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Now a few people have earned the voucher, posts are popping up all over the place about difficulties in using it. As Rob has said that Barclaycard staff read this site and make a note of reported issues, perhaps it would be better to have them all in one place.
So far, the following issues have been identified:
Inability to use the voucher on long haul flights which involve a domestic connection.
RFS flights are only giving the option of the maximum number of avios plus £1 RFS fee – and this seems to be the case even if you call BA.
It’s not possible to book return flights for 2 people on one booking using the voucher to upgrade one leg.
The voucher sits on the homepage of one’s BAEC account, and if you want to carry out more than one search you have you return to this page each time.
How does the voucher show up. is it like the BA 2-4-1 voucher ?
As above, it’s on the homepage of your BAEC account, with the BAPP. However, it doesn’t show on a “book with avios” search, which is another pain, you have to go back and click “redeem” for each separate search.
How does the voucher show up. is it like the BA 2-4-1 voucher ?
Pretty much – yes
I think it would be useful to distinguish between things that are annoying and/or broken on the website, versus things that are flat-out impossible, but are be allowed under the T&Cs. The T&Cs I’m quoting below are for the Premier Account Upgrade Voucher, I’m assuming the same T&Cs apply for the Mastercard voucher.
RFS flights are only giving the option of the maximum number of avios plus £1 RFS fee – and this seems to be the case even if you call BA.
This is a violation of the promise made by Barclays in footnote 2 here: https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/barclays-avios-rewards/#ref2
Reward Flight Saver fare quoted is subject to availability. Terms, plus £1 for your taxes, fees and carrier charges per person, apply. Other pricing options are available. Visit ba.com to learn how to use your Avios and for more information about Reward Flight Saver. All tangible examples accurate as of January 2021 (my emphasis)
In addition it’s inconsistent with item 10 in the BA T&Cs, and possibly item 7 and 11 as well: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/personalbanking/barclays-avios-rewards
It’s obviously not how the voucher was intended to work.
It’s not possible to book return flights for 2 people on one booking using the voucher to upgrade one leg.
The T&Cs suggest you should be able to upgrade part of a journey, again, in section 7. where an upgrade is not available for all sectors and you choose to redeem your Cabin Upgrade Voucher, you will not be entitled to reuse or partially use the Cabin Upgrade Voucher for future bookings.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Assuming I get a ticket to the forthcoming party I’m going to print this thread out, and hand it over to the Barclays rep when I find them. They need to know how badly their partner (BA) has performed. Unlike us moaning on a forum, they might be able to push for some action on the £1 pricing option only issue. They have been sold a pup, and are now touting a voucher as an incentive for a premium banking product which is useless for any customer wishing to fly in Europe.
Just thought I would share my experience of redeeming an upgrade voucher with a domestic connection. I managed to do this today (not possible online but had to call BA). Avios redemption was higher than I hoped / expected.
Flights were GLA to BOS Return. I paid 52,000 Avios plus taxes for LHR to BOS leg in CW (Off Peak Premium Economy Avios for return flights) PLUS 18,500 Avios plus £1 for the GLA to LHR leg in CE (Off Peak Economy Avios for return flights with £1 RFS Fee).
The BA Customer Service Representative certainly took some time to sort it out as I was also doing the same booking with an upgrade voucher for my other half (so two of us are travelling together with one booking reference).
@Tunnocks – it’s ridiculous that the domestic leg requires extra avios (especially 18k) as this isn’t the case with any other type of booking (e.g. using the 241). At the very least the upgrade should apply to the domestic leg, as was the case with the Lloyds voucher. Yet if you don’t do this you can’t check your luggage in all the way through which can cause huge issues.
It’s also not possible to book CityFlyer routes (online anyway), despite the Ts and Cs allowing this.
I don’t think many people at Barclays will understand any of these issues – unless they are BAEC members and have tried to use one of the vouchers.
Wow, I had no idea about this, just assumed domestic leg would be free just like a normal avios redemption. This is massive !
So MAN/EDI/BHX – DXB off peak CW would be 52,000 + 18,000 = 70,000 + £707 (~£1270 total, 0.8p / avios)
On Qatar its 90,000 avios + £518 = ~£1240.
So BA is more expensive WITH an upgrade voucher, OMG !!
As somebody living outside the M25, the draw to BA diminishes everyday. Thank goodness Avios has other uses.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Would it be worthwhile putting together a concise one-pager with all these issues to hand over to the Barclays main man at the reception? Maybe he could give it to someone back at base to bash BA on the head with?
Would it be worthwhile putting together a concise one-pager with all these issues to hand over to the Barclays main man at the reception? Maybe he could give it to someone back at base to bash BA on the head with?
I got a ticket for the event and I will keep to my word and print out the thread. I don’t ‘get’ the domestic connections issue, but no upgrades in Europe is a deal-breaker for me… the voucher is useless if it can’t be used in CE. I’m highly unlikely to do any long-haul redemptions ex-UK with YQ at current levels, but regardless of my preferences most Avios collectors don’t have enough Avios for long-haul anyway. Ruling out Europe for upgrades is a huge error and a violation of the terms the vouchers were offered under.
I’m not sure printing out the thread itself is that useful – it requires a fair amount of background knowledge and time to understand IMHO. Hence the suggestion for the one-pager, perhaps with the thread as an attachment?
Morning all , like most people now sitting on two vouchers and looking to use them for CE . Has anybody had any luck recently getting BA agent on the phone to offer options other than the £1 fee for RFS ? Or is it definitely computer says No?
Any update on the issues regarding the £1 taxes. I was online looking to book some flights yesterday and only the £1 taxes were an option. Is it possible to get the normal £25 per leg isfI contact BA. Thanks.
All posts to date (including one in the past couple of days) point to BA only being able to offer the £1 option, either online on by phone.
All posts to date (including one in the past couple of days) point to BA only being able to offer the £1 option, either online on by phone.
Thanks, you have saved me a call to BA. I only saw the last post on the 29 June. I will keep the voucher and chance my luck on the direct Vueling flight MAN-BCN avios booking through Iberia.
Can I ask something, even though is not entirely on topic.
I need to go to NY and checked how much it would cost using my Barclays Premier voucher. 52,000 avios + £848.86.
I also wanted to check whether that was a good use of avios and voucher considering that a return ticket in biz to NY, same dates, same flights would cost around £1,600. Now, that’s the lowest fares available but shouldn’t I compare the voucher booking to the most flexible booking considering that depending on availability you can change your booking for £35? The fully flex biz ticket is £11,000!
What would you do?
Thank you!
It depends on how much you value the flexibility! If you would normally book a flexible ticket, then you do indeed get great value with the voucher, however if, like me, you’d book the cheapest cash ticket knowing that you’d only be cancelling under circumstances which are covered by your travel insurance, then the maths changes.
True!
Flexibility is really important to me, especially with my job. SO I guess that’s good value for money!
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