MrGatch

I have MAN-LHR-HKG / SIN-LHR-MAN booked in August and BA have just confirmed that my BA31/HKG sector is cancelled. Not a major surprise.

This is an Avios (Amex 241) booking for 4 pax in J.

In terms of re-booking, do I have an opportunity to route to other destinations in both directions and that I don't necessarily need Avios availability for?

I'm wondering if SYD a possibility, or at least rebooking both directions to SIN?

gcuk

There is the option to move the cancelled sector 300 miles. SYD is well beyond that so unfortunately not an option.

MrGatch

Thanks. How about a routing on QR for the same destination?

Would MAN-DOH-HKG be a viable alternative as it would be one less connection than MAN-LHR-DOH-HKG?

JD1905

Whilst this is the rule, it is possible that BA could be flexible and extend outside of 300m (I'd say SYD is taking the mick a bit!). For example, I was booked BHD-LHR-SIN in January. I actually was travelling to Thailand and was going to have to self-transfer and clear immigration at SIN (Which was a nightmare at the time due to Covid). BA Cancelled LHR-SIN and Re-Booked me onto QR Direct to HKT, which saved me a huge amount of inconvenience.

With BA's limited routing heading Eastbound these days i'm not too sure what reasonable alternatives I would suggest to BA.. I think suggesting them to Re-Route the outbound to SIN isn't completely unreasonable as it kjeeps you on BA Metal.

MAN-DOH-HKG I couldn't see any issue with them booking you onto.

MrGatch

Thanks for the replies.

I'm tempted by the possibility of the QSuite Quad on QR as several of the MAN and LHR flights seem to have the seat. As two bookings of two pax on a reward booking (as BA Bronze) are there any reasons why we wouldn’t be eligible to select the Quad seats if successfully rebooked?

One other potentially attractive option is the direct MAN-HKG service on CX. At the moment this service is weekly (nominally daily) so would involve a date change of 3 days. BA don't codeshare on this flight like they do on the QR flights, but is this a possibility as an alternative OW carrier, or do I get what I’m given?

AirbusA350

I'd go for QR any day. Especially given HKG gov's "dynamic zero", I feel choosing CX is only asking for further trouble. Regarding QR Quad seat selection this can often be a nightmare that BA or even QR call centres can't consistently solve. The best way I've found is tweeting QR directly once you've been rebooked and their social media teams, whilst can be a bit slow, more often than not seamlessly can get seats selected and sorted for you within the quad. The QR forum has an extensive thread on this.

MrGatch

Thanks everyone. Had some discussion about this on the QR board and having second thoughts about HKG at all as we had quite a complex trip planned this summer and I think I need to simplify to reduce risk.

JackDann mentioned rerouting the outbound to SIN based on my return being SIN.

Checking the 300mi gateway rule and there is nothing within that range from HKG. KUL and SIN are around 1,500mi.

Appreciate that they will very reasonably offer me a refund/FTV, however the cancellation is giving me the enviable option of a rebook without award availability that I want to exhaust options with first, prior to a accepting a refund/FTV.

Before I spend an hour waiting on the phone, do you guys think that a HKG>SIN outbound reroute is a reasonable request of BA that they might entertain? I'd also be wanting to change the date +2.

corporate-wage-slave

You best come up with specific flights lined up before you call, and know the redemption status on them. You need to book this as UK to HKG out, SIN to UK back, that's your wriggle room. You either need BA metal, BA codeshare space on other days OR redemption space on QR / AY - and that would probably not involve a companion voucher if not BA. Alternatively get a refund and rebook to somewhere else with a lower risk profile.

MrGatch

Thanks. I'm a bit confused with booking as UK to HKG? I've probably confused the situation, sorry!

The original BA booking is MAN-LHR-HKG / SIN-LHR-MAN
BA31/HKG cancelled so I now want to try my luck at rerouting outbound only so booking becomes MAN-XXX-SIN / SIN-LHR-MAN on BA or any other viable options.

Looking at travelling on 29/08/2022:
- BA: There is no BA award availability on BA15 (no surprise). I can see cash availability and plenty of MAN availability to LHR.
- QR: I can see cash availability on QR flights MAN-DOH (BA5808) . No award. They appear to codeshare all the LHR-DOH flights. MAN-DOH preferable as one less stop though.

I will get a proposed rebook itinerary put together before calling, but the main question is would BA consider a SIN outbound change when I booked HKG originally?

Alternative is an FTV, as a refund would result in the Amex Companion vouchers auto-expiring. There is also zero award availability in August anywhere at this short notice, which is why I'm keen on rebooking as it effectively means writing off the Amex vouchers.

Schwann

I assume you can enter HKG? Or are you betting on the borders being open without quarantine? Because I doubt they will be..

corporate-wage-slave

If you have a booking that is cancelled, then you have certain rebooking rights, but in essence it would be about getting to HKG only, or somewhere very nearby. Separately there is a flexibilty - both with BWC and with Avios generally, to change flights. That second area will require Avios availability. The cancelled booking factor does not require availability, but is based on you trying to get to your original destination, or somewhere within 300 miles of it. So if you actually want to go to SIN you need to find availability.

MrGatch

Thanks for clarifying.

So in essence, for a same destination rebooking (including destinations within 300mi) then plenty of flexibility with route choice (codeshares, other OW etc).

But for an Avios booking I would definitely need reward availability on any route that I wanted to request?

This is booked with 2 x Amex Companion vouchers. I don't have enough Avios to fund this as four reward tickets. Is that a show stopper for non-BA reward inventory?

corporate-wage-slave

That's my interpretation of policy, by all means call up and see whether I'm correct. But yes, cancellation rebooking is a different matter than restructuring your trip to somewhere else. If you have enough miles for HKG/SIN then you presumably have the miles to go to the Americas. I mean you can't be too surprised, in that HKG has from day1 had a very strict health protection rules, and that fundamentally is what has caused this problem.

MrGatch

Really appreciate all of the advice.

Called up today and the agent was very helpful and knowledgeable on the rules and there wasn't much that could be done because of the 300 mile rule.

The original bookings were completely cancelled with the Avios redeposited immediately into my account and I booked MAN-LHR-JFK / IAD-LHR-MAN roughly around the same dates.

Thankfully the Amex 241 vouchers were still valid as I may have had an issue otherwise as I was told they are no longer issuing FTVs.