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That’s going to be an Iberia flight – try starting in Madrid. But this close in, it may just be that there’s no availability left (if you actually want to travel in July).
MAD-SJU on July 5th is showing on the Iberia website, but only 1 seat, in J. This can be the problem with Iberia redemptions, they don’t guarantee to release as many seats as BA.
There are articles and threads on this site on using the 241 on IB.
Thank you for confirming NorthernLass, probably low availability is the reason. I did use the 2-4-1 with IB in the past and very profitably (Quito) but looks like this year it will be trickier!
To my shock I just managed to book two cw seats to Sydney direct next Feb – in the middle of the day!!! Used a 241. I was just practising and there it was. Im still thinking it is a mistake though.
Now to plan the return. I doubt I will get so lucky. So what number should I call ( from Europe) to book via sn agent?
Someone might have cancelled within 24 hours and the seats re-appeared just as you were looking! The numbers are all on ba.com, but I think America/Japan/Australia are generally being used atm. The last few pages of this thread has various examples of people being successful (or not!) using these.
Yep, still Premium Economy for me to Sydney in October, no additional seats despite searching daily on BA and Qatar and from multiple UK departure airports.
Hi all. I managed to book a return from Cape Town this morning online. I would appreciate advice on the best way to get the 50% avios refund. I did just try it on chat but was told that this is not allowed.
NorthernLass
Thanks very much for the info regarding South Africa! Tried last night to get CPT-LHR online at midnight, and as usual, at the final step of confirming payment, it throws you out with “sorry…” Grrr! HfP have said before now that BA CS can steal the seats out of your basket during online transactions!
Annnyway took your advice to go via JNB, and availability is easy. I’ve been monitoring the last few days and generally there’s PE and Biz seats up for grabs. So I got Biz for 2 JNB – LHR!
I can book an Airlink flight from CPT to JNB economy to connect for £92 (for 2!) so all sorted. Obviously I had to book with full Avios, as my 2for1 was used for the outbound. Just got to phone up BA to get my 90000 refund of Avios…. wish me luck!Hi all. I managed to book a return from Cape Town this morning online. I would appreciate advice on the best way to get the 50% avios refund. I did just try it on chat but was told that this is not allowed.
I normally do it via Twitter. This is the template I use as it contains all the info they need (apart from their verification checks) and they are always able to refund within a day:
Hi, I have used Avios for a XXX-YYY reward flight for DD/MM/YYYY on BA XX (booking ref XXXXXX) with the Amex companion voucher, booked on DD/MM/YYYY. However, I could not book the return flight at that time as it was more than the T-355 booking window. Hence I booked the return flight YYY-XXX for DD/MM/YYYY on BA XX (booking ref XXXXXX) when seats got released on DD/MM/YYYY. As such, the companion voucher discount was not applied on the return journey. Is it possible to refund half of the Avios from the return journey please?
@kevinchoi – thank you so much. I will give it a go now.
Update:
I just called BA CS and explained my situation as above, and said that I was entitled to an Avios refund, “as I have done before”. I asked the agent if he was aware of this, and he said yes. Gave him both flight references and went through security Qs, and he then put me on hold for about 20 mins (!), but did come back and said he’d given me a 90000 refund as requested! He said it will take 24 hours to appear, so fingers crossed…Hello fellow travellers
I have booked an open jaw MAD-SCL EZE-MAD in premium economy with 2-4-1. Positioning flights to/from Madrid not booked yet. Can I somehow amend the booking and add the MAD-LHR leg to have the luggage checked through? And then book a one-way LHR-MAD.
I seem to recall someone mentioning this was possible but cannot find the comment anymore.Thanks
Hello fellow travellers
I have booked an open jaw MAD-SCL EZE-MAD in premium economy with 2-4-1. Positioning flights to/from Madrid not booked yet. Can I somehow amend the booking and add the MAD-LHR leg to have the luggage checked through? And then book a one-way LHR-MAD.
I seem to recall someone mentioning this was possible but cannot find the comment anymore.Thanks
Yes, you can add the MAD-LHR sector on to the booking (at an additional cost of Avios/taxes) and IB will then check your bags from Buenos Aires to London. On the outbound, you need to buy the LHR-MAD on a separate ticket (to avoid the APD and the lower Avios ex Madrid) and they won’t check your bags through, so allow plenty of time for collecting/rechecking in Madrid.
Yes, you can add the MAD-LHR sector on to the booking (at an additional cost of Avios/taxes) and IB will then check your bags from Buenos Aires to London.[/quote]
Can this be done online or does it require a phone call?
Yes, you can add the MAD-LHR sector on to the booking (at an additional cost of Avios/taxes) and IB will then check your bags from Buenos Aires to London.
Can this be done online or does it require a phone call?[/quote]
You need to call. It’s also usually making the MAD-LHR on Iberia as if it’s BA, the taxes may go haywire. You might also get an IB wide body flight.
Hello fellow travellers
I have booked an open jaw MAD-SCL EZE-MAD in premium economy with 2-4-1. Positioning flights to/from Madrid not booked yet. Can I somehow amend the booking and add the MAD-LHR leg to have the luggage checked through? And then book a one-way LHR-MAD.
I seem to recall someone mentioning this was possible but cannot find the comment anymore.Thanks
Yes, you can add the MAD-LHR sector on to the booking (at an additional cost of Avios/taxes) and IB will then check your bags from Buenos Aires to London. On the outbound, you need to buy the LHR-MAD on a separate ticket (to avoid the APD and the lower Avios ex Madrid) and they won’t check your bags through, so allow plenty of time for collecting/rechecking in Madrid.
