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1-800 numbers via Skype are free, you just dial.ypu may need to enter the US prefix, or there might be a little drop down flag. Haven’t done it for a while.
There’s no jump in taxes as RFS has set fees both ways. You need to book the same avios/cash combination on both legs though, or BA is likely to refuse to refund the 50% avios if you intend to do it that way.
Remember no RFS in F so you’ll still have to stump up a fair bit of cash if that’s your plan.
Thanks. We want to visit Boston for a few days on the same trip, so thinking LHR-EWR and BOS-LHR in club, providing Club suite is on the boston route. I read somewhere it attracted extra taxes because it was considered 2 one ways.
It used to be, but the change to RFS has levelled things up, surcharges-wise.
Not every BOS service has CS – we flew back on the day flight last year and it was the old CW seats. It was CS on the outbound which was late afternoon, IIRC. But of course you’re always vulnerable to an equipment swap so don’t bank too much on it!
Well tried over Twitter now and got told that they’ll only refund for T-355 aka the inbound wasn’t bookable when outbound was booked.
Supposedly there is no allowance for open jaws (which aren’t bookable as single itinerary online) which sucks but I guess a DP others should be aware of.I just re-read your posts because I couldn’t remember the circumstances. They definitely used to do this, and may well get a different answer from another agent if you can be bothered persisting.
Would cancelling and rebooking cost you more than the avios you would save?Was it not a T-355 booking? If you don’t need to jump on the seats as soon as they’re released, you can just call to book or add the return.
Would cancelling and rebooking cost you more than the avios you would save?This is to CPT/JNB for March 2024 so I needed to jump on it when I got the SeatSpy alert and I doubt the seats would reappear if I let them go.
I just amended my previous post as I couldn’t remember which circs were yours and which @sm’s.
It would be so much simpler if the voucher was issued in 2 halves, but I don’t think that will ever happen, even though it would reduce the workload for call centre staff (and Twitter!)It used to be, but the change to RFS has levelled things up, surcharges-wise.
Not every BOS service has CS – we flew back on the day flight last year and it was the old CW seats. It was CS on the outbound which was late afternoon, IIRC. But of course you’re always vulnerable to an equipment swap so don’t bank too much on it!
I have worked out Newark (at least I think I have), the LHR-Newark services get club suite through virtue of a 777-200 or 787-10 and don’t seem to be served by any other aircraft. It’s just getting home that is the challenge! Flyertalk says only 3 777’s in the whole fleet still have club suite so it’s minimising the chances.
Just want to check my understanding with all you Pro’s.
I’ve been lucky enough to nab 2 business class seats for LHR to Male next September with my 241. I booked online, single leg.
I’m now prepping for the ‘joy’ of securing return flights. I think my options are:-
1) call US/Japan at 12:40am. Hope to get through, hope I don’t get cut off, hope I get someone willing to help, hope they can book the tix for me. This will add to my outbound leg so a bit cheaper/less avios? Feels stressful!
2) attempt to book online at 1am. Likely any business seats will go via phone by the time I do it online. If I am lucky, I’ll need the full avios points and then need to try to claim half back later.When I look at return flights right now, there are premium economy for 4,6,8,11,13,15 sept, so that suggests to me my chances of getting Premium economy are quite good?
I therefore think I might go for the online option, and aim for business but expect (and be happy) with premium.
My questions are:
– is there anything I have missed/ need to consider that I haven’t? Should I be doing anything different?
– how would I check whether the taxes are much worse by going the online route and having two single flights?
– how difficult is it to get the avios back? I’ve used 90k on the LHR leg and business return would be another 135k (70k premium). Is there any risk I don’t get the avios back?Thanks in advance everyone!
As mentioned many times, RFS fees are now fixed, so there should be no difference between booking 2 singles and a return. You just need to make sure you select the same avios/cash ratio to be able to claim back the 50% avios.
With accounts of people waiting an hour or more to book on the phone, and also of agents saying they are now not going to book the return legs, I would definitely be trying to book online as soon as the seats are released – there would be nothing lost by calling and simultaneously making an online booking while you’re waiting for the phone to be answered.
Demand for MLE may be dropping off as there are still PE and J seats available for September 17th and 18th.
I would definitely be trying to book online as soon as the seats are released – there would be nothing lost by calling and simultaneously making an online booking while you’re waiting for the phone to be answered.
Great tip. I’ll def be online at 1am anyway, so may as well try the phone as well.
Demand for MLE may be dropping off as there are still PE and J seats available for September 17th and 18th.
yes I noticed that as well. I feel mildly confident about snagging PE at least (famous last words!). I’ll report back on how successful I have been!
Thanks
As mentioned many times, RFS fees are now fixed, so there should be no difference between booking 2 singles and a return. You just need to make sure you select the same avios/cash ratio to be able to claim back the 50% avios.
With accounts of people waiting an hour or more to book on the phone, and also of agents saying they are now not going to book the return legs, I would definitely be trying to book online as soon as the seats are released – there would be nothing lost by calling and simultaneously making an online booking while you’re waiting for the phone to be answered.
I don’t think the RFS fees apply to 2 singles. I did a number of dummy runs and return fees were always much higher. I spoke to BA who said the best thing to do is ring the call centre to amend the previous booking, then the fees for return would be adjusted to RFS. If return booked online, yes you can get 50% avios back but the fees would not change.
Try doing a couple of dummy runs with earlier dates to check what the fees might be. Good luck!
