BHD-LHR-HKG (Barclay Voucher) – can I add HKG-TPE (avios-CX) on same booking?
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I am hoping to book BHD-LHR-HKG using a Barclays upgrade voucher. From reading here I will have to call to book as won’t work with CE-CW + Barclays Voucher online and probably the midnight call is required due to the single daily flight to HKG.
I plan to fly onwards to TPE using Avios, so I was wondering if it is possible to tag the Avios booking on Cathay onto the BHD-LHR-HKG?No
No this is the downside to the vouchers, whilst it may be possible on a standard award ticket if all the availability aligns up, using a voucher is restricted to BA flights only or IB/EI too in the case of a companion vocuher, annoying but that’s the price you pay
No, you can’t add non voucher legs to voucher rewards bookings. (You also can’t use the Barclays voucher on non-BA flights or itineraries not staying in the UK, making the HKG-TPE a triple no)
You’ll need to self transfer at HKG. If you check bags they’ll only be checked to HKG, meaning you’ll have to clear immigration and customs before checking in again for the TPE flight. Make sure you leave a safe amount of time for delays, as you won’t automatically be entitled to a seat on the next TPE flight should you miss it.
Thank-you all for the clarification.
So for the self transfer @Travelmonkey – would 4 hrs be safe enough to allow for up to 2hrs delay on BA inbound and still have time to get bags and check in again? (I have transferred to TPE at HKG before – but always on a through cash ticket, so bags were checked to TPE).Also, what type of ticket to TPE would be best to have should the BA flight be very late/cancelled? An Avios ticket booked through BA or direct cash with Cathay? I know Avios tickets are good to change up to the last 24hrs, but are BA likely to be flexible if it is their plane that has stopped me getting there?
Could you make room in your plans for a stopover in Hong Kong? Overnight would be rather safer.
If all goes well then 4 hours would be enough, but it wouldn’t take much of a delay for you to miss the next flight. You might take the view that you could afford to buy a replacement (no idea what the cost would likely be at no notice), but that’s the risk with self transfers/multiple tickets
but are BA likely to be flexible if it is their plane that has stopped me getting there?
No.
Any flexibility will be down to CX as they will own the ticket from 24 hours before the flight
@Matt – I was planning an overnight in HKG on the return leg as I was concerned about missing the one BA flight to LHR. It’s only a 1 week trip so would like to avoid another night in HKG.
Are immigration and customs in HKG very slow (as in LAX or other US with a often 45min -1hr Q)? There is a later CX flight (but very late). Maybe use that one and change (if space) to earlier one if BA are on time?@BA Flyer IHG Stayer – ok thanks. That’s useful as the direct cash booking with CX is “cheaper” than the Avios by about £80 per person (Avios=1p).
If we arrive in HKG 6 hours before our flight to TPE can we check in again straight away or do we have to wait until 3 hours before departure? It would be nicer sitting in the CX lounge…..
would 4 hrs be safe enough to allow for up to 2hrs delay on BA inbound and still have time to get bags and check in again?
This is all down to your appetite for risk! The variables are:
1) how likely a delay is (you can check past performance on your flights to get a feel for that). Morning flights are less prone to delay,
2) how well the inbound carried can recover from a delay? (You said there’s only one flight a day, so “no well” is the answer)
3) how easy the transfer is? Are you confident in clearing immigration quickly? Do you need to change terminal?
4) the impact if you do miss the connection. If that flight is the start of a return or multi-leg itinerary that would all be lost with a no show then be very careful (think overnight stopover). If it’s a single, short, cheap flight flown by lots of carriers and you could pay for a replacement then you can cut the self transfer tighter.I’ve only self transferred 3 times myself… the closest I cut it was about 3hrs at JFK and I only made that through sheer luck. I was inbound on the now defunct BA1 (LCY-SNN-JFK) with a separate one-way AA ticket JFK-CLT. My inbound was delayed (Mike Pence in AF2 closed SNN, causing a diversion to Cork first) and my inbound arrived too late for the scheduled flight. My saving grace was the AA flight was also delayed by a hurricane, meaning I changed terminal, checked my bag after the scheduled departure time, rushed through the terminal and just about made my flight.
