Changing dates and destination of 2-4-1 Amex Avios booking
Apr 9, 2023, 2:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2022
Location: Richmond, London
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 8
Changing dates and destination of 2-4-1 Amex Avios booking
Hi there! Been a bit of a lurker for a few months but I'm new to the forums, really looking forward to contributing more here and getting more involved here as I've gotten more serious about flying, flying frequently for a new job for work, and for tourism!
I was hoping I could get some light shed on how Avios flight changes work, especially when factoring in a 2-4-1 Amex voucher as well as a change of origin/destination and potentially class.
I'm waiting for the voucher to come in, but I'm about to book to fly LHR > ORD in December, which is an RFS booking at 160,000 Avios plus £350. When factoring in the twofer as a solo traveler, I believe that takes it down to 80,000 Avios plus £350.
Work has however said that it may not be feasible to take that time off in December, so I may have to shift that holiday to early January but change the destination to an event in BOS or SJC in January 2024. I want to book it with Avios so I can take advantage of the potential changes, however, I'm a little confused if it's worth doing so and if it's gonna open a can of worms.
So I suppose my questions are this if anybody could kindly help me, please?
Therefore, I presume this means that I can't choose a route that's a lower Avios cost, but I can choose anything that is 160,000 (80,0000) and above. So I can't do something like LHR > BOS in F, Jan 24 for 136,000 (68,000) plus £853.73, but I can go for something such as LHR > SFO in Business for 180,000 Avios (90,000) + £ 450.00, and pay an extra £100 and £35 in booking change fees?
Thank you in advance! I do profusely apologize if this has been covered in the forums - I both looked through the BA T&Cs, Flyertalk via Google Search/Google Dorks as well as the articles on Head for Points and Turning Left For Less, but I'm still a bit confused by it all!
I was hoping I could get some light shed on how Avios flight changes work, especially when factoring in a 2-4-1 Amex voucher as well as a change of origin/destination and potentially class.
I'm waiting for the voucher to come in, but I'm about to book to fly LHR > ORD in December, which is an RFS booking at 160,000 Avios plus £350. When factoring in the twofer as a solo traveler, I believe that takes it down to 80,000 Avios plus £350.
Work has however said that it may not be feasible to take that time off in December, so I may have to shift that holiday to early January but change the destination to an event in BOS or SJC in January 2024. I want to book it with Avios so I can take advantage of the potential changes, however, I'm a little confused if it's worth doing so and if it's gonna open a can of worms.
So I suppose my questions are this if anybody could kindly help me, please?
- I presume if I change the flights for whatever reason, I don't lose the £350 fees and this is transferred to a new Avios reward booking where I am charged a difference in cash or get a refund if the cash portion is lower when moved to a new Avios booking?
- Does it get complex to change the booking considering that the Amex twofer will be used? I'm happy to pay the £35 change fee, just don't want to lose the voucher in the event of a destination change.
- Under the following T&C's:
16.2. The route or date applicable to a Reward booking may be changed provided that the new route or date selected would, as at the date the change is requested, require the redemption of the same amount of Avios points as was redeemed in making the original booking. Route changes are only permitted for Reward bookings which are purchased using Avios points only (other than for the payment of taxes, fees and charges).
Thank you in advance! I do profusely apologize if this has been covered in the forums - I both looked through the BA T&Cs, Flyertalk via Google Search/Google Dorks as well as the articles on Head for Points and Turning Left For Less, but I'm still a bit confused by it all!
Apr 9, 2023, 4:40 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,774
Welcome muttley. The answer to your question is actually really simple - you can just cancel the booking and get everything back including the voucher, minus the £35 fee. Then you can simply book your new route as if starting again.
The reason people sometimes have issues with needing to change rather than cancel, is where they want to change one leg of a booking but keep another (and therefore don’t want to risk losing the avios seats they want to keep). But that doesn’t seem to be relevant to your travel.
The reason people sometimes have issues with needing to change rather than cancel, is where they want to change one leg of a booking but keep another (and therefore don’t want to risk losing the avios seats they want to keep). But that doesn’t seem to be relevant to your travel.
Apr 10, 2023, 2:36 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2022
Location: Richmond, London
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 8
Welcome muttley. The answer to your question is actually really simple - you can just cancel the booking and get everything back including the voucher, minus the £35 fee. Then you can simply book your new route as if starting again.
The reason people sometimes have issues with needing to change rather than cancel, is where they want to change one leg of a booking but keep another (and therefore don’t want to risk losing the avios seats they want to keep). But that doesn’t seem to be relevant to your travel.
The reason people sometimes have issues with needing to change rather than cancel, is where they want to change one leg of a booking but keep another (and therefore don’t want to risk losing the avios seats they want to keep). But that doesn’t seem to be relevant to your travel.
