Long haul in Club World RFS – what Avios + money options for inbound flight?

[Jonathans]

I made an Avios booking online last week for 4 seats Club World. I originally thought two singles priced the same as a return so wasn’t too worried but now see the error of my ways. The options presented to me are;

One Way options Return options
£700 320,000 £700 640,000
£1,062 260,000 £1,424 520,000
£1,432 200,000 £2,165 400,000
£2,193 176,000 £3,685 352,000
£3,000 128,000 £5,300 256,000
£3,311 100,000 £5,922 200,000

I decided to spend 320k Avios plus £700 for all 4 seats on the outbound flight just to keep the initial cost down. I plan to call up tomorrow to book the inbound flight when it is released but what pricing options will i be offered?

I really don’t want to spend another 320k avios plus £700. The ideal would be £1465 + 80k Avios which is the balance of 200k Avios and £2,165 and the the option i would have chosen had i of been able to book both flights together.

[Gary]

You are booking two one ways.

You will be offer the same 6 options as your outbound in terms of Avios required (bar peak/off peak variations). The taxes/charges may or may not vary depending on your destination.

Try a dummy booking for the inbound on any date with availability to see the charges.

[Jonathans]

It wont be 2 ways though if i call up BA and ask them to add the inbound flight to my existing booking it will be treated as a return booking i thought?

[Rob]

In general, do the maths assuming an Avios is worth 1p and you’ll get your answer.

However, also need to factor in other things such as your wish to keep Avios back from short notice / future travel or how much spare cash you have at the moment for the cash element.

[Gary]

@Jonathans Good point. I was under the impression adding inbound to an existing booking is done when using companion voucher/s. But perhaps it’s also possible with a standard Avios booking that I am not sure.

[Jonathans]

So that brings me onto another question – if i cancel and rebook. How likely and when might the Avios seats go back into the pool?

[NorthernLass]

I’d say there’s a 90% chance of those seats going back into the inventory and you’d need to be watching out for them to jump back on them. Don’t forget you’ll be charged £35pp though so it depends if that’s worth it. If it hasn’t already been mentioned, you have to use the same combination of avios and cash on both legs.

[Jonathans]

Thanks @NorthernLass – that is what i was after knowing.
When you say 90% chance of them going back into the inventory – in what sort of time span would you say, immediately?

[NorthernLass]

If they’re going to reappear, it’s usually pretty instantaneous. Are you going to tell us where you’re going?!

[Jonathans]

Thank you.
Give me a few days to unpick the mess i’ve got myself in and bag the tickets and then i will 😉 LOL

[Jonathans]

For those that are interested (my booking to DXB over May half term), i have taught several BA agents something new with this and learnt a lot myself… I booked the outbound leg of my trip for 4 people at t-355 days for in club. This was my first long haul booking with the new RFS options, the first time i have had to pay for 2 kids (since they are now both over 2) and the first time i haven’t had any 241 vouchers to spend so the options were daunting and scary. I ultimately chose the worst option of low money and high avios.

As mentioned above by @NorthernLass, the return\inbound booking cash\avios payment option must be the same as the original outbound booking.

But you can change the cash\avios payment option on a booking over the phone as long as their is a change to the itinerary (i.e. adding the return leg at t-355). The UK bronze exec office confirmed this was possible during a dummy run i did in the week. Speaking to the overseas agent at 1am this morning when booking the return\inbound, initially told me it wasn’t possible to change the payment option but eventually checked with a supervisor and agreed its acceptable (but its a manual calculation on their side which take a little bit longer).

So i went from the prospect of having to pay £1400 + 680k avios which would have wiped me out. To actually paying £2874 and 440k avios. The overseas call centre then tried to charge me £35 change fee plus £15 admin fee per person (there are 4 of us) and refused to back down. I asked them to save the flights and I’d pay later when the UK office opened. Speaking to the UK bronze exec office at 8am instantly confirmed that this was incorrect (for my specific circumstance) and waived all the additional fees.

Happy days but I’ve had no sleep and spent nearly 3 hours on the phone to BA sorting it all out.

The lesson…..know your avios worth (as per @rob method above) before you book as its a pain to undo later.