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Looking at it is better for avios points to do F both ways, so off peak is 136,000 plus £854 in tax. CW on return is 148,000 and you still have to pay the same amount of tax. Of course doing CW both ways is probably cheaper.
Yes, the joys of the new RFS pricing, you either do F/F with higher taxes and lower Avios or J/J; J/F or F/J results in higher taxes and higher avios.
You will have to book the outbound and return at the same time, if you book seperately you’ll get stung for the very high taxes ex US and these won’t be adjusted if you merge the bookings.
I thought that if you called up when the return leg was released as this will be an open jaw return then the tax would be merged? I wouldn’t book them separately online but could book the outward journey and wait for the return then call up.
Lol, why / how would you think that? And I’m being serious, if that is being touted on the internet it needs to be looked at and revised
BA haven’t recalculated taxes for years, hence the previous caveats against booking US return legs separately. This doesn’t now apply on RFS flights as the surcharges are a flat rate.
So if you book separate legs and then requests 50% avios back for the return, you will only pay the RFS rate.But, but, they want to book First so the RfS isn’t in scope, unless it is and I’ve missed the ferry again
Sorry I’m confused so a return first is 136000 Avios + £ 853.71 but two one way tickets is 68000 Avios + £ 554.57 out and 68000 Avios + £ 720.67 for return so is more than £400 in taxes to split them. On other articles it suggests is best to ring up to avoid the extra? I am missing something? I may call ba to ask. . .
No, I meant if you’re travelling in different cabins. If you travelled home in CW, you’d be charged (with the maximum avios option), 80k avios plus £225 each. So if you’d rather keep the cash element down and use more avios, this could be an option.
There seems to be a lot of confusion around the surcharges. A few years ago BA would indeed recalculate these and refund the difference along with the avios so you weren’t overcharged for adding a return leg later. However they stopped doing this a few years ago so you now need to call and ask them to add the return leg if doing it online will incur the higher surcharges.
What I keep trying to explain though is that this doesn’t apply to RFS fares because the fees are fixed at the RFS rates!
No, I meant if you’re travelling in different cabins. If you travelled home in CW, you’d be charged (with the maximum avios option), 80k avios plus £225 each. So if you’d rather keep the cash element down and use more avios, this could be an option.
There seems to be a lot of confusion around the surcharges. A few years ago BA would indeed recalculate these and refund the difference along with the avios so you weren’t overcharged for adding a return leg later. However they stopped doing this a few years ago so you now need to call and ask them to add the return leg if doing it online will incur the higher surcharges.
What I keep trying to explain though is that this doesn’t apply to RFS fares because the fees are fixed at the RFS rates!
Sure get you also widens up options on return, so would use my points and call to get half back afterwards?
Ron’s series of articles on here about using the 241 would probably be helpful, but briefly you can use the voucher to book your outbound leg, then book the inbound leg separately at full avios price then contact BA and request that they refund half those avios. You can call, but they will usually do it over online chat or Twitter as well.
*Rob! Autocorrect 🙄😂
Ron’s series of articles on here about using the 241 would probably be helpful, but briefly you can use the voucher to book your outbound leg, then book the inbound leg separately at full avios price then contact BA and request that they refund half those avios. You can call, but they will usually do it over online chat or Twitter as well.
How does this apply to travelling on an F redemption with the tax and surcharges? Suppose you book one way to US From LHR using 2-4-1 and then later on the return opens up in F, can you then “add” this to the return by phoning and they’ll only charge 50% of the avios and the difference in tax for a return or do you have to pay 2xone-way lots of taxes which would be significantly worse than a return booked together?
There are several issues here. Now that RFS has been introduced it makes no difference (except in First) whether you book a return trip or 2 separate one-ways as ‘taxes’ are the same each way, and double for a return ticket. The other effect of RFS was to increase the avios but reduce the taxes. This also means that the avios prices are lower for F than CW but the taxes are a lot higher.
Example taxes for LHR-BOS:
In Club, one-way ticket outbound taxes £175, one-way ticket inbound taxes £175, return ticket taxes £350. So it makes no difference whether you book separate one-ways or phone up to add the return sector to the existing outbound booking.
In First, one-way ticket outbound taxes £551, inbound one-way ticket taxes £720, return ticket taxes £850. Thus, it is much better to phone and make it a return ticket than to book separate one-ways, which would come to a whopping £1271.
An odd result of RFS, is that if you have any F sector on a multi sector, multi class booking, you get charged F taxes for the whole trip. So F out and CW back (or vice-versa), booked as a return ticket, it is £850 in taxes. One-way F outbound, and one-way Club inbound, booked separately, would be £551 + £175 = £726. The other way round, it would be £175 + £720 = £895.
Best thing to do is find availability on Seatspy (just pick any dates when there is availability in J and F) and try some dummy bookings on BA.
How does this apply to travelling on an F redemption with the tax and surcharges? Suppose you book one way to US From LHR using 2-4-1 and then later on the return opens up in F, can you then “add” this to the return by phoning and they’ll only charge 50% of the avios and the difference in tax for a return or do you have to pay 2xone-way lots of taxes which would be significantly worse than a return booked together?
Yes, for F it is as it used to be – don’t book separate one-ways for trips to USA
There are several issues here. Now that RFS has been introduced it makes no difference (except in First) whether you book a return trip or 2 separate one-ways as ‘taxes’ are the same each way, and double for a return ticket. The other effect of RFS was to increase the avios but reduce the taxes. This also means that the avios prices are lower for F than CW but the taxes are a lot higher.