Thank you JDB. I’ll try calling them later today. As am avios poor do you know if I can pay full cash/no avios (the flight am looking at is £57 with checked luggage at the moment!) or do I have to use the same avios/cash mix that I have used for the 2-4-1?
You can’t mix cash and avios seats on the same booking, and BA usually insist that you use the same avios/cash ratio. On the LHR-MAD leg, on a separate booking, you can pay however you like, of course.
Wanted to give a quick summary of my experience of using the 2-4-1 voucher. We’ve made our mind we want to visit Cape Town. Last week, I did the steps online, however was late by few mins and of course the seats were gone. Tried again 2 days ago at midnight, managed to get to Payment Page, but the booking failed (of course, some agent managed to snap them). We decided last night for my partner (Silver Status) to call the US Silver line, however a lady told us that we didn’t call the right no. and gave us a different no. for Avios Bookings (?, one which was the general Blue member one). We got really frustrated as it was already 23:55 and no chance for us to get through.
Long story-short I have another attempt to book it online and happy to report I’ve managed to secure 2 Club World seats: LHR-> CPT for 7th Feb 26. At 24:01 we were nervously waiting for the booking to get through, but it seems we got lucky this time. Now, the research begins on how we will approach the return leg.
Anyways, my experience might not be relevant, but it seems we weren’t as lucky as we thought with calling. Could somebody point me if there’s info about Silver US No. for calling about Avios booking? Not clear to me.
Sharing my experience for booking our Inbound from CPT->LHR:
0. We’ve tried 2 days ago the Canadian No. (I’m not sure if US and Canada are both sharing the same Call Centre) to make sure we got everything correctly (of course we called around 20:00 to not block the lines close to midnight) and even then – the person was really helpful and knew exactly what we were after.
1. We called last night at 23:45
2. Got through at around 23:52, security questions and so on. Couple of questions re. mix of Avios to be used (we’ve realised Inbound was onpeak) in order to “waste” some minutes. We were lucky to be assisted by a lovely lady (thank you, Olga), which was happy to wait some minutes until 00:00.
3. She blocked the seats at 00:00 (anxious waiting for BA systems to work), then we’ve done the payment over the phone.
4. We’ve finished at around 00:06, the Return was added to our booking and we’ve been informed that it will take some time for the ticketing to be issues.
5. Of course, some IT glitches in our BA Accounts (I was seeing the return on Web, but not on the phone app)
6. The ticketing came through finally this morning, so don’t be too anxious on this part.As a conclusion, we were lucky to get a BA lady which knew exactly what we were after and was really friendly and helpful. Very happy with the service (there was no telephone fee, as she informed us we are completing our 2-4-1 voucher booking).
@giangiacomo91 – when you call to add the MAD-LHR, the itinerary will be repriced so you should have the opportunity to adjust the cash/Avios mix (and it can’t be all cash) but it may not work out as cheap as the £57 fare you are seeing.
@giangiacomo91 – when you call to add the MAD-LHR, the itinerary will be repriced so you should have the opportunity to adjust the cash/Avios mix (and it can’t be all cash) but it may not work out as cheap as the £57 fare you are seeing.
thanks JDB. Just spoke with BA. The agent was quite frustrated with its computer and was not able to reprice the itinerary (he tried many times for good part of 30 minutes) and blamed the IT system. He said to try at another time. He confirmed that this can be done but according to him a) it only works if the MAD-LHR leg is on Iberia metal and not BA and b) there is a £35 per person fee to amend the booking. Sounds correct?
The £35 fee should only apply if the MAD-LHR was available when you booked your long-haul flight (which IIRC, it wasn’t). You probably need to make this clear when you call back, as it may not be apparent to the agent. If they tell you there’s a £15 phone booking fee, again point out to them that what you’re trying to do is only possible by phone, so they should waive that as well.
@giangiacomo91 – when you call to add the MAD-LHR, the itinerary will be repriced so you should have the opportunity to adjust the cash/Avios mix (and it can’t be all cash) but it may not work out as cheap as the £57 fare you are seeing.
thanks JDB. Just spoke with BA. The agent was quite frustrated with its computer and was not able to reprice the itinerary (he tried many times for good part of 30 minutes) and blamed the IT system. He said to try at another time. He confirmed that this can be done but according to him a) it only works if the MAD-LHR leg is on Iberia metal and not BA and b) there is a £35 per person fee to amend the booking. Sounds correct?
It doesn’t have to be on Iberia, but it’s easier if it is.
@giangiacomo91 – when you call to add the MAD-LHR, the itinerary will be repriced so you should have the opportunity to adjust the cash/Avios mix (and it can’t be all cash) but it may not work out as cheap as the £57 fare you are seeing.
thanks JDB. Just spoke with BA. The agent was quite frustrated with its computer and was not able to reprice the itinerary (he tried many times for good part of 30 minutes) and blamed the IT system. He said to try at another time. He confirmed that this can be done but according to him a) it only works if the MAD-LHR leg is on Iberia metal and not BA and b) there is a £35 per person fee to amend the booking. Sounds correct?
From what I see you in your earlier post about the trip being an open jaw, I assume that you could have booked EZE-MAD-LHR instead of EZE-MAD only at the time of booking. So the agent would be correct in stating that it is due a change fee. Correct me if I am wrong.
How do you manage to get anyone on the phone at 12 UTC? I have been calling as early as 11:35 and I can’t get through till long after 12:00
I have tried the executive club silver and blue US number. Is there a better number to call?
I only once got through when I called at about 11:30 and I got through immediately but it was too early and I was asked to call back
This thread is full of info on who and when to call, but you might just have hit a very busy period. Are you trying to book your seats online simultaneously? You can end up being lucky and not actually having to speak to anyone. Where do you want to go?
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