Is this type of BA Amex 2-4-1 flight change possible?

[ben1]

Hi,

Been trying to get hold of BA for weeks, constantly getting cut off.

I was wondering if it was possible to amend my flight as follows

Booked London – Dubai – London using a companion voucher in club world. Originally my preferred dates were not available so I booked for an 8 day trip.

However, a later date in CW opened up but seeing as it was impossible to make the amend the booking via a call, I booked it online as a one-way booking as I didn’t want to loose the seats.

Is it possible amend the existing 2 for 1 booking by removing the existing return journey and add on the one way booking instead (with the fees and avios being refunded accordingly?)

Thanks in advance!

[AJA]

I don’t think it is possible to do that. If you hadn’t already booked the return flights on the 2-4-1 you would have been able to get BA to link the preferred date one-way to the 2-4-1 and get a refund of half the Avios as you would with an open-jaw booking or when 355 days out.

The simplest thing to do is try to cancel the return part of the existing 2-4-1 booking once you’ve commenced the journey. I think this is possible.

Alternatively you could try cancelling your new ideal dates one-way flights and hope they go back into reward inventory and then amend the return date of your existing 2-4-1.

The risk of doing this is that the seats on the one-way may not go back into inventory or worse someone else snaps them up before you get through to BA to amend the 2-4-1

[meta]

Once a journey has commenced you won’t be able to apply 241 voucher. You can cancel and get Avios and surcharges + taxes back, but then you won’t be able to apply 241 voucher again.

What you can do is now call and get them to return half the Avios back! Surcharges and taxes won’t be adjusted though, but it’s not US route so it’s should be too mucb of a difference.

[AJA]

@meta If I understood @ben1 he is trying to get the return sector of his 2-4-1 cancelled and the separate one-way booking inserted into the existing but not yet flown 2-4-1 booking. That isn’t possible

So I’m also not sure what you are advising? Getting half the Avios back from which booking?

I think he has to either suck up the extra Avios spend or cancel the return sector of the existing 2-4-1 booking once he has flown the outbound.

[meta]

It is possible. It’s the same if you book a placeholder flight on 241 booking. Book outbound and inbound at the same time when your desired inbound is not available. Then call to amend the inbound when it does. You can
also book the inbound separately so as not to lose seats. In this case @ben1 can just cancel the one-way (sorry didn’t mean half Avios back) he booked separately and add it to 241 booking. This will probably be done as a complete rebooking. As with any 241 changes there is always a risk that the tickets don’t go back to inventory.

[SteveJ]

Theoretically couldn’t this be done in two steps (all on the same call)?

Step 1 : cancel the return leg of the existing booking, making that original booking a one way.

Step 2 : the tried and tested route of getting BA to merge the now two one ways into a single booking using the 241?

Might attract two rebooking fees, but sounds like that should work?

[ben1]

Thanks for the help so far!

So I finally got hold of someone after days of 1+ hour calls and dropouts

I was basically told what I wanted to do was not possible. The only options I was given was to either:
A) cancel the new flight date (the one I want), hope the inventory drops back into the avios pool of seats, cancel the original inbound (and get a refund) and reattach to the 241
Or
B) cancel after flying the first leg for a future travel voucher and get half a 241, avios and taxes wrapped in a FTV but the other booking would be kept as a one way and therefore full price in avios

I didn’t want to risk option A as the flight is a peak date home from Dubai just before the schools go back – and I highly doubt the availability will drop back into the avios availability pool of seats

Supposedly they’d only allow a one way booking to get attached to an existing 241 if the new seat that had been booked wasn’t on sale when the outbound flight was booking… May have to put this one as a lesson learnt…

The most frustrating thing about this whole situation is that this all used to be possible to do online until the pandemic started and then BA decides to remove the change/cancel flight options in manage my booking.. or I would have changed the flights myself as soon as I got the seatspy alert!!

• This reply was modified 55 years, 3 months ago by .