TheFlyingCyclist

Hello

We have our first 2-4-1 booking in March/April. Out on 26 March LHR-SAN and back on Saturday 7 April PHX-LHR in F. First F too.

It would be really helpful to be able to be in Edinburgh on Saturday evening 7 April, returning to LHR on Sunday 8 April.

Some questions for the hive mind...

Can I add this onto the existing 2-4-1? There is avios availability. Guessing there will be a £35 change fee. What about extra avios to pay? Usual rates?

If I pay in cash for the flights to EDI (eg a BA holiday) as the avios vs cash rate isn’t brilliant, will the inbound F boarding pass on 7 April give us both access to the T5 CCR even though it would be on a different PNR? If it makes any difference we are returning to T3.

corporate-wage-slave

If there is availability on LHR-EDI you can add this on, and your luggage will go through from SAN-EDI. There is the change fee, a bit of extra taxes but no extra Avios (that is the bit that sometimes goes wrong, some agents try to add this on for changes). Two PNRs means no through luggage checking, but makes no difference to CCR access, it's still OK. I wouldn't rely on insurance, but there is usually a good availability on the day to EDI for Avios, so you could use that as a fallback. Alternatively, book a Plus fare on the last flight LHR-EDI and use Same Day Change to leave sooner, but you would need to recheck luggage.

TheFlyingCyclist

Thank you! Would that be adding a one-way LHR to EDI on the end and then booking a separate return? Or would they be able to add the full
return LHR-EDI-LHR on the end of the existing booking for no extra avios?

BobServant

1) The 2-4-1 is available on a return starting and ending in the UK; while the intention is that it's (say) EDI-LHR-xxx-LHR-EDI, you might be able to get LHR-EDI added to the 2-4-1 at the end. This shouldn't cost any additional Avios, but will have £35 change fee per person, plus taxes, fees and charges to pay. If you're coming off long haul F you'll be booked into Club Europe, so could end up rather expensive as you'll be booked into Club Europe and the TFC element is often £100-£150 return per person extra for the domestic connection. So, one way you're looking at maybe £100 each.

I'd be very surprised indeed if you can add the EDI-LHR onto it at the end as that isn't how the 2-4-1 is meant to work. By all means phone up and ask - and remember you can use YouFirst for this sort of thing - shorter wait times and more knowledgeable agents on the whole. If a reward flight saver is poor value then a cash ticket "Plus" fare may be a better option. This gives the possibility of a same day change for no charge.

2) Think BA are very strict on through-checking from what I've read. The good thing is that you'll be able to use First Wing and Concorde Room as connecting from F onto a same-day flight from T5.

I'd just leave plenty of time between flights, and pay for a Plus fare in Euro Traveller if it's less than about £150 return, otherwise use an RFS. Whatever, I'd give myself loads of time between the arrival into T3 and departure from T5 (4 hours, maybe). If everything goes swimmingly, enquire about moving to an earlier flight when you check in at F Wing, otherwise enjoy the CCR.

Job done.

TheFlyingCyclist

Fabulous - thank you so much. I think we will go with a BA holidays booking departing 9hrs after the inbound F flight as it is around £150pp including a hotel, so essentially the hotel ends up free. As long as people are certain that 2 PNRs means we still have CCR access on the same day as an arriving F?

One final question... from googling it seems BA holidays bookings aren’t eligible for same day changes? Is that right? In which case the extra flexibility of booking flight only could be preferable, even it is an extra few £ for the hotel.

KARFA

BobServant

Yes, CCR access is fine -post 4, scenario 6 here. Doesn't matter if one or two PNRs.

BA lounge access guidelines

BA Holidays flights tend to be rather inflexible, but then Edinburgh hotels for Saturday nights tend to be rather expensive too...

TheFlyingCyclist

KARFA

corporate-wage-slave

BA Holiday flights do not include Same Day Change and in practical terms I can't see any easy way around that. The one thing you could try is an Avios only booking for the hotel, using the lowest amount of Avios and paying cash for the rest, and building your own flights using Plus tickets. For more information on CCR access beyond that already posted, see the relevant Dashboard Lounge Access thread.

TheFlyingCyclist

Just called youfirst. LHR-XXX-LHR-EDI-LHR routing is impossible on one reward 2-4-1 ticket. They could have added a single to EDI on the end, but not the return and so I’d end up having to book a one-way flight home from EDI which I’d rather not do! Booking that as cash is expensive and avios is poor value (only CE available).

Thanks again for all your help

TFC

corporate-wage-slave

Did you check the EDI-LGW and LCY single fares too? The protection for SAN-EDI is worth quite a bit, if you have luggage too.

KARFA

TheFlyingCyclist

We decided to go with adding a one-way to EDI onto the end of the existing booking (£12 each + £35 change fee each) and separately booking a single flex back from EDI to LHR so we could use same day change if we needed to. It was almost exactly the same price as making a standalone return booking, but with the outbound in CE rather than Y, and more importantly the outbound on the same ticket as the inbound long haul in case of delays (plus we don’t have to worry about collecting and rechecking bags at LHR).

Thanks for all the help and advice,

TFC

BobServant