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Forums Frequent flyer programs British Airways Executive Club The ‘How to book the return leg with 2-4-1 companion voucher’ thread

  • Mun33b 19 posts

    Yes just the outbound via the App. For the inbound I’ll probably do the same at t-355 and call BA to refund 50% of the Avios.

    stevemack 5 posts

    What’s easier to book on at midnight for outbound flights? The App or the website on a computer?

    Mun33b 19 posts

    I would say the APP. The website completely crashed last night from 10am to past midnight. Once you do a couple of dummy runs on the APP who can complete a booking in less than 90 seconds. It helps to have all passenger and bank info stored on your account beforehand of course. Refresh the App booking page at Midnight and you will see the next days inventory pop up. I checked after 10 mins of so and all Business Class seats across all 3 flights had gone. In an hour all economy and premium economy flights had also gone. Hope this helps.

    Caps44 113 posts

    I managed to book on the website for 3 of us using a 2-4-1 to Dubai (Economy). I logged on at midnight and it went through all fine…..I had to add billing address.

    I looked this morning and only 2 of the 24 Economy seats were left (3 flights).

    For the inbound, I’ll have to make a call instead.

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    The first week of January will be hugely in demand from most destinations with families looking to get home before school starts around Jan 5th.

    If all else fails, consider returning from DOH, which is less popular. There are plenty of QR flights there from DXB.

    flyer475885 7 posts

    Hi all,
    Thinking of booking some avios flights for late December 2025. Will book the return leg online and look to get the avios refunded. When using 1 companion voucher for 4 people does the process work the same when calling BA up and asking for the return leg avios to be refunded(obviously 25% of the return leg flights in this case)?
    TIA

    annabh 76 posts

    Looks Dubai isn’t possible as the flight length between Dubai and HKG is shorter than the distance between Dubai and HkG.

    http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=HKG-LHR-DXB-HKG

    * scratched head *

    You might want to look at that again!

    Could you assist what I may need to look again at as clearly not seeing it?

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    You put DXB-HKG twice.

    Should be fine with 4 people, I have done it with 3 in the past.

    Caps44 113 posts

    The first week of January will be hugely in demand from most destinations with families looking to get home before school starts around Jan 5th.

    If all else fails, consider returning from DOH, which is less popular. There are plenty of QR flights there from DXB.

    We are looking to do the inbound before the New Year, so hopefully will be less competitive, especially in Economy! Also I think we have to do it with BA, as we used a 2-4-1?

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    Yes, I meant DXB-DOH separately on QR then BA from DOH with the other half of the voucher. This would be perfectly fine as an open jaw booking. We did a 2-centre stay in December 2023 and it was fairly easy to fly between the two.

    Mun33b 19 posts

    @NorthernLass

    I had a question which you may be able to assist me with.

    I was planning to return from Jeddah around 2nd Jan as an open jaw. The flight from Jeddah to LHR is on BA 787 which does not have a the new club suite. My plan was to just fly back in economy or premium economy. I have heard mixed reviews (mostly negative) about BAs premium economy. Have you ever tried it and do you think its worth paying more Avios for?

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    PE will give you quite a bit of extra legroom, unless you book the exit or bulkhead seats in economy – especially if you decide to reserve PE bulkhead seats (though you can usually only pre-book the middle row as the 2 window seats are blocked for the bassinets). For a night flight, I would book the back row so you can recline as soon as you want to without disturbing the person behind you.

    I’m guessing it’s a shortish flight so I’d be happy to do that in PE – you’ll find plenty of reviews of the cabin online. With it being a small cabin it does feel fairly private. You obviously don’t get the level of service that you do in CW but you expect that.

    One thing I would say is that on peak dates, PE is not that much of a bargain – I think you’re looking at 60k avios each in PE. RFS economy at 30k avios plus £50-ish each is obviously much cheaper if you don’t think the difference in cabins is worth the extra avios and cash.

    Caps44 113 posts

    When calling at midnight in order to book flights when they become available, do people use a regular line as I can imagine the call can end up being expensive?

