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@truthbetold – in addition to @Froggee maps that will hopefully appear, you are basically limited to BA in that part of the world as IB & EI only have one route between them. The voucher can’t be used on AA or any other airline. You must book the return at least 24 hours before the outbound and after 24 hours prior to departure you will only be able to change the date of the return, nothing else. That return must take place within 12 months of the outbound as that’s the limit of the ticket validity. You don’t really have ½ a voucher left in the same way as Virgin.
Another data point, friends called the US number & got through at 12.45am. They were immediately told they were too early & the agent hung up. Tried again & got through at 12.55am to be told again they were too early & the agent hung up on them again (different agent on both occasions).
Agents are taking matters into their own hands. They don’t like taking these T-355 calls – fiddly and time consuming – and far too many people now seem to be making such calls so the late calls and the 50% back ones that BA doesn’t need to allow risk coming under greater scrutiny. What’s a bit ridiculous about these T-355 calls is just how many of those seats get cancelled within the next fortnight, presumably as can’t get holiday, accommodation, partner’s OK, although it certainly provides a good opportunity for those not wanting to play that game. Just don’t rely on SeatSpy to tell you in time.
Just got confirmation from an agent on the US line that they have indeed been told not to handle UK callers. Apparently, all call centres have been told this new policy.
No idea if true, as there isn’t any reference point on the internet, but plenty of anecdotal evidence here which is probably just as good.Better start practising a broad Texan accent then!
Better start practising a broad Texan accent then!
Last couple of times I did a non-London accent on here, I got told off.
Great circle mapper is your fiend:
Pass:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=lhr-syd-tyo-lhrFail:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=lhr-syd-lax-lhrPass:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=lhr-syd-scl-lhrAs @Aston100 says,
I think.
Thank you all…very helpful, now just need an equally helpful agent 🙂
I just wrote a post with great circle mapper links which disappeared into the ether. It might be back.
Basically anywhere in the far east should be fine.
North America is out. I think,
And Santiago should be good if you wanna maximise.
Yes, using GCMapper looks like SCL is the only option in South America otherwise SYD-XXX is longer than XXX-LHR. In Asia it’s good for the usual far east but not India/Sri Lanka/Maldives for example.
There’s a lot of competition for the LHR-SNG flights but I wondered is this the same for the LHR-KUL flights? Trying to get as near to Bali as possible so either of those destinations would work.
If you look at SeatSpy, most CW seats to KUL have gone, but there is availability at T-355 so there doesn’t seem to be the same demand as for, say, TYO and SIN.
Last night (which can only be described as a faff), I managed to secure tickets for my inbound flight with my existing companion voucher from Kuala Lumpur albeit in premium economy.
There doesn’t look to be much business availability at all on the dates I looked at.
There’s plenty outbound, though (4 x CW on April 20,21,22). It’s probably tricky to get inbound just now because it’s the end of the Easter break.
Hi
This question may be a bit of a newbie question and I know it’s probably been asked before on this thread but as it’s a big thread I’ll ask it again….
If I book our outward flights at t-355 using a BA 241 CV and then say 20 days later book our return flights using a second 241 CV can I call BA later and ask them to merge the 2 bookings and return the 2nd CV to my account?
Bearing in mind that one booking will be on my account and the second booking on my wife’s account, albeit on the same household account.
If it is possible are there any disadvantages to doing it this way as I won’t have enough Avios to book the return without the CV.
Hope that makes sense.
Cheers
There’s no merging of bookings when you do this, but in any case you can’t have a 241 trip split over different accounts. What BA would do here is cancel your inbound booking and rebook it for you, as long as the seats went back into the inventory (highly likely at T-355). You would then have a single booking, on one PNR. You’d pay the £15 pp phone fee, plus £35 pp cancellation fee if outside 24 hours of booking.
The other option if you can’t get the required avios to book at full price is to try your chances at calling BA when the seats are released and asking them to add the inbound. Obviously there’s a lot of discussion about doing that in this thread!
3rd option is a bit niche, but you could keep the 2 bookings and create a 2nd trip out of the return “portions” of the vouchers subject to the Ts and Cs if you think you’ll collect enough avios to do this within the required timescale.
3rd option is a bit niche, but you could keep the 2 bookings and create a 2nd trip out of the return “portions” of the vouchers subject to the Ts and Cs if you think you’ll collect enough avios to do this within the required timescale.
