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I have recently booked an openjaw redemption MAN-LHR-SIN-HKG-LHR-MAN. It is a peak booking for 4pax using 2x companion vouchers. The domestic sectors are booked into economy with the long haul in business. I was quoted and charged 460,000 avios, which I think is correct, but I had a subsequent call that the back office got the calculation wrong and it should be an additional 39,000 avios for the domestic legs. They haven’t processed the payment so the booking is yet to be ticketed. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a supervisor to speak to and the agent insist there is nothing he can do.
Everywhere I’ve looked suggests the domestic connection should be incur additional avios but I don’t think there is anything in thee website that I can refer them to. The only thing that I could quote is probably is the communication that came out in late 2015 when changes were made.
The domestic leg should indeed be free. However I suspect that with the domestic leg being in a different class, they are somehow unable to price it up correctly.
As per BA’s Ts and Cs (although I find the use of “stopover” weird”)
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/terms-and-conditions#redeemingavios
15.9. There are no charges for stopovers included in a Reward itinerary where the stopover is connecting from a domestic flight on to a long-haul destination. For Reward itineraries where the stopover is connecting from a domestic flight on to a shorthaul destination, charges will be applicable.
Thanks for posting the Ts and Cs Froggee. I did think different class for the domestic leg is the issue here. Will wait for the booking to be ticketed then go back to them to try and claw back the difference.
The most frustration part in all this is the agent simply refused to budge.
Something is wrong here, I’ve done these loads of times and never been charged for the domestic. Nor have I ever encountered an agent being confused about this. The backoffice apparently flagging this ‘error’ up is also odd INE.
Two wuestions:
1. On the call are you sure you were speaking to the specific team with expertise in vouchhers? I’m thinking maybe not.
2. Hiw exactly did tge domestics ebd up in Y wnd nit CE ? Was that the agents doing? I’m thi king thst nay also be potential cause same as Froggee. Seems to me you were mistakenly booked into Y.
@washy86 – do a “dummy” booking for dates where there is availability on all legs and see what the system quotes you. There should be no extra charge, either in cash or avios for the domestic connections. This might help you argue your case with BA. I’ve made bookings with the domestic leg in a different cabin and still not been charged anything – if you use the “stopover” facility you will be able to see this.
@NorthenLass If I recall correct, there is no additional avios, but there are additional fees.
Whether those are “fees” or “taxes” or “both” – I can’t recall!
Was never any issue adding a CE GLA-LHR to an F LHR-DEN.
But we ended up stopping the return at LHR and buying a separate LHR-GLA so we could Same Day Change. This was after – twice – having to spend longer at LHR than the flight time from DEN-LHR! (and being told we couldn’t change the LHR-GLA part of the big ticket because it was an avios ticket, which is true!)
@NorthenLass If I recall correct, there is no additional avios, but there are additional fees.
Whether those are “fees” or “taxes” or “both” – I can’t recall!
Was never any issue adding a CE GLA-LHR to an F LHR-DEN.
But we ended up stopping the return at LHR and buying a separate LHR-GLA so we could Same Day Change. This was after – twice – having to spend longer at LHR than the flight time from DEN-LHR! (and being told we couldn’t change the LHR-GLA part of the big ticket because it was an avios ticket, which is true!)
Colin is correct, every LH redemption I make from Edi or Gla via London incurs a slightly higher amount which I am pretty confident is down to the additional taxes rather than the BA imposed fees.
The extra fees are the airport-associated fees. You cannot land at MAN, GLA etc for nothing, BA is just passing these costs on. I’m certain @Anna knew this and was thinkung in terms of the new(ish) RFS pricing structure implications when making her point.
Call me crazy but I think something is going on here, I’ve just searched MAN to Billund as I do periodically to try and fly on strange flight that flies this route.
Each way:
Direct prices as 9250 Avios + £ 0.50
Changing in London prices as 18,500 + £1I don’t think the connecting price is right?
Remember that the domestic connection is only free when connecting to a longhaul flight.
PS. If you want exciting flights then get yourself to Nepal , they have plenty:)
Call me crazy but I think something is going on here, I’ve just searched MAN to Billund as I do periodically to try and fly on strange flight that flies this route.
Each way:
Direct prices as 9250 Avios + £ 0.50
Changing in London prices as 18,500 + £1I don’t think the connecting price is right?
It is typical of a domestic short haul then Euro short haul itinerary price. BA is not competitively priced to do reward trips that involve a connection at LHR. However they are often the last ones with availability left
Yes – on the newish long haul RFS pricing, domestic connections are genuinely free (and you can add a CE connection to a Y or PE long haul sector and still not get charged anything). I assumed this applied to all the pricing options but have never actually checked if any of them are different without the domestic leg.
So MAN-LHR-GCM-LHR-MAN is 180k avios plus £450, and it would be the same price without the 2 MAN connections.
@SSS – you have to pay for both sectors on short haul, did you not know this already? As @BWS says, there is often better availability and it can be cheaper than going direct when LCC prices are high. I tend to only fly these routes outbound these days and then get an LCC direct return flight.
By way of an update, I had to call back again as the last agent forgot to take down the cardholder name so they weren’t able to process the payment. Was on the phone for over an hour to sort! During the call, I challenged the extra 39,000 Avios charged and quoted clause 15.9 provided by Froggee. The agent initially mentioned the meaning suggests no extra Avios will be charged for domestic-domestic before domestic-long haul, giving example of EDI-MAN-LHR-SIN. As you can imagine I was lost for words at this point and asked him to check with someone senior. After 20mins wait, he came back to apologise that the 39,000 Avios charged was in fact incorrect and total amount is 460,000. So I got there in the end and have the 39,000 redeposited, but booking not yet ticketed as payment still not taken.
And in response to BJ above. The domestics ended up in economy as the outbound MAN-LHR didn’t have the required seats in business for the flight I wanted. In my haste to complete the booking on the original call, the domestic return of LHR-MAN was also booked in economy. The agent did check but as I was in a hurry to get off the call, I had forgotten to check if there was availability in club.
The agent did confirm during the call that it is the mixed class booking which caused all sort of confusion with the calculation and intervention from the back office.
The cash component for the itinerary is £2,304 (£0.50 x4, £300.00 x4, £275.00 x4, £0.50 x4).
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