Routing restrictions for new 2-4-1 voucher

[BuildBackBetter]

Is it possible to book DEL-LHR as first leg and LHR-IST second leg using the new 2-4-1 voucher?
Remember reading that the distance between the two open jaw cities should be less than both legs. Does that mean this route cannot be booked?

[NorthernLass]

Have you got one of the vouchers yet? There are some routes it will price up and others not, and I’m not sure it aligns completely with the open jaw rules.

[NorthernLass]

It looks possible, for business class off-peak it’s 86750 avios plus £763 taxes. I’m not sure how this compares with the surcharges for booking separately – they increase if you have a stopover of more than 24 hours in London so it’s not always a good deal to combine a long haul flight with a RFS.
Weird things happen with the taxes on a lot of dummy bookings with the new 241 so I’d suggest a fair bit of playing around with it before committing to anything!

[masaccio]

From HfP article:

It CAN be used on ‘open jaw’ flights, where you return from a different airport, even though these can’t be booked online and require a call to British Airways. The only rule is that the distance between your arrival and departure airport must be shorter than either of the two flights.

gcmap.com is where I look at distances but it’s offline right now. However, I don’t think you need it to know LHR-IST is much closer than IST-DEL.

TL;DR: no.

[PGW]

Is this an open jaw or simply a 1-way DEL-LHR-IST? Looks like the latter to me.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[JDB]

PGW wrote:

Is this an open jaw or simply a 1-way DEL-LHR-IST? Looks like the latter to me.

It can’t be a one way as it would exceed the permitted mileage between Delhi and Istanbul.

[PGW]

JDB wrote:

PGW wrote:

Is this an open jaw or simply a 1-way DEL-LHR-IST? Looks like the latter to me.

It can’t be a one way as it would exceed the permitted mileage between Delhi and Istanbul.

I happily defer to your greater knowledge on that point but how is the itinerary currently bookable (no voucher applied) as a 1-way on ba.com?

[JDB]

@PGW – I haven’t tried to book that routing, but most itineraries allow you to book something like this and simply price as two one way tickets rather than one (hence the Avios required as shown above). I don’t know how BA would treat this itinerary for a 241 voucher when for cash fare purposes it is two one ways that theoretically you can’t do on a voucher.

[PGW]

JDB wrote:

@PGW – I haven’t tried to book that routing, but most itineraries allow you to book something like this and simply price as two one way tickets rather than one (hence the Avios required as shown above). I don’t know how BA would treat this itinerary for a 241 voucher when for cash fare purposes it is two one ways that theoretically you can’t do on a voucher.

Thanks.

I did a dummy 1-way avios booking on ba.com which prices up without any issues. Interestingly, the 2 legs are described on the final page as “Outbound Flight 1” and “Outbound Flight 2” which suggests it is regarded as a 1-way itinerary.

What I am clear in my own mind on is that this itinerary cannot correctly be described as an “open jaw”.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[JDB]

@PGW yes – it fails the open jaw test as the distance between Delhi and Istanbul is greater than London to Istanbul and ? zone issues.

For pricing purposes it is two one way journeys, so I don’t know whether for the voucher it is treated as such (which theoretically isn’t allowed) or whether it would allow you to return on the same (or similar permissible) routing, albeit pricing as four one way sectors.

[PGW]

Thanks again.

[AJA]

You can book a flight one way from DEL to IST via LHR for cash on BA.com (it prices up as something like 222k Indian Rupees) so that suggests that it should be possible to use the new 2-4-1 to book a reward flight on the same routing in the same way as you can start in INV and fly to JFK and back via LHR. Technically therefore it should also be possible to use the 2-4-1 to book a return flight DEL-IST-DEL via LHR in both directions (subject to reward seat availability)

[JDB]

@AJA you may potentially be right but your example isn’t comparable. INV-LHR-JFK and return falls within the IATA rules on mileage, so for a cash fare it prices as a simple return – four sectors but priced as two. DEL-LHR-IST falls foul of the MPM (even with the permissible paid excess allowed on cash tickets) so has to be priced as two one way tickets and I don’t know if anyone has tried to book this type of journey with a voucher at all, let alone whether it works out well cost wise.

[SamG]

Yes, just checked expertflyer – BA files fares Delhi-Istanbul via London . So this should be bookable as a one way trip and in theory allow a return trip. I think there are some potentially interesting (albiet niche) opportunities with these vouchers, especially as BA allows stopovers on Avios tickets in London

[PGW]

SamG wrote:

I think there are some potentially interesting (albiet niche) opportunities with these vouchers, especially as BA allows stopovers on Avios tickets in London

That is certainly my view of it although I don’t believe the limits of the new option to start the trip outside the UK have been fully tested yet. Logically, if an itinerary can be booked with avios and is on BA metal then the new vouchers ought to be redeemable. Otherwise, it’s a pretty hollow improvement.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[e14]

The NEW voucher will price DEL-LHR-IST as a one way and a return; the OJ requirements are not relevant

[NorthernLass]

I said this several posts ago, I tried it last night with our new-style voucher! BUT, I don’t think combining a long-haul leg with a RFS is great value, because full APD (and possible other BA sneaky surcharges) are triggered instead of the RFS fee. Possibly this wouldn’t happen if the LON stopover was less than 24 hours but I don’t think this is what people will generally be intending to do on these bookings.