Combining companion voucher bookings?

[revilo]

Hi,

This is likely to be a very niche query!

I am looking to use companion vouchers to book a family of four to Florida next year. I know that you can use two vouchers in one persons name to allow this, if you have two vouchers in hand. I already have one in my BA account to use. I am on the verge of triggering the next but need a £1k spend. I was hoping to use the first voucher say today, pay the taxes, the spend from which would trigger the second. However, I don’t think I can then use the second voucher as of course one of the passengers would need to me, but I am already booked via voucher 1! I wondered whether I could phone BA and use ask to combine the booking so allowing the four of us to fly, but they have said NO, although he was a bit vague. I could wait a month around a month by which time I would trigger the second voucher anyway, but concerned that the reward flights will be gone by then.

Anyone had anything similar and managed a way out of it? tHANKS

[NorthernLass]

BA won’t combine bookings in the way you want – to book for 4 you would have to use both vouchers at the same time.
Can you trigger your 2nd voucher sooner, e.g. pay council tax/early Xmas shopping/gift vouchers you’ll use in the next few weeks for things like supermarket shop/top up Amazon?

[Biki]

or just make a cancellable prepaid hotels.com booking to trigger it, which after a little while you may then decide to cancel?

[revilo]

Thanks both, have been doing some spending to trigger the voucher asap

[NorthernLass]

Biki wrote:

or just make a cancellable prepaid hotels.com booking to trigger it, which after a little while you may then decide to cancel?

Has anyone noticed these seem to be getting fewer and fewer, plus a lot of hotels won’t take Amex now? I’ve never gone this route to amass spend but since the pandemic I don’t make non-refundable bookings.

Also you can’t filter for flexible deals any more, though they removed that some time ago – a sneaky move, I thought.

[revilo]

I definitely would book any hotel without free cancellation now, maybe less availability is down to losing too much money with cover cancellations.

Related question – with my group of 4 there is a low (less than 10%) change that one of the group won’t be able to make it, in which case we have a replacement lined up. I know that you cannot amend an existing booking but instead need to cancel and rebook – but will BA cancel and rebook over the phone in one transaction or do you just have to wait for the vouchers to be reissued and hope that the reward flights reappear and are still there when you rebook?

thanks