fruitcage

Pretty sure Amex won't let you make debit card payments in excess of the outstanding balance on the credit card.

notakeenflyer

You are right, you cannot directly overpay. I know have got into credit before when I have paid off the balance, and then got a statement credit for an offer. You might be able to cleverly time your debit card payment the day the direct debit is scheduled.
It's almost certainly a moot point though, as pointed out by two of us above, the Ł1,200 is a standard illustration.

dolfinco

Thanks folks.

hingus2000

Quick follow-up question on guaranteed CW reward availability:

If BA guarantees that two CW reward seats are made available on every flight, does that mean that if I ring up at midnight on the day they are released, the agent will absolutely see that availability (other than if someone beats me to them on the phone)?

I only ask because I haven't been getting overnight alerts from baredemptionfinder.com that my preferred route has had seats become available as we hit T-355. Shouldn't it be the case that if alerts have been set-up for the T-355 period, there would be nightly alerts of two seats coming on stream?

mikeyfly

I would check and buy on line the minute, don't delay. This is relevant for the outbound you do not need to call. You can use voucher and grab. Fastest finger first. The return you do unfortunately need to call, and again insist the agent grabs the seats very quickly. The difference between 00.00 and 00.02 can mean seats gone on many busy routes

hingus2000

Thanks, yes this is for the return leg (we are still beyond T-355). Outbound leg is booked (online).

So it's a case of calling (around 23:50 UK time?), and hoping the agent I speak to is quicker than his/her colleagues?

mikeyfly

Correct - and making chit chat until they can see the seats!!

hingus2000

Any intel on which BA office is best at sorting this sort of thing out? Tokyo or West Coast US?

mattyw

What did I do wrong?

Booked the outbound online at exactly T-355 with no problems. To add the return flight I called the US line at 23:50 and pressed option 1 to change an existing booking. I got through to the Indian call centre where I explained what I wanted to do. At this point I was transferred to the 'Executive Club team' and spoke to someone with a northern English accent who told me that a) the UK line closed at 8pm, b) that he couldn't wait on the line for 8 minutes until the seats were released and c) that he couldn't book it anyway as I needed to speak to someone to change an existing booking. I decided to HUACA rather than point out his inconsistencies.

I called the US and pressed option 1 again, got through to India again, who transferred me somewhere again but I have been on hold for 25 minutes. Meanwhile the seats I wanted are long gone...

KiteFlyerP

Do you have enough avios to book it yourself online? Then call back during UK working hours and get the 2 for 1 applied. Could try tonight if your plans are flexible for the return flight to be a day out.

Pros: DIY, in your own hands, dont need to convince agent to wait for ticket to become available
Con: Need double avios temporarily, two bookings rather than 1, taxes+fees may work out more expensive for 2 bookings dependent on destination

mattyw

Not quite, but I could transfer some Amex MR points over. Would they arrive in time? I think it takes 1-2 days

BrianDromey

hingus2000

Perhaps a silly question, but can anyone clarify what day they classify as 355 days out from today 16th, for example?

This handy calculator says January 6 2020 (which would make sense to me: 16-10=6).

https://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromnow/355

However I note the BA reward search only shows up to January 5 2020.

Trying to work out exactly when I should ring for a flight on January 11 2020. My assumption had been Sunday night for 00:00 Monday morning (ie. the 21st)

Blueboys999

But you can make payments by direct debit to your account from your bank account in excess of your balance. I know that because on a couple of senior moment occasions I have mistakenly paid money into the wrong one of my Amex accounts that way.

In the first instance it was a substantial amount and when I realised what I had done I contacted them and they sorted it out. On the other occasion it was a small amount which I just left and in due course my spending took care of the overpayment.

Steve in Olympia