Example taxes for LHR-BOS:
In Club, one-way ticket outbound taxes £175, one-way ticket inbound taxes £175, return ticket taxes £350. So it makes no difference whether you book separate one-ways or phone up to add the return sector to the existing outbound booking.
In First, one-way ticket outbound taxes £551, inbound one-way ticket taxes £720, return ticket taxes £850. Thus, it is much better to phone and make it a return ticket than to book separate one-ways, which would come to a whopping £1271.
An odd result of RFS, is that if you have any F sector on a multi sector, multi class booking, you get charged F taxes for the whole trip. So F out and CW back (or vice-versa), booked as a return ticket, it is £850 in taxes. One-way F outbound, and one-way Club inbound, booked separately, would be £551 + £175 = £726. The other way round, it would be £175 + £720 = £895.
Best thing to do is find availability on Seatspy (just pick any dates when there is availability in J and F) and try some dummy bookings on BA.
How does this apply to travelling on an F redemption with the tax and surcharges? Suppose you book one way to US From LHR using 2-4-1 and then later on the return opens up in F, can you then “add” this to the return by phoning and they’ll only charge 50% of the avios and the difference in tax for a return or do you have to pay 2xone-way lots of taxes which would be significantly worse than a return booked together?
Yes, for F it is as it used to be – don’t book separate one-ways for trips to USA
Useful would the tax still be for both legs if you buy separate bookings with the avios and companion voucher, call up to get a refund on the avios to use the companion voucher on the return leg?
There are several issues here. Now that RFS has been introduced it makes no difference (except in First) whether you book a return trip or 2 separate one-ways as ‘taxes’ are the same each way, and double for a return ticket. The other effect of RFS was to increase the avios but reduce the taxes. This also means that the avios prices are lower for F than CW but the taxes are a lot higher.
Example taxes for LHR-BOS:
In Club, one-way ticket outbound taxes £175, one-way ticket inbound taxes £175, return ticket taxes £350. So it makes no difference whether you book separate one-ways or phone up to add the return sector to the existing outbound booking.
In First, one-way ticket outbound taxes £551, inbound one-way ticket taxes £720, return ticket taxes £850. Thus, it is much better to phone and make it a return ticket than to book separate one-ways, which would come to a whopping £1271.
An odd result of RFS, is that if you have any F sector on a multi sector, multi class booking, you get charged F taxes for the whole trip. So F out and CW back (or vice-versa), booked as a return ticket, it is £850 in taxes. One-way F outbound, and one-way Club inbound, booked separately, would be £551 + £175 = £726. The other way round, it would be £175 + £720 = £895.
Best thing to do is find availability on Seatspy (just pick any dates when there is availability in J and F) and try some dummy bookings on BA.
How does this apply to travelling on an F redemption with the tax and surcharges? Suppose you book one way to US From LHR using 2-4-1 and then later on the return opens up in F, can you then “add” this to the return by phoning and they’ll only charge 50% of the avios and the difference in tax for a return or do you have to pay 2xone-way lots of taxes which would be significantly worse than a return booked together?
Yes, for F it is as it used to be – don’t book separate one-ways for trips to USA
Thanks for clarifying this. I think for me general rule of thumb is not to mix F and Club redemptions. For USA, if doing just F redemptions is there no way to book the outbound and inbound separately and pay the return £850 tax. If the inbound isn’t available you can’t hold the outbound first without getting stung then?
Thanks for clarifying this. I think for me general rule of thumb is not to mix F and Club redemptions. For USA, if doing just F redemptions is there no way to book the outbound and inbound separately and pay the return £850 tax. If the inbound isn’t available you can’t hold the outbound first without getting stung then?
Mixing classes used to be fine as the taxes were the same, just the difference in avios.
No, not as separate tickets – but you can, by phone, ‘add’ the inbound leg to an existing outbound booking and make it a return booking – see the ‘How to book the return leg with 2-4-1 companion voucher’ thread.
@tiriavpo – not strictly on the topic but in addition to trying to mix F and J causing problems since the broadening of RFS to J, it also creates issues with mixing Iberia and BA on long haul business bookings, and can make the taxes huge.
So just going back to this, I’ve booked LHR-IAD F and family discussion is we want to see the big mouse again so want to do MCO-LGW (different london airports is fine for us). If I book the returns back has anyone with mixed cabins got the avios back? Would the tax be recalculated?
Also need to call them anyway to book DH ticket out to IAD (plenty of seats) but back from MCO . .
You get the 50% avios back and the taxes aren’t adjusted (we booked F to IAD and back from MIA in Y in December/January (although in the end we cancelled MIA and flew direct MCO-MAN with Virgin).
You get the 50% avios back and the taxes aren’t adjusted (we booked F to IAD and back from MIA in Y in December/January (although in the end we cancelled MIA and flew direct MCO-MAN with Virgin).
Thanks will do that need to sort out hubbies flight so will have to call I reckon.
Yes just confirmed on avios helpline can get half refunded as is just easier to do online to get the seats which she agreed was the case rather than waiting until 0800 when the seats may have gone.
Forgot to ask but does it matter which avios and money you go for? I know ideally save as much money as possible just thinking of saving some for next year!
It doesn’t matter which option you pick, but you must choose the same option for both legs. So if you choose the first option on the outbound, you have to choose that one on the inbound as well. I’ve lost track of what you’re actually trying to book, but if you choose anything other than RFS pricing (including F), you may get hit very hard with surcharges on a return leg from the US, so check how much cash you’re going to have to lay out by doing a dummy booking first.
I’ve booked out first to IAD on first most cash/less tax option so will just do RFS on the return. Sorry keep changing our minds but will fly back MCO-LGW.
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