Connecting flight to London for reward flight

[Colin84]

I am flying from Gatwick to the Caribbean at the end of September with BA. Flight was booked for 2 adults and infant in Club World on an old style 2-4-1 voucher. Our departure point is Belfast. As the website wouldn’t allow us to search with Belfast as departure point and, as availability was fast running out and I couldn’t get through on the phone to BA, I just booked online from London. I have now finally succeeded getting through on the phone to BA. However, when I try to add flights from Belfast to London, they are quoting me an additional £500 in tax plus 33000 Avios (and this is wrapped up under the 2-4-1 voucher). Have I done something wrong or is it typically that punitive to get to London in order to avail of a reward flight? Maybe if I had made the initial booking over the phone from Belfast it would have been more reasonable? However, pragmatically this was not an option as the reward flight availability would have gone before someone at BA picked up the phone.

[tazzy]

This will cause a recalculation of taxes. I’m Belfast based and had a similar experience. I’ve found it easier to fly easy jet to Gatwick and stay overnight for Caribbean flights.

[Scott]

If the departure point is changed from London to Belfast then there should be no additional Avios cost (domestic connections are ‘free’ for international flights) but an additional per person cash surcharge. However, this fee is small – not £500. Some folk say that it’s the equivalent of the ‘traditional’ cash element of a Reward Flight Saver (RFS), e.g. £50 in business, but I’ve found the domestic surcharge to be a bit more variable than that.

However, if the agent has created a separate booking for Belfast to London, then there would be both an Avios and cash cost. If this was booked as a RFS (assuming you are eligible for RFS) then the cash element still shouldn’t be anywhere near £500 for 2 + infant.

[JDB]

Colin84 wrote:

I am flying from Gatwick to the Caribbean at the end of September with BA. Flight was booked for 2 adults and infant in Club World on an old style 2-4-1 voucher. Our departure point is Belfast. As the website wouldn’t allow us to search with Belfast as departure point and, as availability was fast running out and I couldn’t get through on the phone to BA, I just booked online from London. I have now finally succeeded getting through on the phone to BA. However, when I try to add flights from Belfast to London, they are quoting me an additional £500 in tax plus 33000 Avios (and this is wrapped up under the 2-4-1 voucher). Have I done something wrong or is it typically that punitive to get to London in order to avail of a reward flight? Maybe if I had made the initial booking over the phone from Belfast it would have been more reasonable? However, pragmatically this was not an option as the reward flight availability would have gone before someone at BA picked up the phone.

I don’t know when you made the original booking, but when making this change of departure point, BA will reprice the whole thing, so if you originally booked before the two increases in surcharges, it could explain the extra cash cost, but the extra Avios, no idea!

[Colin84]

Thanks for the replies. I asked the agent to clarify that the additional flights would be incorporated into the original booking and he confirmed this to me. When I re-priced the flights from London to Caribbean, it does appear that the taxes have increased. Will probably just book EasyJet flights direct to Gatwick rather than getting BA and having to transfer from Heathrow to Gatwick.