mrandmrsp

Hey

I've been trying to book a pair of CW reward seats to the Maldives after sometime now, but there is never any availability.

Does anyone know whether BA release rewards seats for the Club World cabin? Or is it the same rule that 2 are released on a first come first served basis 355 days before take off?

Assuming these seats are like gold dust - is there any other way I can get to the Maldives using my Avios points / Companion voucher?

Thanks in advance

hanrahantom

I booked mine 355 days out.

could be worth signing upto https://rewardflightfinder.com/

HHarry

windowontheAside

I wouldn't risk doing it by phone. I'd be online at the stroke of midnight/1am.

1Aturnleft

MLE being a seasonal 3 flights weekly service doesn't give you a great scope of opportunity when it comes to using Avios / 2-4-1 vouchers. You pretty much need to be booking 355 days out as soon as the flights are released.
The alternative where you may have more luck in using your 2-4-1 voucher is by booking a Doha redemption on BA. Then separately from this book a Doha - Male - Doha redemption on Qatar. As this would be a separate, nested trip you'd need to build in sufficient time to transit Doha in order to ensure you don't miss your connection to/from The Maldives. There are daily year round flights with BA to Doha and depending on time of year multiple daily flights with QR to/from Male. Your travel window is essentially widened by doing this but obviously the optimum travel period for Maldives is when BA fly over the European winter months.
Also the additional Avios outlay for DOH-MLE-DOH won't be covered with your 2-4-1 voucher. So you'll need to ensure you have enough Avios for 2 redemptions on this route in addition to the 2-4-1 BA redemption.

mikeyfly

This is your best chance - quick read of the FAQs

BA American Express 2-4-1 Voucher Discussion

mrandmrsp

Great, thanks all for your inputs. I think I'll look into a stop over - perhaps Dubai or fly further east then back to MLE.

David_Doyle

My brother and his wife had to connect through Doha as it was out of season for the direct flight. Yes it was extra time / extra flight but nothing too onerous.

The bonus was taking the Qatar A350 with the Q-Suite from DOH-MLE which they enjoyed.

NDtraveler

Try connecting in India and the buy a flight to MLE. BLR or DEL would work and it is a short flight from there

stuvoi

I know it's slightly off topic - but if you're booking the tickets 355 days in advance, do you have to book them one way, then do the same for the return flights, one or two weeks later?

Expatbear

LondonAndy

It's not really off-topic. The received wisdom seems to be book the outbound when they become available, and then book the return when they become available two weeks later.

sunshinebob

If you want an award seat yes. They will be gone by the next day. You can book the OB one using your 241 and after securing the return you will need to call to have the fare adjusted to reflect the 241 discount on the return leg. BA are very aware of this and its simple to do. Lately I have ended up with to different one-way bookings rather than a return (as it used to be) but paying the correct miles.

And lastly the taxes(sic) on two one ways can be dearer than one return. However if you had waited for the return to be available the outbound would have gone leaving you with no option but to do 2 x one ways.

vintagepilot

Yes, as explained in the referenced thread - can be done online or by phone with various pros and cons - again see the 241 thread.

I'm not sure I agree every time - unless you specifically want to book them as 2 one-ways. I was online at 01:00 and saw the seats appear - but by the time I had clicked through all of the stages the booking could not be completed. When I went back to the first page the seats had gone - probably bagged by an agent on a phone booking. As I understand it, as soon as the agent selects them they are held by that agent until the booking is completed, whereas when doing it yourself online they can still be snaffled by an agent while you are clicking away.

Globaliser

Either by adding the inbound seats to the existing booking, in which case the Avios price will be correct from the start; or by making a new booking for the inbound seats only (without using a voucher) and then calling up to have the Avios price adjusted so that the 2-4-1 voucher is applied to both halves (as sunshinebob said).

But this question is always being asked, which is why we have a dedicated thread to how to use 2-4-1 vouchers: BA American Express 2-4-1 Voucher Discussion