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You mean MAD-TYO then TYO-LHR? That’s fine.
@byt411 did you mean MAD-TOKYO TOKYO-MAD-LHR? All on IB and 50% off, then yes with 241.
An update for anyone trying to add companion vouchers at 1am on the US phone numbers. My husband and I attempted this tonight. I rang the standard number at 1.30am. Mistakenly selected booking with Avios instead of changing a booking. The agent transferred me to changing a booking option…. the man I got on that number refused to assist, said they can only help US and Canada customers and they have to keep the line free for them. HUACA. This time deliberately chose the booking with avios option, thinking I would just ask the agent to book outright and sort avios tomorrow morning (which I know I could do online but was worried about securing the flights). Agent was friendly, said she would transfer me to change booking team, I said no please don’t, happy for you to just make new booking but she said she would try the change team anyway and get somebody to help. Put me on hold. Cut off at 12.55am prompt. Tried the other US number some people have had luck with, it didn’t say it was closed but I was on hold at 12.59 and hung up then as a waste of time. Meanwhile husband got through at 12.40, not sure where the agent was (sounded like india from the little I heard). Agent was hopeless, kept him chatting well past 1am and couldn’t help anyway, and obviously defeated the whole object because by then I had worked two devices and snapped up the 4 club world seats we wanted on 2 separate bookings. Not sure hubby had quite grasped the time pressures involved (!!!). Anyway – phone line just added a level of stress and was a complete waste of time. Luckily I had boosted Avios a couple of days ago so we can go to bed knowing we booked what we had hoped for. I’m never setting my hopes on school holiday flights again… success this time but the stress has been ridiculous! That said, thank you for all the wisdom here that has helped me bag those precious flights, my parents will be flying club world for the first time on our avios and for that I am very grateful.
Glad you got your seats! I can’t remember where you were going, are you another TYO traveller?! You will honestly not have issues getting school holiday flights if you pick somewhere (or preferably have a few options) less popular in future!
Thank you – we are travelling to Tobago so definitely not the same pressure but I booked the clubworld tix then made a 3rd booking (economy for the teenagers) and somebody else had booked both the premium economy tickets between my 2nd and 3rd searches… I guess all it takes is one other person getting in there first and plans are a mess!
You mean MAD-TYO then TYO-LHR? That’s fine.
@byt411 did you mean MAD-TOKYO TOKYO-MAD-LHR? All on IB and 50% off, then yes with 241.
Yes, to be more clear, I’m looking to do MAD->TYO in Iberia, and then TYO->LHR in BA, both with a 2-4-1. Haven’t decided if I want business on both, or just one leg yet, but defo keen to avoid charges departing from UK.
No problems with that, but it will involve contacting BA at some point, either to add the return (and bear in mind how difficult that’s been of late!), or to get half the avios back.
I booked an EDI – KUL outward using a companion voucher then as I had enough avios HKG – LON return on line at midnight approx 2 weeks ago. I needed to link the 2 bookings and add the return leg so called today. First agent told me I had booked the return on my husbands account so I would have to cancel the return and hope it would go back into inventory and I would be the one to grab them! I asked him to check and he was adamant they had been booked on different accounts so there was nothing he could do as there were no alternative flights available +/- 3 days – panic set in! I was certain that I had booked both of them on my account but being retired many suspect I am going senile. Hung up and checked my e-mail confirmation and account and it appeared both had been booked on my account so phoned back and got a different person. The reason became apparent – I had used my husbands card for the second booking – was told that was not acceptable . I had done this as the Platinum card is in his name and I wanted to have insurance cover but in the circumstances I just accepted the slap on the wrists and agreed and substituted my card. Also got raised eyebrows that I had waited 2 weeks to link and add but that was just commented on and no penalties were demanded. Appears if booking on line you can use any card but if you need to make any addition / amendment to that booking beware!
It’s always been the case that BA IT will let you use any Amex, but if an agent spots it they will most likely insist you comply with the Ts and Cs. This happened to me a few years ago when my laptop auto-filled my gold card details instead of BAPP and I didn’t realise until I called the next morning to ask for the 50% avios back. As it was within 24 hours I just cancelled for free and rebooked with the BAPP.
The insistence that I had bookings on 2 separate accounts was very strange. Payment with my husbands card seemed to make it look as if it was his account (I asked him to check and he still advised incorrectly)
No problems with that, but it will involve contacting BA at some point, either to add the return (and bear in mind how difficult that’s been of late!), or to get half the avios back.
Is there any issue/downsides with having 2 PNRs versus getting the return added to the same booking?
Can I ring to book the inbound as one way at full price, then use chat to refund half of the avios in the next day or two?
BA IT is playing up so cannot see the flights online, and the charges would be higher if just add inbound to the original PRN? Have cleared cookies, used mobile signal, tried different browsers… etc to no avail.
It’s always been the case that BA IT will let you use any Amex, but if an agent spots it they will most likely insist you comply with the Ts and Cs. This happened to me a few years ago when my laptop auto-filled my gold card details instead of BAPP and I didn’t realise until I called the next morning to ask for the 50% avios back. As it was within 24 hours I just cancelled for free and rebooked with the BAPP.
t&c’s no longer require payment on bapp, just an Amex
No problems with that, but it will involve contacting BA at some point, either to add the return (and bear in mind how difficult that’s been of late!), or to get half the avios back.
