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Thank you – very helpful.
We’re looking at outbound 20/21/22 Dec and then inbound early Jan (depending on how long I can take the in-laws!!). Checking now to NYC, PE only has 2 left per flight but I’m happy to do Club which is 90k + £350, one way (and would need to make two bookings).
We’re not fussed about the Club Suites tbh and it’s the proximity / having kids in touching distance is more what we’d need.
I had read elsewhere about the linking so I won’t mention that. Also the max Avios / min £ seems best value so I’ll use that throughout so as not to risk mix / match preventing the Avios refund.
Finally – and I don’t mean to be a pedant – when you say be online to make the return booking, do you recommend calling or an online web booking? It’d be on 1/2/3 Jan. Clearly if online booking then I’d follow up with a call to get the Avios refund. Thanks!!
I think when the calendar goes into peak season, BA stops releasing more than 2 PE seats on routes where they think there will be a lot of cash bookings.
I think Rob did something on travelling in Club Suites with kids – you can’t see or touch them when you’re fastened in so you need to bear that in mind. The problem is that there’s no guarantee of which seats will eventually be on your flight.
Some people swear by calling at midnight but I prefer booking online (as in on the internet!) as I feel more in control and it’s less faff than explaining what you’re trying to do. Both methods are discussed in this thread.
Many thanks – really helpful. These are all really good pointers thank you very much. I see an updated article on how to use the 2-4-1 so will also diligently re-read!! Thanks again.
So obviously using an amex 241 voucher opens up extra award availability for CW.
If I book the outbound using the voucher only and then book return separately without the voucher (before calling yo to get avios refund), the issue is the return availability disappears as I wouldn’t be using the voucher and the extra availability isnt there…does that make sense??
Any way around this?
Could I just call ba and ask them to book me both the outbound and return using the 241? Will they then price HKG with lowers taxes accordingly??I’ve searched but I can’t see a direct answer to this. I have this exact situation currently.
I can find plenty of availability NCL-LHR-HKG-LHR-NCL later this year thanks to the extra award availability offered by the 241, but as noted trying to book two one-ways (to save on taxes) doesn’t work. If I call, can they book two one ways and still ‘see’ the extra availability? Thanks
Yes they can see the extra availability for the return, however I vaguely recall something about the taxes being lower if you book online, which is peculiar to HKG.
I vaguely recall something about the taxes being lower if you book online, which is peculiar to HKG.
Yes, a few hundred quid cheaper because of the HKG tax quirk.
Sounds like I might need to find a helpful telephone agent….
Hi there,
Sincere apologies if this has already been answered (with a 21 page thread I tried my best to search for an answer). I have used my Amex 241 premium plus companion voucher to book the outbound leg. I am waiting for 355 days mark to book the return leg. Now I have seen two options. 1) The usual of calling US or Japan at UK midnight time to add the return immediately over the phone. 2) If “Avios-rich” use these to book a single leg journey (of the return flight) and then at my leisure call to essentially get a refund of half the Avios so it ends up all the same.
My question: Since I have another 241 Amex Premium plus currently available in my account, can I use this to book the single return journey leg, then at my leisure call BA to connect this to my original outbound leg journey and they “refund” me the companion voucher?
The reason this is preferable to me: I have always had success very quickly booking online (my card details etc all saved down and I execute within 20-30 seconds). However, I do not have enough Avios for the option (2) highlighted above. So this way seems like a solution to me but I cannot see if anyone has tried and had success with this.
Thank you all!
They can definitely “swap” vouchers but what I can’t remember is whether it involves cancelling the original booking and hoping the seats go back into the inventory. If you do this very soon after they are released, the likelihood is that they will.
They can definitely “swap” vouchers but what I can’t remember is whether it involves cancelling the original booking and hoping the seats go back into the inventory. If you do this very soon after they are released, the likelihood is that they will.
Thank you @NorthernLass. Indeed my thinking is this is just a means of “securing” the seats, but then inevitably the process will involve a cancellation in order to release and reassign the seats. If done within 24hours of the return leg booking I will not be charged a cancellation fee. It is just the “unknown” of the seats reappearing. But again, as you say, my hunch is that if this is done very quickly they should re-appear. The above is all just my hunch though…
Hi, I’ve just read the latest guidance on 2-4-1 vouchers issued through the weekly HfP email. In it is says “You cannot turn an existing Avios redemption into a 2-4-1 redemption with half of the Avios returned to you.”
I had understood that a return booking for 2 people made using just Avios can be added to the outbound booking made using a 2-4-1 voucher, so that half of the Avios used for the return can be refunded.
Does anyone know if this is still the case as it would appear that I would be asking for a refund on an existing booking – or have I misunderstood the guidance? Thanks.Hi, I’ve just read the latest guidance on 2-4-1 vouchers issued through the weekly HfP email. In it is says “You cannot turn an existing Avios redemption into a 2-4-1 redemption with half of the Avios returned to you.”
I had understood that a return booking for 2 people made using just Avios can be added to the outbound booking made using a 2-4-1 voucher, so that half of the Avios used for the return can be refunded.
