SCSA

Good to know. I reckon I'll pay the extra amount. Thanks for clarifying!

klausa

I booked un upgrade of my upcoming TXL-LHR-YUL-LHR-TXL, upgrading the outbound longhaul segment from WTP to CW. There are two -20k Avios transaction in my account, despite only ugprading the one leg.

Do I need to chase down BA to get back my Avios or is there a chance of this "glitch" resolving itself?

peeyurr

Any suggestions on how I can reduce the taxes/fees from LHR back to the East Coast? I found a ticket from DUB-JFK through AA and the taxes are $160, with $60 specific and $100 BA fees. I tried MAD-BOS and that had $200 in fees when if you went through Iberia, the fee would be only 110.

Thanks in advance.

KARFA

Can I check, if you are searching with AA.com and for DUB-JFK on AA direct why are BA fees being charged?

EDIT: answered on this thread where teh same question has been raised Is BA charging "Airline Imposed Fees" on AA awards now?

Yeoman5

Stayed up late last night to make a redemption booking for 355 days hence only to find that BA's systems didn't recognise British Summer Time and so had to wait till 01:01 to get the seats. Grrrrr.

Globaliser

'Twas ever thus. Seats are released by BA at 000Z whatever the local time at your current location. That's why the technique of calling BA numbers in other countries works.

ehud

Can you shed more light on this technique?

KARFA

there is quite a bit of information on how to get reward seats as soon as they release in this thread BA American Express 2-4-1 Voucher Discussion

the thread is focused on 2-4-1 voucher, but the principles apply for any BA reward bookings if you want to get the J seats as soon as they are released.

chunkylover71

A little help getting to Tokyo?

Hi all,

First time poster here so please excuse if this is in the wrong place. My partner and I are trying to get to Japan at the end June/beginning of July for a couple of weeks. Between us we have 160,000 reward miles and an AMEX 2-4-1 voucher, however we are unable to find anything to get us there. Does anyone have any suggestions? We can't leave till the 29th of June.

Many thanks in advance.

EuropeanPete

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Can I first check a few assumptions I'll make from your post?:

• Your AMEX is the BA AMEX, and you will be leaving from the UK? London?
• You're hoping to fly a premium class? Business or above, maybe?

Assuming the above is correct, you're obviously limited to BA flights with the 241, so that eliminates JAL as an option. Your trip is for quite a long time, so what I would do personally (only you can say if this is right for you) is look at BA Biz availability to destinations which are reasonably close to Japan and which obviously don't provide any visa issues for you, depending on your citizenship. Spend a day or so there and get a low cost flight to your final destination (or use some remaining Avios on a CX/ JAL flight if you have any left). I like Hong Kong, so even if it's not the cheapest, it would probably be my first choice.

chunkylover71

Hi Pete,

Thanks for your message, you are correct in both of your assumptions, although I wouldn't say no to Manchester as it is definitely a bit closer!
I've taken your advice and managed to find a few flights to Shanghai and Beijing (none to Hong Kong unfortunately) leaving on the 29/6/18 and returning 12/7/18. However I am unable to find any reasonable flights between China and Tokyo is almost as much as an economy flight from London to Tokyo!

Any suggestions would be certainly welcome.

pauldb

PEK has the appeal of being in a lower/shorter band saving you some avios. You can also get 72hrs visa free transit. Have you looked at China-Tokyo flights with avios: JAL fly the route.

EuropeanPete

The one other thing I can say is that your AMEX 241 booking doesn't actually have to be an exact return. You just need to be returning from what BA considers the same zone. This may not be helpful for Japan to be honest as I don't know what the zones in that part of the world are (in the US for example, Vegas and LA are in the same zone), but it at least means you can look at NRT, HND and maybe ICN? I'd either way for someone smarter than me here to inform you of the relevant zone for Tokyo (or call BA and hope to find someone helpful) and get a definite list. I'd then look for single flights each way, as you significantly increase your chances of flying a return that works. The same goes for a zone in China, which again opens your options further (subject to flights to Tokyo).

As a fall back if you really can't find a return flight, what about going in Biz or F on the way out and then going back on a JAL Economy flight - not as comfortable, but out of Japan there is very little in the way of fees on top of the miles. You can also book a minimum viable option now and keep checking for better availability over the coming days. Even changing just before the last 24 hours if something better comes up in the immediate days before your flight and works with your travel plans.

Sometimes though, whole geographical areas are just blocked out for a few months and you're out of luck. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Globaliser

I don't think this is true. It's certainly possible to use a 2-4-1 to book LHR-SYD//HKG-LHR, for example, even though SYD and HKG are in different zones.

AIUI, the routings are limited only by the standard IATA open-jaw rule that the surface sector must be shorter than either of the flown sectors. (This is inconsistent with typical BA cash fare rules, but this is what we have been told by BA reps when they were still active on FT.)

Zones are more important if you're trying to change an Avios booking (including one made with a 2-4-1). The routing can only be changed to another destination within the same zone. But this precise inhibition doesn't apply to the initial booking.

EuropeanPete

Actually, Globaliser is correct. My apologies, I was just recently changing an open-jaw 241 myself and got my rules mixed up. That does reinforce the message that you might want to be looking at singles though.