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Froggee 1,209 posts

Froggee’s guide on how to use Barclays upgrade vouchers

Fail to book Avios flights from Edinburgh to Singapore at 1am T-355 because British Airways randomly didn’t release the flights that night. Sad face.

Get lucky and book Avios flights to Singapore at 10am T-353, for all four of us, when British Airways eventually decide to make them available. Woo hoo!

Pay £1,460 + 368,000 Avios (better value than the “standard” reward flight saver £1,200 + 440,000 Avios) as I am bereft of any companion vouchers and have but one upgrade voucher. Sad face.

Wait several months for Barclays to give me an anniversary gift. I now have two upgrade vouchers Woo hoo!

Check that the British Airways website is behaving and I can log into my Bronze Executive Club account. Check the weather at Heathrow. Check on FlyerTalk and HfP that there are no IT meltdowns or systemic issues with British Airways flights. All good.

Log into the existing booking on Mrs Froggee’s Silver Executive Club account to change our seat reservation from our preferred two blocks of two on the upper deck (with direct aisle access for one of the window seats so Kermit’s toileting is not constrained) to other random seats to free our preferred seats up as otherwise they will go into stasis when I cancel the booking – to be made available who knows when.

Log back into my Executive Club account and cancel the existing booking. £1,320 + 368,000 Avios refunded. Squeaky bum time. Quickly search for a book and upgrade from Heathrow to Singapore for four. Select my flight. Proceed. Close the window showing one Barclays voucher ticked so I can proceed a second time at which point it then allows me to also select the second Barclays voucher. Because that is so intuitive. But I now have all four of us on one PNR. Woo hoo!

Quickly enter details, double check them and pay £1,250 + 220,000 Avios. £50 more expensive than when I originally booked. Sad face.

Log out of my account and log back into Mrs Froggee’s account. Select our preferred seats which are immediately available thanks to me freeing them up earlier.

Call the Executive Club. Even on the Bronze line it only takes several minutes to get through because of the rare lack of flight disruptions. Go up to the attic for a better mobile signal as I do not want to get cut off.

Clear security. Explain that I have just booked long haul flights with the Barclays upgrade voucher but could not add on the domestic leg at the time of booking so could you please help? I can try says the agent. I am put on hold while the agent asks around how to add a connection to the Barclays voucher. The agent returns. Can do says she. But I am told that there are no Avios flights available. Yes there are says I. Can you double check? The domestic flights miraculously appear. They are reserved. I am then put on hold again while the agent investigates pricing. The agent returns. Great news says the agent. There is no more money to pay. Just 9,000 Avios for the domestic connection. Ugh thinks me. I am unclear if she wants 9,000 Avios in total or the more likely 36,000 for four seats. The fact that if she is going to be wrong, could she at least be wrong right and say 9,250 Avios irks me a little bit but I keep my cool. I explain that I have done this before and there is no charge at all for the domestic connection. The agent admits that she had not been able to speak to anyone in ticketing and asks if she can call me back. Of course says I. Along with many thanks and a much appreciated.

Obviously the agent does not call me back. So I phone British Airways the next day (within 24 hours of booking just in case things get awkward). This time I am barely a minute on hold and the agent seems much more on the ball. He can see what has happened in the notes which is thankfully consistent with what I told him. Apparently the prior agent tried to call back but could not get through (yeah, no) and the conclusion was that I need not pay any more Avios, just the 50 pence per person for the domestic connection. Obviously this is nonsense but despite my Scottish nature I am not going to die on a hill over two of the King’s pounds. Particularly as logic says it should be the reward flight saver fee for Club Europe which is £12.50 each. So they are being wrongly wrong, again.

The new agent is now confused as the notes say it has been sent to ticketing but he can see that payment information has not been taken for the £2. This proves to be mildly problematic as the system has decided that I live in Ireland and wants to charge me in euros. The agent manages to fix that, takes my credit card details (because they apparently can no longer use my stored card details) and says it has now been sent off to ticketing so keep an eye on my emails.

I will indeed be keeping an eye on my emails and will be doing the trademarked @JDB process of confirming that a unique e-ticket coupon number thingy sits next to both legs of the booking. I wonder if I will actually be charged the £2?

So folks – it is as simple as that. Jobs a good ‘un. Even with a £12.50 increase in the reward flight saver fee between booking and rebooking as well as £35 per person cancellation charge, and erroneously being asked for another 50 pence each, the above rigmarole saved £68 and 148,000 Avios. Very much worth doing and the process itself could not be easier.

I’m off to look at my emails

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