-
Hi,
I have a return avios booking from 26th to 28th December in CE, but would now like to go for an extra night. There’s no availability on the 29th, so it means flying on Christmas instead.
I had a look on MMB about changing the flight, and it says that because Boxing day is off-peak, and Christmas is peak, I can’t change it online, and have to call.
If I were to call, would I be charged the £35pp change fee (there are 3 of us)?
I had a look at cancelling online, and it shows I would only be charged £1pp to cancel the whole thing, but is there a way to only cancel the outbound leg online?
I don’t mind having 2 separate PNR’s, and my worry is that the returns won’t go back into inventory if I cancel at this stage. There is an alternative flight a couple hours earlier but would prefer the later flight to make the most of our last day. Anyone have any DP’s about seats going back into inventory around 2 months ahead of departure?
Is there a way to do this without incurring the £35pp change fee?
I’m not using any vouchers if that helps.
Thanks!
I think you’re going to have to swallow the fee – you’d need to pay this even if you could make the change via MMB. I wouldn’t risk losing the seats at such a popular time for travel.
I agree with @NorthernLass I’d just pay the £35 per passenger change fee.
The only other possibility is if there is currently Avios availability for both the required outbound and inbound flights on 25 to 28 Dec you can book from scratch again and then cancel the existing booking afterwards.
Thanks for your reply. I think you’re right, as I really don’t want to risk losing the inbound at this stage.
I have cancelled a flight recently, at around 3 months before departure, when I had earned a new Barclays voucher. There was still avios availability in J on that flight, so it was risk free; I booked it first with the voucher, then cancelled the full price booking (with £35 fee as it was LH), and it did end up going back in inventory.
I agree with @NorthernLass I’d just pay the £35 per passenger change fee.
The only other possibility is if there is currently Avios availability for both the required outbound and inbound flights on 25 to 28 Dec you can book from scratch again and then cancel the existing booking afterwards.
Unfortunately no extra availability on the desired flight back on 28th, only on one about 2 hours earlier. I guess no other option but to pay the £35pp.
When not using a voucher this can be a good reason to have separate bookings for the outbound and inbound legs, especially when paying less than £35pp on taxes and fees. Hindsight of course but one to note for the future. Separate bookings would’ve allowed you to cancel just one leg and rebook.
When not using a voucher this can be a good reason to have separate bookings for the outbound and inbound legs, especially when paying less than £35pp on taxes and fees. Hindsight of course but one to note for the future. Separate bookings would’ve allowed you to cancel just one leg and rebook.
Yep, definitely lesson learned for next time when travelling short haul.
Just updating this thread as a data point for anyone who cancels a reward booking around 2 months beforehand, and wanted to know if it went back into inventory. Could be useful to anyone that earns a voucher after a booking, and is willing to risk it.
I decided to cancel my whole booking for £1pp, rather than just amend the outbound for £35pp, as there was availability for 2x CE, plus 1x ET on a later flight (as opposed to 3x CE that I had booked), which would have been acceptable to me.
No voucher being used, so booked the outbound only for the 25th, and then cancelled my original. Points were returned immediately, and the seats also went straight back into inventory, so rebooked the return on 28th for the same time.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
