Unashamed bragging post - success in booking LHR-SYD-LHR in J using a 2-4-1!
 

Had to share it here as everyone I've told in person has just looked totally blank and worried why an apparently normal person is getting so excited about a flight booking!

Been planning trip of a lifetime to Australia and New Zealand for three years to celebrate 20th wedding anniversary. Have watched flight availability for months to try and get info on how J seats might be available after totally stuffing up a previous trip where we had saved for two years to get the necessary Avios and then there were no J seats available so had to go Economy and spend a night in Singapore each way en-route. That said they were two very lovely nights in Singapore at the airport hotel overlooking the runway.

Went online just before midnight - did a search on previous (current) day and waited till midnight. Then clicked on next day and there they were. A minute later they were ours.

Was far more worried about ringing the US helpline and getting through. Hubby rang about 23.40 to see how long it took to get through - about 5 minutes - so rang back at 23.55. Followed instructions but got through to wrong department who then transferred us which took slightly longer than I would have liked - about 5 minutes - very nerve wracking! I was online watching availability - luckily there were two seats on the direct flight plus another two on a connecting flight. Agent was VERY helpful and sorted it all out in about 20 minutes and we managed to get seats on the direct flight.

All in all a very easy experience and so happy to get the seats we wanted - just need to book the internal flights with Air New Zealand now.

Thank you American Express, BA and this forum for teaching me how to book it properly this time!

Wow, well done ! Great to hear :) I can understand why you are so chuffed.
Have a great trip

Well done, nice result. Have a pre trip glass of bubbly to celebrate....

I was lucky enough to get a 2-4-1 in F to SYD for my annual trip to Oz but sadly had to cancel it because of building work in my house :(

Well done. I went through a similar experience in November for flights LHR-JNB. I managed to bag two return redemption tickets in F using a 2-4-1 voucher and a gold upgrade for 2. Doesn't really get better than that! :-)

Oh that's rotten - saw the odd F coming up when I was researching but didn't quite have enough Avios to do F. Hope you manage to get another one in due course.

As a thought, with QF now flying via SIN, could that be another option to reach SYD?

I appreciate that you couldn't do it with a 2-4-1, but it might be useful for Avios users.

M

Well done on snagging the seats!

(although I question the value of rewards to Oz in F/ J without the 2-4-1 when ex-Eu J tickets are pretty competitive).

Agreed, I got OSL to Australia in J with QR for £1300 each in J

This is true with the caveat 'if you are flexible and have spare time'. There is value in travelling direct from the UK (particularly if it means you don't have to take additional days annual leave to get to and from OSL) and the QR sales are usually blacked-out during peak travel periods at Easter or Aussie school holidays (mid-Dec through January and in July).

The direct BA and QF codes are much better redemption value than doing a connection (i.e. QF1/2); in particular the QF9/10 direct to MEL is useful if you aren't heading to Sydney although I am not sure the timings are great now it goes through Perth (Though not sure what difference you are implying re. SIN - the connection through DXB was equally good, similar overall travel time and the nice Emirates lounge). I believe QF release their award seats 353 days out.

Well done OP.

Tip on booking new zealand internal flights
 

I hope that you have a wonderful time! Having just returned from a New Zealand trip, here is an important tip for saving money on internal flights: Book using the airnewzealand.co.nz site, NOT the UK (or US) sites. The prices quoted will be MUCH lower if you use the NZ site, by as much as 40%. I just tried a sample booking to make sure this is still true. They will also offer more options on flexibility for a very small fare increase.

Enjoy! I am assuming you are going in CW? Try to get the middle seats if you can. I think they are called "honeymoon" seats.

And IMHO the second exit row is the place to be on NZ's domestic 320s, assuming you can't get anything in the front rows of the cabin. Sorry to extend the OT discussion by one more post.

Well done! I managed to do this a few years ago with a stop in SIN out and back in J (we love SIN) at the time I booked, at 355 days the whole package cost £500!

That's great. You're going to love it. Enjoy.