Forums › Frequent flyer programs › British Airways Executive Club › BA to prevent UK callers ringing US
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If it’s such a tedious and difficult chore, why do y’all keep collecting the vouchers? Wasn’t it Einstein who said something about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?!
@HampshireHog, are you in competition for HFP head contrarian? Going east between Jan 1st and 11th next year, you can get at least 2 CW seats to BOM, SHA, MRU, TYO, NBO, JNB and other destinations, plus the usual ME suspects. PE to MLE and SIN also available and some Y to SYD for masochists.Also, a planned annual trip to the Cayman Islands where we’ve owned a timeshare for over 20 years is pretty much the opposite of being “happy to go anywhere”!
For those who say it’s easy to find Avios availability using to 2-4-1 to popular destinations I would say it’s definitely a lot more difficult than it used to be. This is the first time I had to book the outbound to SYD at -355 days which I managed to do online. To book the return I had to make two further calls to get the return with a stopover in SIN. Previously I would have waited until all the flights were loaded and do it all online usually with a stopover in SIN both ways.
Again, I wonder to what extent HFP is responsible for that?!
How to fix it:
Award avios flights by lottery. Entries open t-386 to t-356, draw at t-355. Priority to anyone who is adding a return to another booking. Maybe priority to golds too.
Interestingly both of these statements can be true depending on your personal circumstances:
(1) BA’s technology limitations and lack of availability make it difficult to use the Companion Voucher without calling up the contact centre on Day -355, and
(2) There is availability in CW and PE to multiple locations across the year that doesn’t necessitate contacting the call centre at all.I know both are true because at various points over the last 10 years both have been true to me.
So everyone is right and no one is wrong.
Apart from @Mouse, I am not really seeing any solutions to the problem at hand.
The supply of premium award seats to popular destinations clearly majorly outstrips demand.
More and more people are jumping on the Avios/Companion Voucher wagon, particularly east, with cash prices high and fewer flights available. BA already offers more reward seats per flight than most of the competition, so not sure it’s reasonable to ask them to offer more, as much as we may like it.
So these midnight shenanigans are one way to manage the demand. I guess lottery would be another one. Or, better still, BA can go down the VS route and make every seat available on points, based on customer feedback – that’ll be a real win! 😜
Well exactly. The next round of complaining might be that a one-way CW seat to Cape Town or Tokyo costs 350k avios!
Well exactly. The next round of complaining might be that a one-way CW seat to Cape Town or Tokyo costs 350k avios!
And economy costing 300k Avios!
My solution is Avios-only flights for school holidays to popular destinations!
You’re welcome BA!
My solution is Avios-only flights for school holidays to popular destinations!
You’re welcome BA!
That’s commercially silly, though…
Apart from @Mouse, I am not really seeing any solutions to the problem at hand.
The supply of premium award seats to popular destinations clearly majorly outstrips demand.
More and more people are jumping on the Avios/Companion Voucher wagon, particularly east, with cash prices high and fewer flights available. BA already offers more reward seats per flight than most of the competition, so not sure it’s reasonable to ask them to offer more, as much as we may like it.
So these midnight shenanigans are one way to manage the demand. I guess lottery would be another one. Or, better still, BA can go down the VS route and make every seat available on points, based on customer feedback – that’ll be a real win! 😜
I’m guessing you mean the demand majorly outstrips the supply of premium award seats to popular destinations!!
Hello – I was looking for some simple advice, I have silver status, a companion voucher and ~150,000 avios. Could someone bullet point the best way to try and secure a flight for a family of 4 to Japan, next Easter. There seems to be so many factors, it’s confuses the hell out of me. I understand calling the US line or Japanese line gives you a sporting chance for booking, but is that all really necessary. It all seems like a monster ball ache to trying and use these damn things. Any advice gratefully received.
My suggestion is if BA is able to randomise the release time between GMT+0 and GMT+2, for example, then there’s no way any agent would take such calls until the after the seats have been released. This then puts everyone on a level online playing field and fastest finger first!
Apart from @Mouse, I am not really seeing any solutions to the problem at hand.
The supply of premium award seats to popular destinations clearly majorly outstrips demand.
More and more people are jumping on the Avios/Companion Voucher wagon, particularly east, with cash prices high and fewer flights available. BA already offers more reward seats per flight than most of the competition, so not sure it’s reasonable to ask them to offer more, as much as we may like it.
So these midnight shenanigans are one way to manage the demand. I guess lottery would be another one. Or, better still, BA can go down the VS route and make every seat available on points, based on customer feedback – that’ll be a real win! 😜
I’m guessing you mean the demand majorly outstrips the supply of premium award seats to popular destinations!!
Whoops, yes, that’s the correct order!
Hello – I was looking for some simple advice, I have silver status, a companion voucher and ~150,000 avios. Could someone bullet point the best way to try and secure a flight for a family of 4 to Japan, next Easter. There seems to be so many factors, it’s confuses the hell out of me. I understand calling the US line or Japanese line gives you a sporting chance for booking, but is that all really necessary. It all seems like a monster ball ache to trying and use these damn things. Any advice gratefully received.