@NorthernLass, do you know what the required timescale is? Outbound booked priory to expiry of 2-4-1 is a given, but how long can it be before the return journey is booked/taken? I had a read of the T&C’s and couldn’t really find an answer. I think there’s also the requirement to make sure the return leg is a shorter distance then the outbound.This is the stuff you need to research to get the best use out of a 241, and it’s not entirely straightforward. Have you read the articles here, e.g.
https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/03/11/how-to-use-ba-amex-241-voucher/
Briefly, the return has to be within 12 months of the outbound, but booked before you fly the outbound. I think you’re referring to open jaw bookings in your last sentence, again, see here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/03/21/booking-open-jaw-redemption-flight-using-avios-points-2/
This is the stuff you need to research to get the best use out of a 241, and it’s not entirely straightforward. Have you read the articles here, e.g.
https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/03/11/how-to-use-ba-amex-241-voucher/
Briefly, the return has to be within 12 months of the outbound, but booked before you fly the outbound. I think you’re referring to open jaw bookings in your last sentence, again, see here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/03/21/booking-open-jaw-redemption-flight-using-avios-points-2/
@NorthernLass – thank you!I need to add a domestic connection to my booking. I’ve read through the last ten pages but can find no recent reference to this. Will agents wave the change fee and add the connection at the same time I call to apply the 2-4-1 and refund the Avios on the return leg?
As long as you do this asap and the domestic connection wasn’t available when you added the inbound, BA should be able to add it at no extra cost. However, note that yesterday someone posted about an agent who apparently had no idea about UK connections so there’s a slight chance you may have to HUACA.
Just to add a data point on Pg 37 of this thread, I was able to call and add the domestic connection without problems or an attempt to apply charges.
As an aside, we booked 4 tickets but only used one 2-4-1 voucher. However, the agent refunded us 50% on the four tickets which makes me think that all these refunds must be manually applied rather than system generated.
Hi all
I appreciate the US call center have been told not to handle calls from the UK right now, but does anyone have the number anyway?
Thanks in advance.
Hi all
I appreciate the US call center have been told not to handle calls from the UK right now, but does anyone have the number anyway?
Thanks in advance.
listed in this thread, I’m sure. Alternatively log in to your exec club account, numbers are listed there.
Have found the USA call centre to be pretty useless with 2-4-1 bookings lately (including calling them from within USA when in Miami a few weeks ago). For the BST 1am phone run, the USA number effectively closes about 00:45 and stop taking new calls, putting on a “now closed” recorded message, presumably so they can shut on time.
Had more luck with the Australia BAEC 00 61 1300 767 177 – although this appears to transfer to India call centre. The operators are variable – one or two haven’t really understood what the 2-4-1 race is all about and missed out when seats appeared and disappeared.Hi all, hopefully someone can help as getting slightly confused by the open jaw rules. I’m booking a companion voucher flight from London to EZE, and looking to do an open jaw return on the way back, from either GIG, or to use the return part of the companion voucher for another trip. I dont have enough avios to book the return from GIG as a single one way and claim half the avios back, unless i choose a cash heavy avios/cash combination, but from reading through this forum it seems the same combination has to be used in both legs, and for the outbound will be using the max avios to lowest cash combination. If i book the return as a one way ticket to take advantage of low taxes out of GIG, what are my rough options for using the return leg of the companion voucher for a separate trip? If i’ve understood it correctly, i’d be limited to other destinations in South America, aswell as southern and western places in the US? Thanks for any help in advance!
https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/03/21/booking-open-jaw-redemption-flight-using-avios-points-2/
This should help, also google Great Circle Mapper which is good for calculating distances.
You can ask BA to refund your 50% avios on a different ratio to your outbound, but it seems to be about 80/20 for agents refusing to do it in this kind of situation from reports here.
Just a quick note to say thank you for all of the advice provided on this thread, it’s been really helpful. Managed to pick up my return HND-LHR at 1am this morning and now in the process of getting 50% of the avios returned.
I’ve got a HKG-LHR avios 241 booking in club. If possible I’d like to get into First. Can anybody suggest some tactics for how to find availability? Is it a matter of paying for seatspy and then hoping something opens up or is there any other way I might get lucky?
You can set up a SeatSpy alert but there’s often a big lag in their system – yesterday I got an alert for a flight I’d booked 36 hours previously when it was first released!
You really have to keep checking on BA.com for the best chance. From SeatSpy just now, a week or 2 before travel seems most likely.
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