Does anyone know if this is still the case as it would appear that I would be asking for a refund on an existing booking – or have I misunderstood the guidance? Thanks.Hi – I called Executive club yesterday. Now I know we can get differing answers from different agents. This individual told me I CANNOT do the method proposed (ie book fully on Avios and get the refund by “linking” to the initial voucher)…
It’s never been possible to apply a voucher to an existing booking – you should still be able to get 50 % avios refunded on the return though. As mentioned several times recently, don’t ask for any kind of linking, they haven’t done that for years and it muddies the waters.
Booked my return SYD-LHR in J last night paying full Avios. Seats between Xmas and NYE obviously not as popular, remaining two Club seats still there after I had completed my booking. Called this morning to have the 50% Avios returned, through to Indian Call centre, explained what I needed and call mysteriously disconnected. Called again and got a great guy who knew exactly what I wanted and all complete in 15 minutes, Avios in my account.
Checking from the last week in Nov, there are CW seats available with the voucher on Nov 28th and Dec 1st.
Sorry for the late reply @NorthernLass and thank you for being so helpful as you have been to everyone else in this thread!
I am wondering if there is any CW availability for HKG-LHR on 10/11/12 Nov 2024 with the voucher, preferably on the later of the two flights (which should be the A350 i.e. new Club Suites)? If anyone has an unused voucher and would be able to check this, I’d be very grateful for that! I’ve had a look and there’s no availability without the voucher sadly.
I vaguely recall something about the taxes being lower if you book online, which is peculiar to HKG.
Yes, a few hundred quid cheaper because of the HKG tax quirk.
Sounds like I might need to find a helpful telephone agent….
In case helpful, this is where Rob wrote about the HKG quirk, but he suggests making the full payment with Avios and then calling for the refund. Let us know if you manage to skip that step and have the agent book your one-way HKG-LHR-NCL with the voucher!
https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/09/20/booking-open-jaw-redemption-flight-using-avios-points/
@Linky1996 I’ve now used my voucher so can’t help, sorry. We should get another one around May/June!
I think the problem with asking BA to book a return leg from HKG is that they will want the full surcharges from you.
Sadly nothing on 11/12/13 Nov 24 HKG LHR with BAPP voucher.
7 Nov 2 seats
13 & 14 Nov 1 seatAll above are on the later flight (BA28) and, at the moment, Boeing 787.
Nothing showing even with a voucher for HKG-LHR on any of 10/11/12 November, but no problem if you are happy to book to a UK regional airport eg NCL
Thanks NL Gary and NC, super helpful! Perhaps we haven’t actually bungled it then? I mentioned in an earlier post that NL responded to, but what my partner and I have done is to use our two separate BAPP vouchers to book a one-way flight for 2 each – LHR-SIN on one voucher and HKG-LHR on the other. This means we have actually locked in the HKG one-way savings, but I was hoping to move this* over to the same voucher as LHR-SIN, freeing up one voucher entirely. Now, we’re a little stuck with what to do with the second flight on each voucher…
Nothing showing even with a voucher for HKG-LHR on any of 10/11/12 November, but no problem if you are happy to book to a UK regional airport eg NCL
Is it possible that there is extra CW availability via the voucher on the HKG-LHR leg of HKG-LHR-NCL if there isn’t that same extra availability when searching only HKG-LHR? If that’s possible, surely we could simply check our bags through to LHR and get off the flight?
Yes, there can be more availability on regional departures (and arrivals). Rob has done an article on this and I would imagine it’s discussed in this thread.
The issue of leaving the flight at LHR is a thorny one and best researched before making any decisions! I believe it’s called “skiplagging” or something like that, in the industry!
Sadly nothing on 11/12/13 Nov 24 HKG LHR with BAPP voucher.
7 Nov 2 seats
13 & 14 Nov 1 seatAll above are on the later flight (BA28) and, at the moment, Boeing 787.
I’ve just looked and I think they’ve replaced the A350 with B787-9! I was quite sure I booked the HKG-LHR flight with Club Suites… ah well. I wonder if they’ll upgrade the plane in time?
Yes, as Rob has highlighted in his articles on this topic, there is often availability to/from regional destinations when nothing shows to/from London. There are some risks associated with skipping the final leg which have been covered in assorted comments, and it’s more tricky with checked baggage as you need to persuade the checkin staff in HKG to short check your bags. There are of course a number of valid reasons why you might unfortunately miss your final connection to NCL or wherever , but you wouldn’t want to make a habit of it.
Edit: sorry – I’m being an echo to @NorthernLass !
Thanks so much NC and NL, I’ll definitely have to dig deeper into this. Was saving these Avios for Club Suites seats so might have a rethink on that too…
Hopefully someone can help….. have tried looking through the last 21 pages but getting a bit muddled !
Just phoned BA asked to merge 2 x one way tickets (as read on here that you should do).
Said they cant do this ? even got him to check with a supervisor.
What am I doing wrong as dont want loose all these avios.We have booked single ticket LHR to JNB / taxes + 100,000 / used companion voucher.
We have booked single ticket JNB to LHR / taxes + 200,000.Thanks Sy
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