changing transit to stopover
 

What would happen if I tried to check in with a rtw ticket at lhr (ba) that was supposed to be a transit originally but decided to take a flight the next day thereby making it a stopover - would they demand fuel surcharges/fees etc and a ticket reissue ($150?) or likely not to notice?


On a seperate question what is the best route to maximize F routes in Asia while also maximizing destinations, right now I have
HKG-NRT-TPE-ICN-HKG - all of which being F except TPE-ICN. Is there a different configeration of Asian cities that would also get this number of F routes? I wanted to get BKK in (instead of TPE or ICN) but it didn't seem to work out.

In principle, as you seem to realise, it's a reroute - US$125 change fee, plus whatever BA charges you these days for actually doing any work, plus a whack of UK premium class tax. But only if the gap between scheduled arrival and departure is more than 24 hours (doesn't matter if it's next calendar day if it's less than 24 hours). Whether they would notice - who knows - it's a gamble, and if they do and force you to go through the reissue you'd better have a couple of hours at least to spare when you check in, otherwise you're going to miss the onward flight...

Other Asian cities that have F service (at least some days): KIX, SIN, BKK, MNL, CGK.

Thanks for your answer- I guess the real question is, does anyone know if BA is a stickler with these kind of rules?

In my experience, they have been a big stickler for transit / stopover rules

BA is probably the worst in this kind of rules. If you want to try something like that, try it with AY or IB, if possible.

As mentioned, BA is meticulous in checking and double-checking for this ... there is 0% chance of getting by unless you know the agent and they do you a huge favour (for which they will get in trouble later, when the tickets are audited, as BA does 100% at LHR). Sometimes I've had tickets issued as stopover when I was planning on transit but wasn't sure if it would become a stopover later ... most airlines are happy to take a stopover as a transit (as there is a refund involved rather than a charge, though the reissue fee would also apply) and I've never had a problem with stopover being used as a transit (of course this becomes expensive at LHR!).

And 2 hours for a OWE ticket reissue by BA at LHR is very optimistic, more like 4 hours minimum and they are quite likely to say "come back tomorrow" and invoke a BA 24 hour re-issue rule. So this is a high-risk way to travel (or rather, not travel). The current mess at LHR probably doesn't bode well for BA doing you any favours.

Ok, thanks for the replies. Very happy I asked about this - won't be taking the risk.

Almost settled on my 2 RTW itineraries after many months of deliberation.

Doesn't it depend on whether the ticket was issued with an "X" for the stopover or not. If so, then clearly it's easily caught. If on the other hand this was overlooked (as I have had) then more then likely the check in agent won't catch it as they re unlikely to be familiar with xONEx rules.

or is the "X" v. "O" thing only applicable to paper tickets?

I have twice had (involuntary) stopovers in LHR when travelling on an 'x' coupon. Both times checked-in with BA after the 24hr mark for the onward flight, and on each occasion BA didn't bat an eyelid.

A big YMMV, of course.

Was this recently (within the past year?). BA used to be very free and easy about changes, using stickers freely and doing things like taking 2 flight coupons instead of a reroute (flying A-C when ticketed A-B-C) ... but all this changed a couple of years ago, and BA recently (past 12 months) has been very strict at things like this.

Perhaps you have great luck, or are very charming. My own experience is that BA agents look at it closely and catch these discrepancies every time, at least for the past year.

One in 2005, the other this year.


I'd like to think it was the latter but, alas, deep down one knows it must have been the former.