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Hi all and apologies in advance for the silly questions.
I have just about enough to buy 3 reward business seats to Tokyo
Let’s assume I get all 3 seats. My question is what happens for the return. Am I guaranteed to get reward flights on the return, either through BA or Finnair (I don’t mind paying our way to HKG or SHA to increase availability)? If so I would buy 300K avios, for about £5.2K, add £1.8K in taxes for the outbound and inbound et voilà, total trip should cost £7K? Which is great if I’m correct.
But what if I don’t get any returning rewards flights and have to buy cash…
Given typically single legs are way more expensive than half a return,I am worried I would be fleeced and that the total cost then would be higher than cash return.What am I missing? Are reward flights only working if I get them on the way back as well?
Should I book the outbound reward flights regardless and cancel them if I can’t get the inbounds with avios or at a reasonable cash price?
Do yourself a favour and invest some time in reading Rob’s articles on redeeming avios, and also the long “How to book the return with the 241” thread (you don’t need to be using a 241).
You can return from any city which meets the criteria for Open Jaw tickets, so search for the articles on here about those as well. Nothing’s guaranteed but you have a better chance of success if you have some flexibility.
Not sure if spending that much on avios is wise, as you’re stuck with them once you’ve bought them, but that’s something you need to decide for yourself, of course.
Am I guaranteed to get reward flights on the return, either through BA or Finnair
No.
Do yourself a favour and invest some time in reading Rob’s articles on redeeming avios, and also the long “How to book the return with the 241” thread (you don’t need to be using a 241).
You can return from any city which meets the criteria for Open Jaw tickets, so search for the articles on here about those as well. Nothing’s guaranteed but you have a better chance of success if you have some flexibility.
Not sure if spending that much on avios is wise, as you’re stuck with them once you’ve bought them, but that’s something you need to decide for yourself, of course.
Thanks so much! So I did read about open jaw bookings but I assume I can only do that T-355 from my return date (as otherwise how can I book the return), which implies my chance of getting my award outbounds are slim? (Even with extra availability due to 2-4-1)? Or am I completely missing it.
Thanks for the comment re buying so many avios which seems consistent with other things I read, also seems like I could buy them and not even snatch award inbounds!
So, taking all of this into account, does this mean you should only really attempt award flight booking if you have enough avios for both legs?
Thanks again.Am I guaranteed to get reward flights on the return, either through BA or Finnair
No.
Gosh that’s terrible. I have to say this system is absurdly complicated. I just tried to book by phone on the US line, no dice.
Why is it terrible?
This is now its worked for years.
The system is itself not complicated and is actually quite flexible allowing things like open-jaws. It also allows people to use avios on other carriers.
‘Simplifying’ the system could end that sort of thing.
It’s people who cause the complications! The vast, vast majority of people have no issues with it. Those that do are wanting to fly on routes like Tokyo and Sydney where there is infinite demand but only a finite number of reward seats.
No airline is going to guarantee return reward seats. It would create a whole slew of other complications.
Depending on when you want to fly it might be better value to pay cash outright rather then buy the avios. At least with cash you aren’t limited by the 4 reward seat limit and don’t have to buy the flights immediately.
Guaranteeing return availability (on a date of your choosing) might well make BA bankrupt! 😁 Perhaps the OP doesn’t realise that you can cancel reward flights for almost zero, so if you can’t find a return that suits (reward or cash) you can always go back to the drawing board and re-plan.
Do yourself a favour and invest some time in reading Rob’s articles on redeeming avios, and also the long “How to book the return with the 241” thread (you don’t need to be using a 241).
You can return from any city which meets the criteria for Open Jaw tickets, so search for the articles on here about those as well. Nothing’s guaranteed but you have a better chance of success if you have some flexibility.
Not sure if spending that much on avios is wise, as you’re stuck with them once you’ve bought them, but that’s something you need to decide for yourself, of course.
Thanks so much! So I did read about open jaw bookings but I assume I can only do that T-355 from my return date (as otherwise how can I book the return), which implies my chance of getting my award outbounds are slim? (Even with extra availability due to 2-4-1)? Or am I completely missing it.
Thanks for the comment re buying so many avios which seems consistent with other things I read, also seems like I could buy them and not even snatch award inbounds!
So, taking all of this into account, does this mean you should only really attempt award flight booking if you have enough avios for both legs?
Thanks again.I think you might not have understood that the recommended booking strategy for in-demand reward flights means that you aim to book your outbound at t-355 , and then add the in-bound at t-355 from that date. Still no guarantees that you’ll get them, and as others have said it’s better if you have some flexibility on travel dates and possible alternative routes. With that in mind, have another look at the thread mentioned above and see if it makes more sense.
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