[Anonymous]

[GordyUK]

Ok, I pretty much know the answer to this already but I thought i’d put it out there to you “all knowing” peeps

I thought it was about time I burned some avios and also used one of the two Amex companion vouchers which are starting to build-up and ultimately expire.

So despite knowing:
* Reward seats in F are hugely limiting
* Reward seats to Australasia are even more scarce
* Companion vouchers have to be flown on BA metal

..the other half decided that we MUST go to Wellington!.. ok stop laughing.. !

So BA barely fly to SYD, let alone NZ, and those 2 holy grail tickets in F on a reward ticket are ….well….

but IS IT possible?

I started wondering if there was a protocol to follow or a number to call when seats were released… only for the heart to sink at the realisation that….. we have to get HOME 3-4 weeks later..

Ok.. let me have it! 🙂

[AlanOrton1]

If you call the BA F dedicated line they may be able to help you with holding the outbound seats until the return seats open up.
This essentially means you need to be looking at booking 355 days ahead of travel.
As mentioned on a recent thread, seats in F are not always released in the 2 per cabin per flight way that Y, Y+ & J are. So the above is not a guarantee of success, but I’d suggest looking at availability LHR-SYD 355 days out on the BA website and watching it over a period of a few days to see if F seats are released. If they are, then pick a date when you’d like to fly, and call BA at midnight 355 days out.
If F seats are only being released sporadically, then maybe look to book in J so at least you have something, as there are always 2 seats released (as far as I know) at midnight 355 days out. If F inventory is released at a later date, you could then call to try and ‘upgrade’ the award seats using miles.

[GordyUK]

Thanks Alan

I realise the #firstworldproblems nature of my post, and yes J is hardly slumming it even if 2 x F don’t appear, so that is an option – thanks

When you say “call the BA F dedicated line”… . do you mean “BA You First?” – I thought they were only there for services like prebooking treatments, cabans etc.. Would they be interested in a reward booking?

[AlanOrton1]

Hi GordyUK – they helped me with an Amex 2-4-1 as I wanted to secure F seats which were available for the outbound leg, but not the return as they had not been released. Service from the gentleman I spoke with is the best I’ve had from BA. (His name was Danyal).

[FCTraveller]

My strategy has been to book the outbound one way with my voucher then wait until the return date opens up. Then I call BA and have the one way turned into a round trip still using the same voucher but at a cost of £70 change fee. They will do that. If you plan your trip 355 days in advance, you will most likely find availability to Australia. You can also use the ExpertFlyer service which will email you the minute a reward seat becomes available on a specific flight. There is an annual subscription fee for that but it’s very useful. I booked flights to Sydney and back in F for four of us (couples on separate flights though) going out Feb and returning early March. It takes time and you need to be willing to pay the change fees when more convenient flights come up. An extra £70 is really a small price to pay considering the value of 2 F seats to Oz. To my knowledge, BA won’t put flights on hold pending return dates opening up but I may be mistaken. AlanOrton1, it would be great if you could share exactly what Danyal did to help you with your 2-4-1.

[Filbyemt]

I have just managed to book 2 seats to Sydney in club using a companion voucher, could only book one way as return dates are not available yet, this is the first time I have been able to get to Sydney & been trying for about 6 years.
I did have to wait on hold for 1hr and 15 minutes before I managed to book this flight.

[GordyUK]

thanks FCTtraveller & Filbyemt – I have no issue paying the £70.. I just didn’t realise BA would allow you to book single journeys using a companion voucher.. the rules on usage of these make the Doomesday Book look like a raffle ticket.. 😉

Filbyemt, what number did you call and wait on? A main sales line or YouFirst?.. YF closes at 10m before the seats are released so I guess it needs to be a 24hr number

thanks

G

[AlanOrton1]

I don’t want to get the gent who helped me into trouble, but I found 2 seats in F for the outbound, but the inbound flights had not yet been released as it was over 355 days out.
He said that he could hold the F seats and when the inbound opened up, these could be selected and then the 2-4-1 applied.
I am not sure if this is official policy, or something he did as I asked nicely(!) and it was only a couple of days out from when the inbound flights were due to be released.
I was happy to fly back in J, which made it more likely seats would be available, unlike F seats which don’t appear to be released in the same way.

He also passed on some general info that for popular destinations (i.e. Sydney, Cape Town etc) at popular times of the year, people would call just prior to midnight 355 days out and snaffle seats in J literally the second they were available, hence why some can say, with some legitimacy, that they never get to see the seats for where they want to go available.

Hope this helps.

[GordyUK]

It does help Alan, thanks

Its pretty much what I assumed, and with all of these things it really does matter WHO you end up speaking to I guess.. The thing is, I can be TOTALLY flexible.. any dates at any time as long as there is a 3-4 week gap between out and inbound.. even then though, as you say, this is going to be a combination of luck and timing

[Filbyemt]

I called the 0800 number on back of executive card.

[Filbyemt]

Silver card level

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