Cancel and rebook with 241 — recent experience?

[masaccio]

I know it’s an often asked question but does anyone have recent experience of cancelling a redemption and rebooking immediately? I’m Gold (for now) so I know I can get through to BAEC fairly quickly but the route is showing no additional CW availability so I would be relying on the seats reappearing quickly.

What I am really hoping for is that an agent can cancel the booking for me and then rebook while I am on the phone using my 241 voucher that will otherwise expire next April. I’ve done that in the past but that was pre-pandemic.

And yes I really have no option to use a 241 otherwise — the next school holiday we don’t have travel booked outside of Christmas (when travel is banned by the OH) is April next year and I am quite low on Avios so don’t really have many options and April in Europe isn’t my usual first choice for a holiday.

[NorthernLass]

What’s the issue with April in Europe? Southern Spain and Canaries would have pretty much guaranteed good weather if that’s your concern.

What’s the route you are cancelling and dates? Whether the seats come back sometimes depends on how likely BA is to sell them for cash, so destination can be an issue. I did this last year and the seats (F to BOS) did come back immediately but there are a lot of factors involved.

[masaccio]

NorthernLass wrote:

What’s the issue with April in Europe? Southern Spain and Canaries would have pretty much guaranteed good weather if that’s your concern.

Mean sea temperature in April in the Canaries is 20 degrees which is a bit chilly for my blood. I’m really looking for something that includes a beach as well as something else.

NorthernLass wrote:

What’s the route you are cancelling and dates? Whether the seats come back sometimes depends on how likely BA is to sell them for cash, so destination can be an issue. I did this last year and the seats (F to BOS) did come back immediately but there are a lot of factors involved.

LHR-JRO NBO. Usually not particularly busy but half-term week it looks like it’s popular. I guess it’s because of the migration (though it’s technically in Tanzania in February, not Kenya). Still February in Kenya is a good month for a safari which is why we’re going.

Jon

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[NorthernLass]

Is that a 241 route? I didn’t even know BA flew there!

[masaccio]

Good grief – that was quite the airport typo!

[ChrisC]

NorthernLass wrote:

Is that a 241 route? I didn’t even know BA flew there!

They don’t without a change to a partner

For those wondering JRO = Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania

But yes it looks like this isn’t a 2-4-1 voucher using route and one of the rules is that it’s on BA metal

https://www.headforpoints.com/2021/09/27/how-do-british-airways-american-express-2411-companion-vouchers-work/

“It can only be used on British Airways services. You can’t use it on Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific etc even though you can book such flights on Avios.”

[NorthernLass]

LOL, NBO (Nairobi) makes much more sense, but how spooky you were pretty close with your error! We spent our honeymoon in Kenya, it was magical.

I don’t know then – it might depend on local demand – will there be lots of students returning from London, for example?

[NorthernLass]

Also I’m confused as to whether you want to go in Feb or April? But RFF is showing multiple CW seats in those months. It’s not always accurate though.

[MattB]

I had an issue a few years back when adding the return leg of a 241. The agent did it totally wrong and when I called up to enquire was told the booking wasn’t valid and they had no choice but to cancel the whole thing and redo. Thankfully the new agent was able to see the seats reappear and held them for me but they did say there was a risk they not have.

[masaccio]

April is when I could spend the 241 on a new booking but February we have LHR-NBO booked and I want to rebook that with the 241 that expires in April. We should have a couple more 241s coming by early 2023 but trying not to spend more Avios as we won’t have enough to use those vouchers.

So basically trying to avoid the April voucher expiring but also trying to avoid emptying my BAEC balance so as to rebuild it a bit over the next couple of years.

Is it mad that I plan Avios 2-3 years in advance?

[NorthernLass]

No – especially when there are school age kids in the mix!

SeatSpy is showing plenty if availability in Feb though you might have to return in PE or Y. I don’t know if you have one or two weeks at half term, which will obviously affect your flexibility.

So many other places you could go though if using the 241 is your priority. Also, your 241 should be good for use next April if you wanted to use it for the 2023 Easter holidays, you only have to fly the outbound by the expiry date.