Last-minute change of plan to flights booked with 2-4-1 companion voucher

[TedFu]

Hi,
I had a pair of 2-4-1 BA companion vouchers which I redeemed for flights to/from Japan for myself, my wife and our two kids. Departure date is 22nd July. However, my 17 y/o son is now in a sort of panic about next year’s A’levels and is adamant he wants to stay behind so he can focus on his studies, personal statement prep, etc over the summer. Now I’m trying to figure out what to do in terms of the bookings. Is there a “smart” way to cancel my son’s reservation without forfeting the reservation made with the companion voucher, or is it much too late to do anything now? Appreciate any thoughts.

[executiveclubber]

Someone smarter than me should be along shortly (I hope) but the way I’d approach it is – if Avios availability comes up closer to the time for one seat (you can set up email alerts with SeatSpy) you could cancel the ticket and rebook using Avios, banking the voucher for future use. If availability doesn’t come up closer to the time, you should sit tight, as you’d then need to pay a full cash fare which would of course be worse than the availability you got with Avios. The 2-4-1 opens up extra Avios availability so you could even kid yourself that you got some use from it 😉

[JDB]

@TedFu – the answer to this conundrum will depend on whose vouchers you are using. If they are both yours or both your wife’s, you risk losing the voucher – you will get it back but the expiry will be unchanged.

If you are using two vouchers in different names, one parent can travel with one child and the other parent can use the voucher as a 50% once the booking has been split. You would need a helpful/on the ball agent to do this, but it should be achievable. They shouldn’t require you to cancel and rebook as it’s only form of payment that is changing.

Whatever you choose to do, the decision is likely to be irreversible and teenagers have been known to change their minds… it’s a bit complicated, but you are lucky he’s serious about his studies!

When our son started at senior school, the parents were given a talk by an expert on teenage boys’ brains and one topic was their capacity to make totally irrational decisions that they recognise not long afterwards were totally irrational but can’t begin to explain how they came to that decision.

[TedFu]

@JDB – Thank you for the sage advice re travel vouchers and teenage lads! That’s very true, I should be glad he’s being serious about this stuff and in many ways it’s also quite a rational decision (although I suspect another big motivation is that he’ll have the place all to himself – lord help us!) Concerning the booking, both vouchers were in my name so unfortunately it doesn’t look like the split will be doable. Good to know though.

[TedFu]

@executiveclubber – Thanks. That’s not a bad idea. I’ve cut back on travel a lot these days and I’d totally forgotten about SeatSpy alerts. I don’t imagine reward flights will become available on the exact same outbound and inbound dates, especially given the popularity of this route, but it can’t hurt to keep an eye on things all the same. In the worst case though, I’ll just take the hit and chalk it up to experience.

[NorthernLass]

Not Japan, but during the GCSEs a couple of years ago we decamped to Wales for 10 days at May half term and just took all the revision stuff with us! If he changes his mind again, he could always pack a laptop and work on his personal statement etc while you’re away (it’s also a very long flight!). How long is the trip – presumably not all summer? It would be a shame to completely miss out on such a wonderful travel opportunity.

Very true about the adolescent male brain!