-
Hi All,
Sorry if this has been asked before.
I’m looking at redeeming 2 return tickets to HKG in business class later this year. I understand that it is possible to save some surcharges by 1) book the outbound leg using the 241 voucher, 2) book the return leg using full Avios separately, and finally 3) ask BA to refund half the Avios for the return leg.
However, I’m wondering if it’s possible to book the return leg with another 241 voucher and then ask BA to refund the voucher later? The reason behind this is that the 241 voucher seems to genuinely open up more availabilities. To make things more complicated, one of the voucher is under my name and the other one is under my partner’s. We are under the same household account though.TIA
They won’t refund a voucher without cancelling the booking. What you need to do to get the extra availability is to call BA who will be able to “see” it and add on your return booking. With the introduction of RFS pricing the savings on the HKG surcharges have gone anyway.
LHR HKG charges/taxes were £240pp cheaper in J booked as two one ways selecting the “old” Avios pricing (usually the 3rd option) last month. Didn’t compare the other 5 options as old habits die hard.
Yes, it not true that the saving has gone. It is, however, lower than it used to be.
The maximum Avios cash component on a one way flight from HKG is still limited to the real taxes, but of course you now need a lot more Avios at that level. Compared to Tokyo, which is in the same redemption band, you pay £36.34 as of today, instead of £275. That saving of £238.66 is reflected across the higher cash/lower Avios levels.
However to apply a single voucher you would have to book the return without the additional I class availability and request the 50% Avios refund afterwards. If there is no standard redemption availability for your return you’re a bit stuck unless you use two vouchers.
Whether that makes sense depends on what other use you have for the voucher, but for 2 people you would at least save nearly double the BAPP annual card fee.
A couple of other thoughts that may be helpful…
1. If you also have a Barclaycard upgrade voucher and can find normal redemption availability on the outbound you could sacrifice that instead and keep the companion voucher for the return.
2. If you use two companion vouchers you could potentially make another trip out of the returns, within the open jaw booking rules (albeit somewhat restrictive given BA’s fairly limited coverage in Asia).
As I said above, if OP calls to add the return, the agent will be able to see the extra availability!
However that would result in it being priced as a return on the original booking, i.e. no £240pp saving. As FlyerSam is looking to book for later this year (so not at or near the T-355 day horizon) there’s probably little value in doing that over finding expanded availability for dates that work and booking it as a return online.
Thanks everyone! I guess I’ll either keep looking for the availability of standard redemption for the return leg, or lose the 240pp saving and book as a return trip.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
