LondonGlobalist

Hi

Managed to book 2 rewards seats in J LHR - SYD / SYD - LHR (separate bookings) using two Amex Companion vouchers.

Both off peak, no stops.

Outbound 18/02/23 150000 Avios and £1042
Inbound 07/03/23 125000 avios and £640

I get the differences in charges (albeit shocking) but can’t understand the difference in avios. Anyone any ideas?

Still showing as the old CW configuration - hoping this will change!

thanks

The _Banking_Scot

never mind sorry. Had typed whilst the op was adding info

Regards

Tbs

Schwann

Peak and off peak?

KARFA

can i check, you booked two seats in total using two vouchers? do you mean two bookings for two seats each, each booking using a voucher?

also do you mean both bookings are for exactly the same flights on the same dates in the same cabins? in which case no i don't understand the difference in avios or cost.

vintagepilot

It seems from various sources (seatspy/HFP) that the Feb date is peak, and March is off-peak. But I have to ask, why use 2 vouchers?

LondonGlobalist

Two bookings for two seats each: the seats are like gold dust so booked the outward as soon as it was available and the return later when they were released. Hence two one-way tickets for 2 people…

Both were ‘Off Peak’ according to the BA site

LondonGlobalist

I had to make two bookings as the return seats weren’t out when the outward became available. Hence two one-way tickets for 2 people, using two vouchers… I didn’t think they covered a return?

Both were ‘Off Peak’ according to the BA site

Globaliser

18 February LHR-SYD is peak.
7 March SYD-LHR is off-peak.

It actually applies in both directions, although that's academic for you.

vintagepilot

Ah. Unfortunately it looks like you have unnecessarily used 2 vouchers - each one can be used for a return journey. And I expect you would not have any joy trying to resurrect the situation at this stage.

You're right that you need to book the outbound as soon as it is available, and then book the return later when seats are released. But the way to do that is either on the phone, where they will add the return to your existing outbound, or you book it yourself online as a straightforward reward booking and you then call up to have the voucher applied to the inbound leg, and get half the avios for that leg returned. You need the full avios at time of booking though for this method (ie 250,000 avios).

Strangely (or not, if you are familiar with aspects of the BA website) there is no mention of the voucher being valid for a return booking anywhere in the Ts&Cs: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...amex-companion.

For future guidance on the use of companion vouchers have a read through this thread: BA American Express companion voucher | master thread. Start at the top of page one and click on 'Click here to display full wiki'

LondonGlobalist

Thanks - I might try and call them again and combine the booking (cancelling one and getting a FTV) - I have more than enough Avios. The annoyance is it's impossible to call to book atm and I didn't want to loose the seats. I do, however, wonder if I should look at QR too now though...

vintagepilot

I suppose one solution would be to keep an eye out for any additional reward seats popping up for the return (which is unlikely I would think), book them as a new trip (using full avios) and then call up to have the new trip included under the umbrella of the original companion voucher. And only then, cancel the erroneous inbound booking - which you can do anyway with reward bookings (for a small fee) in fact they are not doing FTVs for reward bookings anymore.

Don't cancel anything until you have replacement seats - there is no guarantee that cancelled reward seats go back into availability. Note that outbound/inbound bookings made separately can be covered by one companion voucher but always remain as separate one-way bookings. You can set up alerts for reward seat availability with the likes of seatspy or expertflyer.

However, the perfect solution would be for BA to be able to undo your mistake - I imagine they might understand the problem but be unable or unwilling to achieve the solution.

chris1979

currently operating as a 789 for the foreseeable and I don't think those will have Club Suites anytime soon. so unless they revert to a pre-COVID 77W to SYD, you are flying old CW.

Jeedos

Another circuit queen I see. See you at WorldPride!

18 Feb is a peak date unfortunately. Please see here: British-Airways-peak-off-peak-Avios-redemption-calendar-2023.jpg (1674×730) (headforpoints.com)