Is there any issue/downsides with having 2 PNRs versus getting the return added to the same booking?
one downside of having separate pnr’s is disruption to one flight doesn’t allow changes to the other flight. I.e. If your outbound has been cancelled, and the next flight is a few days later, you won’t have any direct rights to move the return etc (beyond the usual avios flex and requirement for reward availability etc).
Can I ring to book the inbound as one way at full price, then use chat to refund half of the avios in the next day or two?
BA IT is playing up so cannot see the flights online, and the charges would be higher if just add inbound to the original PRN? Have cleared cookies, used mobile signal, tried different browsers… etc to no avail.
yes, but why wouldn’t you add as the 241 return at the point of booking? Or are you trying to benefit from low taxes, or some other reason?
Hi,
I’ve booked one half of a 241 from AUH to LHR in August. Can I speculatively book a flight back to another ME destination, such as DOH/DXB (within open jaw rules), say for April 2025, and still be able to cancel it after I’ve flown the AUH-LHR leg? Or, can I only change the date of my inbound (i.e outbound flight to DOH/DXB) after flying the first of a 241 booking?
I’m not entirely sure I would be taking that trip, but hate to waste half a voucher.
Thanks
Can I ring to book the inbound as one way at full price, then use chat to refund half of the avios in the next day or two?
BA IT is playing up so cannot see the flights online, and the charges would be higher if just add inbound to the original PRN? Have cleared cookies, used mobile signal, tried different browsers… etc to no avail.
yes, but why wouldn’t you add as the 241 return at the point of booking? Or are you trying to benefit from low taxes, or some other reason?
Yes lower charges as two one ways.
So here is an update on my esxpereince today trying to locate a number to call at 1am
I tried both 1800 452 1201 and 1 877 455 2488 and 1 800 247 9297. All of these lead to a UK based agent who says they are not allowed to book fligt for UK cusotmers only US customers. It is at the agent discretion to help a UK cusotmers, but recently they have been told they are only to service US customers.
Utterly ridiculous that US customers are able to book at 1am on the phone while us poor UK cusotmers are left with the online frenzy only. So unless anyone knows different the phone booking option is now dead.
Hi,
I’ve booked one half of a 241 from AUH to LHR in August. Can I speculatively book a flight back to another ME destination, such as DOH/DXB (within open jaw rules), say for April 2025, and still be able to cancel it after I’ve flown the AUH-LHR leg? Or, can I only change the date of my inbound (i.e outbound flight to DOH/DXB) after flying the first of a 241 booking?
AUH-LHR Aug 24
LHR-DOH April 25 is fine but inbound has to be booked before flying outbound.As for cancelling I do not know. Great minds here will answer that.
@ed_fly, the Amex still has to be in the account holder’s name, this was the issue here. And very possibly the card still has to be a BA one, as the Ts and Cs specify that the person also still has to be a member of the programme, i.e. hold a BA Amex (whether BAPP or free).
@aq. 1988, if you keep them as 2 separate bookings you would be able to cancel up to T-24.
anyone having issues booking HKG-LHR or SIN-LHR on book with avios option? want to get my inbound flight but can’t seem to bring up any options it just keeps saying error! Was being OK til a few days ago, anyone any suggestions? thanks in advance
@ed_fly, the Amex still has to be in the account holder’s name, this was the issue here. And very possibly the card still has to be a BA one, as the Ts and Cs specify that the person also still has to be a member of the programme, i.e. hold a BA Amex (whether BAPP or free).
@aq. 1988, if you keep them as 2 separate bookings you would be able to cancel up to T-24.
there may well be a term in relation to the card being in person’s name. There has also been ad nauseam discussion regarding the loose t&c wording around whether you need to have an active Ba Amex account at time of travel, which people have varying views on. But the old t&c which was fairly clear on paying taxes and fees with a ba card way removed and replaced with clear wording “17. The Cardmember is responsible for paying any Taxes, Fees and Charges relating to their Companion Voucher booking. Taxes, Fees and Charges apply per person. All Taxes, Fees and Charges must be paid for using an American Express Card.”
Not sure what your point is! I had already clarified that (as per 17 quoted) the card member is responsible for paying the surcharges. This is where the OP went wrong, by paying with her husband’s card.
@ed_fly, the Amex still has to be in the account holder’s name, this was the issue here. And very possibly the card still has to be a BA one, as the Ts and Cs specify that the person also still has to be a member of the programme, i.e. hold a BA Amex (whether BAPP or free).
@aq. 1988, if you keep them as 2 separate bookings you would be able to cancel up to T-24.
there may well be a term in relation to the card being in person’s name. There has also been ad nauseam discussion regarding the loose t&c wording around whether you need to have an active Ba Amex account at time of travel, which people have varying views on. But the old t&c which was fairly clear on paying taxes and fees with a ba card way removed and replaced with clear wording “17. The Cardmember is responsible for paying any Taxes, Fees and Charges relating to their Companion Voucher booking. Taxes, Fees and Charges apply per person. All Taxes, Fees and Charges must be paid for using an American Express Card.”
The issue that @Pauline reported re Amex card use a few posts above was a different one. The agent being asked to refund 50% Avios spotted that she had used a different card on each of the two bookings. Nothing expressly prohibits that, but it looks odd and these things can cause problems if you run into a punctilious agent.
I don’t think that was the issue. The terms are clear that card member has to pay the surcharges, so the problem was that the card used for payment was in the husband’s name, and not the account holder’s.
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