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Good morning, just been reading the thread and have a question. Sorry if I’ve misunderstood, but are flights released T-360 or T-355? I always thought it was T-355?
Trying to book MCO flights for Easter holidays next year, I tried the Australian call centre first but having got through at 0045, I was told that I needed to call the US number to do an Avios booking. I called that at 0047, held for 8 minutes then had a message that the office was closed. Tried the Aus number again but was on hold as 1am ticked over. In the end, I managed to book the seats I wanted online (took me about 45 seconds to get through process as all details were saved on my account).
My concern now is how to add the flights back in a couple of weeks as I don’t have enough Avios to book it online and then apply 2-4-1 after. Has anyone had any success with one of the call centres recently? What I’m seeing generally is issues with the US line closing at 1am (or based on my experience today at 0055) and Australia didn’t seem to work.
Good morning, just been reading the thread and have a question. Sorry if I’ve misunderstood, but are flights released T-360 or T-355? I always thought it was T-355?
My understanding is that BA is T-355 days but Iberia is T-360 days hence that timeframe being referenced in some of the thread above.
This is an impossible situation – the website doesn’t process the info quick enough to let you book…
There’s something of a self-contradiction there. If the tickets aren’t available by the time you (try to) complete the transaction it’s precisely because someone else has managed to get there first – so by definition it is possible one way or the other.
I know what you’re getting at, but we both know it’s not actually possible to book the tickets fast enough on the website for a popular route. Hence the advice to call and get the agent to “hold” the tickets for you whilst you make payment etc. The problem is that the “executive club” call centre isn’t open at the time the tickets are released and the call centre that is open claims they can’t make reward flight bookings.
You haven’t told us which route you’re trying to book. There are often acceptable alternatives which readers haven’t thought of until they come here for advice.
As @AndrewT says, someone is booking these tickets.
I’ve never called at midnight/1 am but it sounds as though this is becoming a less and less reliable route these days.
It’s certainly possible.
I did so last night at 1am for St Lucia school holidays next Easter which is surely a popular route – 2 x CW and 2 x PE (sure, there’s competition as was aiming for 4 x CW) but it’s perfectly doable. I’ve never done it on the phone before (tried once, unsuccessfully, so now just have the trigger finger sharpened for when the clock hits 1!).
You haven’t told us which route you’re trying to book. There are often acceptable alternatives which readers haven’t thought of until they come here for advice.
As @AndrewT says, someone is booking these tickets.
I’ve never called at midnight/1 am but it sounds as though this is becoming a less and less reliable route these days.
LHR to Tokyo
I might look into the Madrid route, but that adds time to my already short travel window and I’ve been to Madrid tonnes of times.
Tokyo’s a really tricky choice if you don’t have much flexibility on dates and airports. There are loads of posts on this site about just how difficult it is to get award seats.
Don’t forget that IB release sears at T-360 so they’re a few days ahead of BA.
Tokyo’s a really tricky choice if you don’t have much flexibility on dates and airports. There are loads of posts on this site about just how difficult it is to get award seats.
Don’t forget that IB release seats at T-360 so they’re a few days ahead of BA.
Tokyo’s a really tricky choice if you don’t have much flexibility on dates and airports. There are loads of posts on this site about just how difficult it is to get award seats.
Don’t forget that IB release seats at T-360 so they’re a few days ahead of BA.
– You can say that again!
(Like you, I have often posted the same comment twice)It’s certainly possible.
I did so last night at 1am for St Lucia school holidays next Easter which is surely a popular route – 2 x CW and 2 x PE (sure, there’s competition as was aiming for 4 x CW) but it’s perfectly doable. I’ve never done it on the phone before (tried once, unsuccessfully, so now just have the trigger finger sharpened for when the clock hits 1!).
Which number did you call?
We were due to attempt this for BKK next easter also but 200k Avios was helpfully stolen from our account in March and we still havent had any word from BA’s fraud dept. I fear we are going to miss our chance.Have booked the outbound Mad – Mia with 2 4 1 & in two weeks will book the inbound. MIA – MAD Only difference being want to add another leg Mad – LHR.
Realised that MAD LHR is the following day.
Put simply, can I phone up twice, or will they charge me for the second call
TIA
You shouldn’t get charged (apart from what the flight costs, of course) if the short-haul leg wasn’t released when you booked the long haul.
I needed to call the US number out of UK hours and “Hushed” voip app worked very well. Cheap but not free. Mentioning this for the benefit of Skype users.
Thought I’d add my experience to this thread, in case it helps anyone. I wanted to add a HKG-LHR flight to a LHR-SIN booking I’d made a couple of weeks ago.
I called the Australia number (+61) 1300 767 177 (using Skype) a few minutes before 1:00am, took the option to change a flight and got through within a minute or two to a gentleman, probably in India. It only took a few more minutes to explain what I wanted, he wasn’t fazed at all by the request, he came back just after 1:00 to say he’d got the flights and was calculating the costs, 10 minutes later he was back and all was done. Amazing 😊
My frustrating first attempt at booking CW LHR to HND
Called the Australian Line at 00:48 and was connected to the Indian call centre. Agent took my name, details etc, ask confirms the flights I’m looking for. By now we are at 00:58, agent says the flights are not available yet, I explain that they will be in a couple of minutes and ask if she can hold the line to book them for me. She says she can’t do anything as they are not bookable yet, and it can take a while for the system to refresh. It sounds very much like they are just using the website.It’s 1am now, still on the line, but I try the mad online dash, one of the two flights is still showing it’s 2 CW seats available, I get to payment in a couple minutes but I’m given the unable to complete message at payment. At about 01:07 two seats appear available again this time on the other flight, but once again payment does not complete, and they are gone.
