Can’t book a return flight with less than 1 hour between arrival and departure.

[davecatt]

I’m planning a mileage run to retain status before 31st December and LHR-MAN would be ideal.

The scheduled flight from LHR lands in MAN at 18:40
The return flight departs at 19:30 and may be the same plane/crew/gate so I’d get off the plane, sit down and then board again.

But BA’s website won’t show return flights that depart less than an hour after arrival so I call the contact centre and they insist they can’t do it either (but the agent didn’t actually try, she just asked colleagues who said no). Then she hung up on me! Luckily I always record my conversations so may send that to BA.

I can of course book two one-way flights but it’s more pricey. I can of course book flights with a longer gap but they are more expensive on the dates I’m looking and if I can avoid killing time in the lounge, I’d prefer not to hang around.

So has anyone got the call centre to book a quick-turnaround flight for them?

[Skywalker]

There may be something hard-coded into the booking system not to allow it and so what you want may only be achievable through separate tickets.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

BA won’t sell you a single ticket that breaches MCT.

Also MAN is not an airport where the arriving passengers mix with those waiting to depart. You would need to get yourself around to departures security and clear that and get yourself back to the gate 20 mins before departure and they close the flight.

There are other airports such as AMS, EDI and NCL which are better for back to backs because arrivals mix with departures at the gate but again BA won’t sell you a single ticket that breaches MCT.

[Gary]

Been suggested booking with Amex to circumvent MCT.

https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/50tp-run-on-22-nov-some-advice-please/#post-419531

[davecatt]

Thanks. Very useful.

[Anna]

There have been so many delays and cancellations on this route in the past few days, I would not do it on single tickets and also avoid the first and/or last flights of the day. You’ll need to clear security again as well which is going to get busier and busier in the run up to Xmas.

[tiriavpo]

davecatt wrote:

I’m planning a mileage run to retain status before 31st December and LHR-MAN would be ideal.

If you just need the one return, then booking 2 singles is going to be easiest, but as mentioned not necessarily the cheapest. The point of coming back on the same aircraft is that if it is delayed, so inevitably will the return be delayed, and you can’t miss it. If you plan 2 trips on separate aircraft a few hours apart, and the first is delayed by more than the interval, you miss the return. ABZ is good as you decant into the departure area – there is even time to go to the lounge.

If you are going to need more TPs than the one return, then you can ‘nest’ return trips, ensuring that the flights are going to be the same aircraft for each rotation.

[cats_are_best]

I’ve booked a few TP runs via Amex that were B2B, I once did LGW-JER-LGW-AMS-LGW as two B2B on a single booking (the domestic arrivals direct to international departures shortcut at LGW was working).

LHR-JER can be pretty cheap some days, and even if the JER gate turns out to be the one that doesn’t mix with departures, it’s only about 10-15 minutes to exit and come back through security, though I guess you could probably just lurk at the gate until boarding.

With the iffy weather, JER seems less likely to suffer problems than northern UK.