LHR-CMB/HKT-LON: Best way of booking reward flights

[VinZ]

Hi there

I need to book the above flights and I want to do it with points, but when I search on ba.com these routes are not available at all. What’s the best alternative? I’m a bit lost to be fair…

Thank you!

[NorthernLass]

I don’t think BA flies to either of these directly. You can either book on BA for part of the journey (e.g.) to DXB or BKK then get connecting flights, or look at another airline which uses avios as its loyalty currency. I imagine QR would get you there with a change at DOH but I don’t know what availability is like.

You might have to start by searching for sectors separately on ba.com.

[Aston100]

I think Strickers and possibly others here go to Colombo after a BA flight to Chennai / Madras.
And as said above, BA sometimes flies to Bangkok.

[Richie]

UL504 does not have a BA codeshare flight number.
BA6366 is a QR flight DOH-CMB
BA6390 is a QR flight HKT-DOH.
Try a call to BA or some searches through QR’s website.

[AJA]

You can definitely book that itinerary on BA for cash. It would be on Qatar metal vai DOH and BA does sell codeshare flight numbers. Not sure whether there is reward availability though. It would require reward availability on Qatar. It might be possible to book if you call BAC.

I would do a search on Google Flights for the dates you want and if it is available for cash you should be able to select to book via BA and will then see the BA flight numbers. Then call BAC

Alternatively if you have a QR Privelege account linked to BAC try booking on Qatar. You may have to transfer Avios to QR first though it is technically possible for QR to draw the Avios directly from BAC.

[CyberMan]

HKT-LHR should be available with avios on Finnair albeit via HEL, I’ve got that exact flight later this year so it can definitely be done. If you can’t see it on BA then check on Finnair as you can transfer avios directly to them as well.

[VinZ]

Thanks all – will call BA and check with them directly. Thanks again!

[Gary]

You can booked Sri Lankan direct LHR CMB on both BA & QR websites with points but availabilities are not great.

[VinZ]

Thanks all. I’ve actually managed to easily find a flight in J to CMB on QR for 77,700 avios + taxes; and return from HKT via DOH on a very spenny 150,000 avios flight but in Q-suite (maybe!) + taxes.

Now I need to find a CMB-HKT flight but I don’t think I can book it with points as Malaysian doesn’t use avios and Thai neither… unless there’s a trick?

Thank you very much for your amazing tips!

[VinZ]

AJA wrote:

Alternatively if you have a QR Privelege account linked to BAC try booking on Qatar. You may have to transfer Avios to QR first though it is technically possible for QR to draw the Avios directly from BAC.

Yes, it gets the points directly from BA as my accounts are linked! 🙂

[strickers]

Sorry, late to the party. I’ve booked LHR-BOM in J with BA then BOM-CMB with SriLankan using Avios through the BA website. I don’t think there are any direct flights CMB-HKT, you might find CMB-BKK with SriLankan and then a cash flight from there?

[Joecooljoe]

Just to add, we found LHRCMB ret direct with sri lankan on avios in Y to be much cheaper booked thru QR and as two one ways than at ba.com (or ib)

[VinZ]

Joecooljoe wrote:

Just to add, we found LHRCMB ret direct with sri lankan on avios in Y to be much cheaper booked thru QR and as two one ways than at ba.com (or ib)

Yes it was very cheap. On the contrary, HKT-LHR via DOH booked on QR was ridiculously spenny. 150,000 avios, I got less than 1p per avios… the worst redemption value in the last couple of years.

[VinZ]

strickers wrote:

Sorry, late to the party. I’ve booked LHR-BOM in J with BA then BOM-CMB with SriLankan using Avios through the BA website. I don’t think there are any direct flights CMB-HKT, you might find CMB-BKK with SriLankan and then a cash flight from there?

Sri Lankan doesn’t use avios – is there a way around this? I guess it’s the same with Malaysian too? They use another currency…

[VinZ]

VinZ wrote:

strickers wrote:

Sorry, late to the party. I’ve booked LHR-BOM in J with BA then BOM-CMB with SriLankan using Avios through the BA website. I don’t think there are any direct flights CMB-HKT, you might find CMB-BKK with SriLankan and then a cash flight from there?

Sri Lankan doesn’t use avios – is there a way around this? I guess it’s the same with Malaysian too? They use another currency…

Ignore. I can see the flight on BA but no J available. Will keep looking. Thank you!

[VinZ]

I think I managed to book all I had to book except for CMB-KUL which I had to book in economy. Am I right in thinking that BA will charge the usual £35 cancellation fee if I were to cancel this booking when/if a J seat shows up?

[zapato1060]

Yes. For future ref it’s worth checking price in cash with some of these connecting flights as just forcing yourself to use Avios just because the airlines accepts it sometimes doesnt make financial sense.

[VinZ]

Thanks Zapato – the thing is I’m avios rich so I’m a little reluctant about spending hard cash when I have so many points. But if I can maximise their use and potential, it’s better. 🙂

[VinZ]

Ok, so I managed to also book an earlier flight from DOH-LHR in J with QR and that cost me almost half avios compared to what QR charges. I noticed though that the aircraft is an A380-800 which has a first cabin and the J cabin is made of Diamond seats, not Q-suite.

Question now is: should I stick to the QR booking in the Q-suite, or Diamond seat is absolutely fine and if a F class eat opens up, snatch that?

Thank you!