As I was trying this, I reconnected to the Australian/Indian call centre and reached a far more helpful agent, who seems to know more what he’s doing. He was surprised I was not automatically forwarded to the Australian centre (I’m using Viber, RIP Skype) and recommended I try another night to New Zealand, Japan, or US. He implies they have more capability than the Indian centre, and while the US line does “close” at 1am and they will not accept new calls after this time, they will continue ongoing calls to completion.
I fear I’m in for some tiresome nights ahead…
After my failed attempt outlined above, I spotted a single LHR to HND CW seat on 26 March 2026. But in my haste and weary 2:20am state I do not believe the 241 voucher was applied, it’s still visible and I paid 100k Avios. I still have 200k available so my question is, can I apply the 241 voucher when I can to book the return flight? Should I call tomorrow and see If they can retrospectively apply to this flight?
Thought I’d add my experience to this thread, in case it helps anyone. I wanted to add a HKG-LHR flight to a LHR-SIN booking I’d made a couple of weeks ago.
I called the Australia number (+61) 1300 767 177 (using Skype) a few minutes before 1:00am, took the option to change a flight and got through within a minute or two to a gentleman, probably in India. It only took a few more minutes to explain what I wanted, he wasn’t fazed at all by the request, he came back just after 1:00 to say he’d got the flights and was calculating the costs, 10 minutes later he was back and all was done. Amazing 😊
Did you not have enough avios to book online and benefit from the lower taxes?
After my failed attempt outlined above, I spotted a single LHR to HND CW seat on 26 March 2026. But in my haste and weary 2:20am state I do not believe the 241 voucher was applied, it’s still visible and I paid 100k Avios. I still have 200k available so my question is, can I apply the 241 voucher when I can to book the return flight? Should I call tomorrow and see If they can retrospectively apply to this flight?
You can’t apply the voucher retrospectively; but you can cancel and rebook (free, if within 24 hours). At this stage, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the seat would reappear. You could also call and ask BA to do this as they will be able to grab the seat as soon as it reappears, however they might charge you the £15 phone fee.
I also had no luck with the call centre last night. The guy kept telling me flights are released at midnight so I need to call back the next day, but even if there was availability he cant process Avios bookings anyway. I had called the USA line. I did try the Australia number first but it said it was closed for some reason. This was at approx 12.50am. I hung up and tried to call again but didn’t manage to get through before 1am.
Meanwhile I saw some seats for LHR-HKG appear at 1am, but wasn’t able to secure them quickly enough. Plenty of availability on routes going the other way (LAX, Vegas, etc) of course.
I think I’ll upgrade my Viber plan tonight and try the Japan number.
It’s certainly possible.
I did so last night at 1am for St Lucia school holidays next Easter which is surely a popular route – 2 x CW and 2 x PE (sure, there’s competition as was aiming for 4 x CW) but it’s perfectly doable. I’ve never done it on the phone before (tried once, unsuccessfully, so now just have the trigger finger sharpened for when the clock hits 1!).
Which number did you call?
We were due to attempt this for BKK next easter also but 200k Avios was helpfully stolen from our account in March and we still havent had any word from BA’s fraud dept. I fear we are going to miss our chance.I did it online rather than calling.
Thought I’d add my experience to this thread, in case it helps anyone. I wanted to add a HKG-LHR flight to a LHR-SIN booking I’d made a couple of weeks ago.
I called the Australia number (+61) 1300 767 177 (using Skype) a few minutes before 1:00am, took the option to change a flight and got through within a minute or two to a gentleman, probably in India. It only took a few more minutes to explain what I wanted, he wasn’t fazed at all by the request, he came back just after 1:00 to say he’d got the flights and was calculating the costs, 10 minutes later he was back and all was done. Amazing 😊
Did you not have enough avios to book online and benefit from the lower taxes?
Ouch! How much would I have saved? My taxes were £625 for 2 pax, HKG-LHR.
Funnily enough I didn’t have enough Avios yesterday morning, but when I came to check my account later, at some point yesterday my 60k SUB had posted so I would have had! That said I decided to call to secure the seats rather than risk not getting them, with it being Easter hols on 28 March 26.@derbydave, it fluctuates, but a dummy booking for March 26th next year in CW shows taxes of £36.50 pp! However, as you say, snagging the seats at peak times is paramount and you need to be prepared to swallow a higher cost for that.
@derbydave, it fluctuates, but a dummy booking for March 26th next year in CW shows taxes of £36.50 pp! However, as you say, snagging the seats at peak times is paramount and you need to be prepared to swallow a higher cost for that.
Thanks @NorthernLass. That’s quite a difference! I’ll try not to think about it 😂
Thought I’d add my experience to this thread, in case it helps anyone. I wanted to add a HKG-LHR flight to a LHR-SIN booking I’d made a couple of weeks ago.
I called the Australia number (+61) 1300 767 177 (using Skype) a few minutes before 1:00am, took the option to change a flight and got through within a minute or two to a gentleman, probably in India. It only took a few more minutes to explain what I wanted, he wasn’t fazed at all by the request, he came back just after 1:00 to say he’d got the flights and was calculating the costs, 10 minutes later he was back and all was done. Amazing 😊
Nice one! I will try the same tonight, but maybe HKG instead of SIN
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