Book A Companion Voucher Trip As Two Single Journeys

[AmaD]

Dear all. Is it possible to book a companion voucher trip from London to Beijing as two single journeys? The tax for two single journeys is lower than a return journey.

My plan is to book London to Beijing as a single journey online with a companion voucher. Then book Beijing to London as another single journey online for full Avios price. Then call BA to link the two journeys and reclaim half the Avios for Beijing to London booking.

Is my plan feasible？

[marks7389]

Yes, although I’m surprised that’s the case with RFS (unless you’re booking First).

It’s a common approach for people booking each leg of limited availability redemptions as soon as the seats are released and then reclaiming the miles difference afterwards which the call centre is happy to do. They remain as two bookings, but they can link them.

I did it earlier this year for a redemption to Barbados.

[AmaD]

Fantastic. Thank you marks7389

marks7389 wrote:

Yes, although I’m surprised that’s the case with RFS (unless you’re booking First).

It’s a common approach for people booking each leg of limited availability redemptions as soon as the seats are released and then reclaiming the miles difference afterwards which the call centre is happy to do. They remain as two bookings, but they can link them.

I did it earlier this year for a redemption to Barbados.

[AmaD]

Updated Question

Is my plan still feasible if I used Reward Flight Saver option for the two single journeys?

[marks7389]

AmaD wrote:

Updated Question

Is my plan still feasible if I used Reward Flight Saver option for the two single journeys?

Is your voucher a new or old style? I don’t know whether they will enforce it when refunding the 50% Avios for the return leg, but an old style can only be used with the highest Avios option.

The new style can be used with any option, but when booking a return it would have to be the same option on both legs.

It may be worth speaking to an agent first to confirm exactly what they will allow.

[marks7389]

To satisfy my own curiosity as to why there is a saving here….

There is something interesting going on with the Chinese destinations. The new RFS pricing has both the Avios and cash elements driven by bands in the main. For the band that Beijing sits in you’d expect 90,000 Avios plus £225 each way (either direction) or 180,000 plus £450 return, for the highest Avios option off-peak in Club World. That’s exactly what you’d pay for, say, a trip to Los Angeles which is in the same band as Beijing.

But for both Beijing the cash element on a one-way to London is only £201.65 (as of now), meaning booking two one-ways gives a small saving.

Moreover, the cash element on a one-way from Shanghai to London, which is in the next band up, is also £201.65, not £275 as you’d expect for that band. There, booking two one-ways rather than a return leads to a higher saving of just over £73 off-peak.

I don’t quite agree with Rob’s analysis re BA fixing the Avios required for one-ways from Hong Kong. There, one-way to the UK on the same basis is 100,000 Avios. That’s exactly as you’d expect for the band it is in, but the cash is only £38.09 rather than the £275 that is the norm for that band. As you go to the higher cash/lower Avios levels the difference between each step is exactly as per the norm for the band; at every level you’re saving just under £237 by booking two one-ways as opposed to a return on that route, at least for off-peak dates.

The difference, of course is that on the old pricing the £38.09 of taxes one-way would have been set against the old 75,000 Avios base level which for other destinations in that band (and indeed the outbound to HKG) would have had much higher cash element. So there is less of a saving, but it appears to align to the rebaselining of the Avios and cash levels rather than a deliberate attempt to get around whatever the local restrictions are now.

[MrNick]

I booked a single outbound CW RFS flight using Amex Voucher for 50% Avios reduction. Then booked the inbound when a seat became available. Phoned BA this morning to get the bookings linked and 50% Avios returned for the inbound. I expected still to have separate booking references for outbound and inbound but instead the return leg has been added to the outbound and I now have both legs under one booking reference and the second booking was cancelled. For the taxes, BA refunded the taxes for the inbound to my card and took a completely new payment (for same amount) from the same card. The agent was very helpful indeed and seemed well briefed on the new RFS system. She also mentioned an announcement coming up early next year that Bangkok flights will be resumed in 2023 but didn’t yet know the date. I was very impressed with the agent at the call centre.

[marks7389]

Interesting. I assume in your case that the taxes and fees for your redemption were the same in both directions. Had the return one-way been cheaper the new charge on the combined booking probably wouldn’t have been.

If that’s policy now, @AmaD may not achieve the saving they were hoping (although it looks to be relatively small for Beijing in any case).

[AmaD]

You are right. Seems not worth the trouble to book two single journeys.