BW0807

Hi all - hoping to benefit from the collective wisdom here.

The situation:

I booked a ticket from AMS to CPT in (I) fare bucket on 29 Mar departing AMS at 16.10 on BA439 connecting to BA0043 at 18.15 from LHR returning 7 Apr.
I had booked a separate connecting flight from LCY to AMS in the morning at 11.00 arriving into AMS at 13.00, allowing plenty of time for the connection.
By sod's law, my University (Oxford) has decided to put an exam on the calendar for 09.30-11.30 on the 29th. Clearly I am not going to be making an 11.00 at LCY.

Potential solutions:

There is a 12.45 (BA438) flight out of LHR to AMS arriving at 15.05, which in theory it is possible to make (with seriously clenched cheeks), if I were to leave my exam at 10.45 (I can probably pass it in 62.5% of the time) and have a cab waiting outside, I could probably get to LHR by 12.00 and make the flight (HBO /w fast track but no F Wing). My question is, is BA439 a back-to-back from BA438, because if 439 is delayed and its a separate flight I'm scuppered with that connection; but if its the same plane, then BA would be liable to get me onto the next flight.

Clearly the above is HIGHLY risky, and I would rather not do it, but it all comes down to cost. The alternatives are as follows:

(1) Cancel this flight now, and book a worse (AMS connecting via LHR and JNB) flight for £1400 GBP, or some other cheap starting point and get the tax back from cancelling this one (I assume I do (c. £400)). Suggestions welcome.
(2) Try and change my current booking to depart on the Saturday from AMS or shift the starting point from AMS to LHR. Does anyone have any insight into how much these would cost. Expedia quoted £1300 or so earlier, but they said their systems weren't working and that the quote seemed high to them.
(3) Risk it with the original booking, and if it fails re-book an economy ticket on Fri 29 for outbound travel on Fri 30. Avios might also become an option then, if needed, although currently there isn't much availability. I have about 120K and a Lloyds voucher to play with.

My goal is to gain extra comfort in timings (either leaving from LHR and skipping the AMS section on the outbound on the 29th, or moving the outbound to the Saturday (30th) for minimum cost, ideally <£500. I'd also get some perspective on just how tight the risky option is.

Thoughts welcome.

Cheers
B

SteveF

dodgeflyer

BW0807

I believe so, so any new booking (either cash or points) would also need to be a return.

Geo772

Option 4: Have a charter from Kidlington to AMS. It is likely to be cheaper than your current option 1 or 2.

Tafflyer

corporate-wage-slave

I'll leave out of this the moral issue about jumping out of an exam early. But goodness, I certainly have my views about that.

However to answer the question BA438 turns into BA439 and it's actually way, way safe than your LCY idea. You would need to be HBO and arrive at the second scan point in the First Wing no later than 12:10. I reckon on 75 minutes from Trinity College to T5.

My advice, since you ask, is to rebook to something sensible, and for goodness sake do B2Bs at places like AMS. If there was a flight time change at some point you can do that for free. Otherwise book an economy fare for £600 for the evening flight, or an ex EU for Saturday around £400 and put it down to experience. Have a look at whether Iberia can help here too.

BW0807

Thank you for that, nope. BA couldn't tell me and Expedia's website doesn't link through to the rules. Quite ridiculous really.
Next time I get on the phone to them I will ask explicitly about the point on cancellation. I had assumed it was a standard c. £300 change + fare difference, but not a cancellation fee of only £300.

I will see what they have to say when they phone me back.

BW0807

Thanks for your advice, yes certainly skipping out of an exam is certainly not ideal and borderline stupid. At postgraduate level we are graded Pass/Distinction, I would never have considered doing this at undergraduate where there is a risk of dropping a grade boundary that could materially affect career outcomes!
So the risk is basically all on the taxi journey to LHR. I'm not sure whether I like those odds or not.

Would you mind explaining what you mean by Iberia being able to help out? Do you mean with Avios availability?

To Taff's point though, if its a 300£ cancellation, I'm taking that option.

Often1

BA can be quite literal. Rather than asking about fare rules, call and ask what it would cost to make the change you wish to make. If important, you may then ask how that is broken down. But, as you really only care about the total cost to effect a new itinerary, that is the essential question.

Have the new flight numbers handy and then call. Be prepared to make the change if the amount is acceptable.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, there are several factors in this area but this is one of secret Avios hiding places, IB also have codeshare buckets on BA and often running at the lower fare groups to BA. So it's always worth having a look around and playing around with options from Spain and places like OPO.

I had guessed it was postgrad, but still - forward wind yourself by say 10 years and then look back at this - think of the wider picture.

mastutio

29th March 2019 might be an interesting day to do an ex-EU back to back

UKtravelbear

Have you asked the University if they could start the exam a little earlier or allow you to start earlier? If you started at 9 you'd be done by 11 and give you a better chance of making the ex-LHR flight.

Gig103

THIS!! Considering you have already purchased your tickets, perhaps that would be a justifiable rationale for taking the exam in advance. I'd ask to start as early as possible, like 07:30 - often the hesitation by professors would be the opportunity you have to share exam information by going early, but 07:30-09:30 would prevent that (not implying you are sharing, just being a Devil's advocate).

Good luck!

Infinite Possibilities