    Just to add, the benefit of calling is to have the entire trip on one PNR?

    But I assume there is no difference in having outbound on 1 PNR and inbound on another PNR? This is LHR-DXB.

    Mun33b 19 posts

    Thank you for that advice – I would definitely agree that PE is not worth the extra 30k Avios (especially for a 6 hour day flight). Would have been tempted by CW seats if the plane had club suite but the 787s still have the older CW seat which would be a waste of Avios/money.

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    @Caps44, I think some people use Skype or similar to keep the charges to a minimum. The benefit of calling is that the agent can often reserve your seats faster than you would be able to do online.

    There are pros and cons to having 1 or 2 PNRs. 2 gives you more flexibility if your plans change, for example, but if you cancelled the whole trip you’d be stung for 2 lots of fees.

    aq.1988 614 posts

    Thank you for that advice – I would definitely agree that PE is not worth the extra 30k Avios (especially for a 6 hour day flight). Would have been tempted by CW seats if the plane had club suite but the 787s still have the older CW seat which would be a waste of Avios/money.

    Have you checked if there’s any F availability on your dates? IIRC, it’s only 42.5k avios off-peak on that route.

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    @Mun33b, you might want to check the avios pricing, then. I assumed JED would fall into the same band as DXB, etc, but it seems to be in one I wasn’t even aware of!

    F seats aren’t always released at T-355, and are probably less likely to be available over a peak period like late Dec/early Jan.

    Mun33b 19 posts

    @NorthernLass I had a look for 19th Dec 2025 at there was availability across econ, prem econ and business. Economy was 55k + 210 for 2 adults and 1 child. I will have to wait another 10 or so days though because I was planning the inbound on 2nd Jan 2026. The Jeddah – LHR only restarted again in October 2024 after it was discontinued for a few years. Its just a shame the flight is not on one of the better planes. The BA 787-9 seems to get a lot of hate and negative feedback online.

    NorthernLass 10,462 posts

    Keep an eye on the outbound seats. I don’t know how popular Jeddah is, but if they start disappearing, book the outbound and follow the advice on here about adding the inbound later.

    Also – if your child is over 2, just be aware that BA tends to only release 2 PE seats at peak times.

    Mun33b 19 posts

    Thanks – Jeddah is not a particularly busy destination – less so than even Doha or Riyadh but will keep an eye.

    Dukes 3 posts

    I am looking to book MXP-MAD-EZE/EZE-MAD-LHR.. is this kind of “reverse” open jaw allowed on 2 for 1 vouchers if I call BA? I read a lot of material on open jaw booking but still not sure this is eligible.

    Thanks in advance!

    JDB 6,179 posts

    I am looking to book MXP-MAD-EZE/EZE-MAD-LHR.. is this kind of “reverse” open jaw allowed on 2 for 1 vouchers if I call BA? I read a lot of material on open jaw booking but still not sure this is eligible.

    Thanks in advance!

    Yes, that open jaw itinerary works fine – the ‘jaw’ can be at origin or destination or both (when it becomes a double open jaw).

    annabh 76 posts

    Looks Dubai isn’t possible as the flight length between Dubai and HKG is shorter than the distance between Dubai and HkG.

    http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=HKG-LHR-DXB-HKG

    * scratched head *

    You might want to look at that again!

    Could you assist what I may need to look again at as clearly not seeing it?

    Cheers lots of things going on at the moment 🙂

    Mun33b 19 posts

    Quick Question – is there a 12 month rule for booking the return flight using 2-4-1 voucher? I have read differing things some say there is no end date when to return (so long as outbound is before voucher expiry date) whilst others say its 12 months from the date of the outbound flight. Any help would be appreciated.

    JDB 6,179 posts

    Quick Question – is there a 12 month rule for booking the return flight using 2-4-1 voucher? I have read differing things some say there is no end date when to return (so long as outbound is before voucher expiry date) whilst others say its 12 months from the date of the outbound flight. Any help would be appreciated.

    The 12 month restriction derives from standard IATA ticket validity rules and the Conditions of Carriage rather than any term/condition of the voucher itself.

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