Booking mixed class (cabin) return flight using Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher
 

Hello there, I am new to this forum
Have anyone tried to book a full avios return flight with Lloyds upgrade voucher with different cabin in each leg of flight?

What I am planning to do is as follow:
BA flight LHR - HKG on WT+
BA flight HKG - LHR on CW
on off-peak time in Feb 2019, JAN 25 - FEB 10 / FEB 1 - FEB 17

Would it be 19500 + 39000 avios or 39000 *2 AVIOS?
Thanks

Welcome to the forum, hkstudent.

Yes, assuming this is for one person not two, you could apply it to the mixed cabin and it would be 19,500 + 39,000. You can book this online on avios.com

Note however that you may find it better value not to use the voucher for your outbound and instead just for the inbound - it'll cost more avios but will save you a good chunk of YQ. You'd have to call to make that booking though.

What this means is that you'd effectively be making two bookings.

So the outbound would be 39k + £250ish of APD and fuel surcharges, whereas the inbound would be 39k and only a few pounds of duty and surcharges. Booking both legs as one ticket would be £500 ish (figures made up from memory).

So it can be used for separately for one leg on 2 return flight bookings?
The reason why I avoid to do CW on ex-LHR leg is to avoid horrible YQ and also massive APD, which HKG at least have good saving on YQ (not airport duty + 3rd runway surcharge)

Also, premium immigration lane is something very important for a early flight to LHR though (unless I take the earliest BA flight from HKG)

Sorry yes didn't make that clear - two bookings.

No - the voucher can only be used once so you'd be losing the value of it one way, in exchange for a cash saving. Effectively works out about 1p/avios on that journey - your call either way.

Flying WT+ doesn't save any APD (same as business), saves a small amount of YQ. Flying WT saves APD and YQ.

For one person, you can use it for both legs of a return, or for a one-way. HKG is a unique situation where you might opt to just use it for a oneway.

HKG only has YQ saving on tickets originating in HKG (and I think UK APD is the same for WT+ as CW). If you book the return option, you'll still pay hefty YQ on HKG-LHR CW because it's ticketed LHR-HKG-LHR. This only way to avoid that YQ is to book HKG-LHR separately: hence LHR-HKG without the voucher and HKG-LHR with the voucher (the latter by phone).

I suppose if you are back-and-forth to HKG you could book a later eastbound at the same time, maybe --- HKG-LHR-HKG with the voucher.

I see, thanks.
I will anyway to book the flights later in the year as AVIOS are not enough yet though, and at that time, I will only be able to book by phone.
I suspect doing J class outbound from LHR would attract horrible YQ + APD compare to Y / PEY class.

Further to @CMRos comments - if you are a regular traveler to Asia you can avail of same tax benefit if you book the following with the voucher.

HKG - LHR
LHR - ASIA

And then book a further 2 one-way flights on avios to get you out and back. This is what i do each year.

Be aware that if you book a round trip LHR-HKG-LHR, you will pay YQ on the HKG-LHR sector. Only if the trip originates in HKG can you avoid the YQ. Not sure how they can get away with this but they do.

That is why the advice is always to book two separate tickets when redeeming to HKG and back. However with the voucher you can only use it on one ticket so you have a choice whether to use the voucher both ways and pay more YQ or use it one way only and save YQ but spend more Avios to fly PE. Tough one!

Well, I checked on ITA software, for LHR-HKG-LHR flight would not attract YQ on HKG-LHR segment.
And also, seems the difference of YQ of J and PY and Y is not that large, which is 189 - 226 - 329 GBP, with 78 GBP extra APD if not travelling on Y

Which Asia point will do?

That's incorrect.

LHR-HKG WT+ only has YQ of £113
LHR-HKG-LHR, WT+ out, J back has YQ of £277

Anywhere such that the routing is a valid open-jaw: specifically such that the distance XXX-HKG is shorter than the two flight HKG-LON and LON-XXX. That means anywhere in the Far East / India would be fine; the Middle East mostly would not be fine.

As @pauldb says - any valid open jaw routing from the avois perspective. Its the fact that ticket originates in HKG that's important. I have done PVG, KUL and HKG the last three years with the voucher. I don't specifically recall which countries are in the same zone as HKG, there may be a few extra avios required for different zones.

Or just take a very cheap Y connection with cathay.