Companion vouchers Mad-Mex / Mex-Mad-Lhr more expensive over the phone?
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Hi! I’m trying to use a BA 2-for-1 voucher for Dec 2025, to book MAD-MEX (Iberia) outbound and MEX-LHR (Iberia via MAD) return in business class. Over the phone, the BA call center quoted 105K Avios + £1,000 in taxes, but online (without the voucher), taxes are much lower.
What am I missing? Has anyone booked this route with the voucher and can share their experience or advice?
Thanks in advance for your help!BA regularly seem to quote incorrect taxes. If you’ve priced this up as a return online and got a specific figure, call again and state your case – another agent may agree with you, anyway.
BA regularly seem to quote incorrect taxes. If you’ve priced this up as a return online and got a specific figure, call again and state your case – another agent may agree with you, anyway.
It’s not that BA is actually quoting incorrect TFCs unless the T or F element is wrong which is relatively unlikely. That part should be fixed save for exchange rate differences. The C part is a dynamic/floating number that can be whatever BA wants it to be at any given moment. The open jaw back to London can sometimes affect this, particularly if the MAD-LHR is on BA.
You need to ask the BA agent for the breakdown to isolate the issue and if necessary ask them to send it to ticketing to be checked. The trouble is most agents don’t really understand fares so just accept whatever the system spews out and even if it is intuitively wrong they just say it’s right.
That does sounds like a lot – yesterday I made a companion voucher redemption over the phone for MAD>Guatemala and then Guatemala>Mad>LHR.
Admittedly different countries (so tax, presumably) but it came to 117,500 avios and £434.40 for the two of us in Business.BA regularly seem to quote incorrect taxes. If you’ve priced this up as a return online and got a specific figure, call again and state your case – another agent may agree with you, anyway.
You can’t do it as a return online but you can price up two one ways so the return should be the total of those.
Yes I booked this route (or rather Lhr-Mex / Mex-Mad-Lhr).
I did the outbound online & tried to do inbound over the phone as the return wasn’t available when I booked the outbound.
I got quoted £1.1k t&f on the phone just for the inbound, which they then revised to £1.4k as they said the agent calculated it incorrectly. Online it was only £300.. No amount of arguing, asking for a breakdown or asking back office to look at helped, just a standard this is what the computer says.
In the end I just bought more Avios (through boost) so I could book online & asked them to refund the Avios difference, which they did.
Thank you all, I just finalised the booking over the phone with a different agent and priced at £628, all J, on Iberia (including return leg to LHR). I should have challenged the first quote but from many advise here looks easier to try again with another operator, so I did.
The first operator just said that as return ticket would be more expensive vs 2 one way and that’s why the £1k taxes… however it really made little sense such big difference. Luckily this time was sorted, next time in case I’ll get the mad-Mex. and then add the extra flight to Lhr.
Lastly, the operator was able to see the flights for Sunday 11th – and Monday 12th over the phone and book them (no visibility online). I couldn’t take advantage but good to know for next time.
BA regularly seem to quote incorrect taxes. If you’ve priced this up as a return online and got a specific figure, call again and state your case – another agent may agree with you, anyway.
You can’t do it as a return online but you can price up two one ways so the return should be the total of those.
Can be different for some countries, brazil being an example, I don’t know about Mexico.
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