Hi northern lass..simple one here.
So the wife has decided she wants to go to Bali. So once my avios has re-appeared in my account after they duplicated the booking I can book LHR or Man to Singapore. Having had a look, I may aswell book that leg tonight, and then in a few week book the inbound. I’m not missing anything here am I?
Hi northern lass..simple one here.
So the wife has decided she wants to go to Bali. So once my avios has re-appeared in my account after they duplicated the booking I can book LHR or Man to Singapore. Having had a look, I may aswell book that leg tonight, and then in a few week book the inbound. I’m not missing anything here am I?
I’ll quote myself (first sign of madness). I’m booking this with a companion voucher. I’ll try and read through this tonight but your reply is always appreciated.
@yorkshireRich, should be fine. If it was me I would also book the outbound asap as SIN continues to be a popular route. You may need to call to book the inbound if you need to “see” extra availability.
@GillC, where are you looking to book to? Since the changes came in about 10 months ago, I’ve done several actual and dummy bookings and RFS fees have always been the same both ways. AFAIK the only exceptions would be destinations where it’s not allowed to charge departure tax, though I think BA has managed to get round some of those. These would give a lower amount though, not higher.@NorthernLass I’m doing Dublin to Chicago on Aer Lingus. Maybe that’s the difference
Hi everyone.
I’m being so dim but I can’t seem to accurately calculate the right day / time I need to call up the US to get my reward flights.
The flight I want is on 24th September 2024 – when do I need to phone? (I’m supposedly good at maths but for the life of me I can’t work it out!!)
Thanks
@GillC – that would be why, EI doesn’t offer RFS fares. I was replying to @Spoony who was asking about MLE, which would have to be a BA flight to be able to use the 241.
@s2bgrant – the easiest way to check is to start a dummy booking on ba.com and see which is the latest date you can book. The day after that will be bookable tomorrow, and so on. You can also see this on SeatSpy, if you use that.Remember as well that companion vouchers last 24 months on the BAPP, so if you don’t mind waiting a year for the redemption you can have 2 vouchers to apply for all 4 of you – even in Economy Basic the savings this unlocks represents far greater value (since you only pay 2 lots of Avios for 4, only the taxes are payable)^ Ignore wrong threadHi everyone.
I’m being so dim but I can’t seem to accurately calculate the right day / time I need to call up the US to get my reward flights.
The flight I want is on 24th September 2024 – when do I need to phone? (I’m supposedly good at maths but for the life of me I can’t work it out!!)
Thanks
If you stayed up last night until 1am (as I did!) you’d have been able to book flights for 21 Sept 2024. Worth checking yourself and do a dummy run though
@Spoony, did you get your returns from MLE?
Hi Northern lass me again. So I’m going to book the outbound Singapore in the next hour and use my 2-4-1 for me and the wife (and infant)
After thinking the other day I’ve been missing around 145,000 points it turns out after removing my brother from my Household account last week, the points have now been credited to him as a “redeposit”.
I now don’t have the points for the inbound so I will just hope there may be availability in a month or 2, however the good news is I can help my brother book his flights to USA. Can you confirm I’m giving him the right advice please?
So my brother his wife, his son of 3 years and infant are planning on going to Houston from LHR. My brother has a 2-4-1 and Barclaycard. Would he need to call to add the Barclaycard voucher on. I don’t have access to one so cannot see what it looks like online. Does he use 2-4-1 for his son then pay for his wife as a premium voucher to upgrade with the infant. I will have a read up on it but I’ve ignorantly not looked at topics on the Barclaycard voucher. I’ve said I would help him so I’m scrambling for info.
Thankyou
@yorkshireRich, did you get your SIN flights?
Houston availability seems to be plentiful, so what I would do is call BA to book this as infants can sometimes cause issues with bookings. If both vouchers are your brother’s, then he’ll probably need to use the 241 for him and the 3 year old, and the Barclays voucher for his wife and infant. They will have 2 separate bookings but that doesn’t need to be a problem.
A couple of things to bear in mind – they will need the maximum avios to use the Barclays voucher, so if they only have 145,000 avios, they may need to find a avios/cash option for the 241 booking which allows for this. And if they’re flying from a region you usually have to call to get the domestic leg included anyway, as there are IT issues with this as well!
@yorkshireRich, did you get your SIN flights?
Houston availability seems to be plentiful, so what I would do is call BA to book this as infants can sometimes cause issues with bookings. If both vouchers are your brother’s, then he’ll probably need to use the 241 for him and the 3 year old, and the Barclays voucher for his wife and infant. They will have 2 separate bookings but that doesn’t need to be a problem.
A couple of things to bear in mind – they will need the maximum avios to use the Barclays voucher, so if they only have 145,000 avios, they may need to find a avios/cash option for the 241 booking which allows for this. And if they’re flying from a region you usually have to call to get the domestic leg included anyway, as there are IT issues with this as well!
thanks for your reply as always. So after all that, my brother said he will just go in economy on Singapore airlines from Man to Houston. He stated he will go back on my household account which I won’t complain about.
I have just booked the flight from Manchester to LHR to Singapore and it cost me 121,000 avios with the infant and £600. We chose the Manchester flight at 16:00 and chose the A380 at 19:30 but 12 months is along time away so anything could change I guess.
Providing my brother goes back on my household account and doesn’t change his mind, I’ll book the return next week online then call up to put it on my companion voucher and get 50% of avios back.
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