question if the SCL-LHR sector becomes available, you ring BA and they will swap the flights. You will either pay the difference in Avios or if it less, then it gets refunded and the same applies for taxes. You will however have to pay the £35 per person for change of booking.

That bit sounds quite concerning. When booking a one way reward from the US the charges are much higher and if merging it back in to an exiting exUK outbound there should be a subtantial refund.

I am not adamantly against doing it this way but I can see exactly these kinds of problems which it will create. I personally would rather not be wanting to wait for avios and charges refunds from BA if I could have chosen an option to aviod them in the first place.