Assuming your HKG-TPE booking is one way, in your situation I’d probably plan 4-6hrs in the airport (maybe buy lounge access if you wouldn’t be entitled to it anyhow) and accept a small risk that you might loose that flight and need to purchase another on the spot if you’re late in and CX don’t allow you to switch to a later flight. Economy prices for tomorrow start about £100 (£147 for CX) and there are lots of flights so you’re not really risking a lot Vs the faff of booking a day’s stopover.
@Whisper2 – I have just arrived in Hong Kong from Shanghai on Cathay. From leaving the plane to collecting my luggage, including immigration, took 9 mins. I think your six hour transit gives you plenty of time. BA are unlikely to be more than three hours late on this route, so you would be very unlucky to miss your connection.
Hong Kong airport is so easy to use and the transit from arrivals to departures is a simple lift ride upstairs.
Cathay is in Zones A, B and C for check in and will let you check in luggage up to 24 hours prior to departure. There are many flights to Taipei and you may be able to get an earlier one depending upon how busy the flights are, and the restrictions on your ticket. The Cathay lounges in Hong Kong are excellent, and have good spaces to eat, relax, work and shower.
@travelmonkey – yes thanks, just trying to come up with a comfortable, fairly robust solution that can reduce the risk.
@mark29 – Thank-you for the first hand knowledge. If we can check back in 5-6hrs before the CX flight and go and relax in the CX lounge (BA Status for now at least!) that would be just grand.In searching for LHR to HKG Avios flights there are options on other carriers that appear. In particular there is a Finnair one costing 80.5k Avios + £265.42 pp via HEL. It takes an extra few hours but there is a lot more availability in business on this.
Would I be able to add the CX Avios flight onto this to make it a through ticket, or would that make it a multi-partner booking?
A full multi partner booking for BHD-LHR-HEL-HKG-TPE would be 120k Avios, so the 80.5K + 5.25k + 9.75k for the two short flights is better value if it can be done without the Multi partner pricing?You’ll need to self transfer at HKG. If you check bags they’ll only be checked to HKG, meaning you’ll have to clear immigration and customs before checking in again for the TPE flight.
You can pay HKD 260 per person to have your bags transferred without going through immigration, however it’s only really useful if you have a tight schedule and if the first flight is delayed it doesn’t help you with the next flight
https://www.hongkongairport.com/en/passenger-guide/airport-facilities-services/hkia-connects
In searching for LHR to HKG Avios flights there are options on other carriers that appear. In particular there is a Finnair one costing 80.5k Avios + £265.42 pp via HEL. It takes an extra few hours but there is a lot more availability in business on this.
Would I be able to add the CX Avios flight onto this to make it a through ticket, or would that make it a multi-partner booking?
A full multi partner booking for BHD-LHR-HEL-HKG-TPE would be 120k Avios, so the 80.5K + 5.25k + 9.75k for the two short flights is better value if it can be done without the Multi partner pricing?You can’t combine two separate tickets. If you’ve already booked one it’s probably better to just pay the fee to cancel it and rebook them together, since you’d have to pay the same change fee otherwise and it would probably need to go for manual pricing anyway.
Your BHD-TPE route is 13650 miles return, so should be 180k avios in business, however you can do up to 20000 miles for 200k avios which is a better deal
@John thanks for the suggestions. I have not booked yet – and I only need one way BHD->TPE. I have a return leg of a 241 to use for HKG->BHD (I failed to get the SYD->BHD return over new year).
I was just wondering if I could book the Finnair – CX Avios as a through ticket without triggering the multi partner, as it seems to be poor value for my 1 way journey. I presume if I try BA-Finnair-CX it would force the multi partner option, but as I see BA Avios offering combined BA and Qatar Avios options, I wondered if just 2 carriers could be priced normally.
Finnair + CX (LHR – HEL – HKG – TPE would be about 91K Avios [CX eco])..
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