[Anonymous]

[olliewb]

I am looking for some help please….

I have a booking for 4 people from LHR to DXB on Virgin in Upper for end of October. After reading a number of comments on BT I am concerned this route maybe be cancelled before October.

My thought was to make the same or similar booking on BA with Avios, if Virgin pull this route I can then use BA, if not I will cancel BA and take the £25pp charge. I need 240,000 points plus Amex voucher for x4 Club – so far not a problem and currently there is availability.

I have been told that I cannot use my points for reward booking for travellers unless they are on my household account, with the exception of the “companion” using the voucher. The 3 other passengers are all family members with the same surname who do not reside at my home address.

Do I add 2 family members anyway to my household account and take the 3rd as the companion?

Or maybe use Avios via OneWorld on Qantas (although I don’t know how I go about making this booking) and will I have the same issues using points for other family members not at the same address.

Any help and guidance would be most welcome.

[jayjay007]

forget the household account!
just book the tickets ,as avios entitles you to it-you are entitled to issue tikets to others,but not to sell them -and the beneficiaries need NOT to be in your household

i don’t know about amex voucher rules,though-pls wait for more comments or consult exec club

[Gold-2K]

The only limitation on Amex companion voucher is the person awarded the voucher has to be one of the travellers. The companion can be anyone you choose ……… Within limits of course 🙂

[NameRemoved-18/12/14]

olliewb

I had the same problem last year. I wanted to make an award booking for a family member. I registered her as a BAEC member using my address, even though she lives in a different country, and then added her to my household account. After that it was simple.

[jayjay007]

alexpo and olliweb
read carefully the issuing conditions for the household account
it is good for a membert of your family to book WITHOUT “bothering “you.,i.e.your son flying back from overseas makes himself the booking -for this you put him/her into the household account.

and there are taxes apart

in case you are the only one managing the account YOU OWN YOUR AVIOS and,therefore,you issue the tickets to ANYONE (paraphrasing gold 2k”…within limits,of course”)

[IanFromHKG]

If VS are your preferred choice (which they seem to be, since that is who you originally made the booking with) then I weould simply sit back and await developments. If VS close the route, I would expect them to route you on another carrier. They *should* do this without charge

[olliewb]

Thanks for the comments.

Was the lady at the the BAEC correct then when she said I’m unable to use the Avios for other persons not on my household account? (with the exception of the companion voucher who I know can be used for anyone).

Ian – my booking with VS is also a reward booking and therefore I would have thought they would just cancel the booking and refund the points and taxes, as opposed to rebook with another carrier.

[IanFromHKG]

Well, that’s always possible, but I think I would still stick with the same strategy. Given thgat you must be a fairly frequent flyer to have accumulated that many points, one would hope they would be willing to give you like-for-like bookings given that they have chosen to accept the reservation. Points are, after all, just another form of currency in this context

[openfly]

The BA “family” account is very restrictive. You can only use the Avios for the nominated “family” members. You can only change the nominees every six months and it is quite a palaver changing them. It seems far better to have stand-alone accounts in the family/friends situation. You can then use your Avios to buy tickets for any third party.

[Author]

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