There are lots of articles and threads on this site with this information. Look at Rob’s articles about using the 241, plus the long but invaluable “booking the return at T-355” thread in the BAEC section. To get the best result you need to be prepared to invest a fair bit of time and effort on research.
My suggestion is if BA is able to randomise the release time between GMT+0 and GMT+2, for example, then there’s no way any agent would take such calls until the after the seats have been released. This then puts everyone on a level online playing field and fastest finger first!
Might just as well make it all online.
Restrict phone to complex multi sector multi airline bookings, which will be after t-355 as many others open up later
So these midnight shenanigans are one way to manage the demand. I guess lottery would be another one. Or, better still, BA can go down the VS route and make every seat available on points, based on customer feedback – that’ll be a real win! 😜
If (and it’s a big if) BA kept Reward Flight Saver pricing at its current level but opened up all other seats for Avios redemption, then that would actually be a real win.
Might just as well make it all online.
Restrict phone to complex multi sector multi airline bookings, which will be after t-355 as many others open up later
… which is a fine idea, but requires someone to make a business case to spend some money — probably a lot of money — on development. It’s cheaper (short term at least) to foist the problems of unbookable returns on the call centre.
BA is not unique having this attitude. I worked for another large travel firm, and I was astonished at the number of ideas and initiatives that were signed off on business plans that only looked at the “happy path” where a consumer books, then takes, a simple itinerary fully online. “Corner cases” like cancelations, changes, grandma is coming but needs a wheelchair meet at the airport, even just an abandoned transaction on the website, were frequently untested and/or not priced in, in many cases resulting in a ton of manual work in a call centre which I’m sure destroyed the margins of many of the products.
I know there is a feeling here that the growing number of calls to the US at midnight is due to more people knowing about this small booking window for desirable outbounds/returns with the companion voucher, via things like this blog. I think it might be equally to do with the fact there are more companion vouchers out there in circulation. BA’s Amex relationship has been a rip-roaring success by all accounts, and the overseas call centres are taking a hit as a result.
I wonder if the BA Amex partnership will have a natural ceiling. If people start finding they can’t use 241 as they like they will start downgrading Amex. If this hurts Amex will they put pressure on BA
I wonder if the BA Amex partnership will have a natural ceiling. If people start finding they can’t use 241 as they like they will start downgrading Amex. If this hurts Amex will they put pressure on BA
Thing is, I’ve got a bunch of CVs but still find myself continuing to spend on my BAPP.
Partially laziness, but mostly because the points earning rate is higher than most other cards and the Avios is easily useable on other airlines going East (a reason why I have a bunch of CVs still unassigned). I really don’t fly much BA longhaul.
Also, at this stage the card fee is a bit of a sunk cost really so I may as well carry on earning on this.Where this thread has gone boggles my mind. It seems Australia, Japan and Singapore are the only places in the world worth visiting.
I have yet to call BAEC to make a midnight booking and have enjoyed loads of term-time holidays based on what is available online.
Getting your brain into a place that makes business class redemptions to Australia essential is just a recipe for a miserable life.
If y’all joined BAEC just to fly the unicorn routes, I truly question your sanity.
Anyway $2c: BA blocks all call centre transactions that could be technically done online.
I have yet to call BAEC to make a midnight booking and have enjoyed loads of term-time holidays based on what is available online.
I’m happy for you that you are content with less popular destinations.
This (in a small way) helps those of us who have specific (and popular) places we want to go to and who are constrained by dates.I have yet to call BAEC to make a midnight booking and have enjoyed loads of term-time holidays based on what is available online.
I’m happy for you that you are content with less popular destinations.
This (in a small way) helps those of us who have specific (and popular) places we want to go to and who are constrained by dates.Unpopular opinion: it’s possible to visit these places without flying business class or without using rewards. Not saying I haven’t been lucky with Oz (UC rewards on Virgin each time) but I read so much angst in these threads.
I have yet to call BAEC to make a midnight booking and have enjoyed loads of term-time holidays based on what is available online.
I’m happy for you that you are content with less popular destinations.
This (in a small way) helps those of us who have specific (and popular) places we want to go to and who are constrained by dates.Unpopular opinion: it’s possible to visit these places without flying business class or without using rewards. Not saying I haven’t been lucky with Oz (UC rewards on Virgin each time) but I read so much angst in these threads.
You are absolutely right.
A sensible mixture of cash, points and different cabins makes sense if travelling to popular places at peak times and/or where funds are insufficient.1. When you reserve online, block the ticket.
2. Allow open jaw tickets online
3. Guarantee return flight date at the point of booking the outbound.BA have created this chaos themselves and I don’t understand why they don’t implement my simple suggestions to fix it. They do know how to fix this, they choose not to.
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