Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that Rewards Flights are intentionally difficult to find/book

26 replies

FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 11:47

We have loads of points and two Amex companion flight vouchers to use – and I feel like the BA website is intentionally really bad for finding / booking flights! I can't seem to find any flights from London to the destination we want to book, but then can find flights from Manchester (stopping over in London) to the destination. It says there are 4-5 seats available in business class. When I open up a private tab though to double check a few things though (without losing that search) I can't for the life of me find these exact same flights?! Last week, the same thing happened, then suddenly I found London flights to the destination we want. DP then decided he didn't want to go to that destination so I stupidly didn't book, and now he has decided he does want to go... agh... this whole thing is doing my head in. I've spent about two hours messing around with this now and am coming to the conclusion that BA are intentionally making it as difficult as possible to find/book these kinds of flights. They also seem to have several different engines for searching / booking flights and I keep getting different results... Does anyone have any useful tips for successfully booking rewards flights?! I feel like I'm losing my mind..

OP posts:
Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 11:53

now the flights from Manchester that I had up have disappeared 😭I'm kicking myself for not booking the London flights last week when I had them...

OP posts:
YDBear · 04/07/2023 15:53

Sorry, don’t have any tips. Just wanted to commiserate. We have so many blooming Avios we could probably fly to Australia. Why do we have them? Because we have been collecting them for 10 years on our Amex cards and never yet been able to
make a booking to use them.

Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 17:01

@YDBear same! And our companion vouchers keep expiring because every time I go to make a booking I can't get flights... I don't know why I'm paying for the Amex at this point... the booking system for Avios should be really straightforward and it's just a mess.

OP posts:
JoeyRamonesHair · 04/07/2023 17:35

Unless you want to go to the US it is pretty useless.

Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 17:39

@JoeyRamonesHair unfortunately, we're not looking to go to the US... really doubting the worth of paying for the credit card going forward...

OP posts:
buffyslays · 04/07/2023 17:40

I’ve managed to get a couple of long haul flights (London to Chile, and to Japan) in business class using companion voucher. Best bet is to plan ahead and book as soon as the flight booking opens, 355 days before the flight.

Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 17:42

@buffyslays we're looking for Japan and were hoping to go business class for DP's milestone birthday next April... doesn't seem very likely! We're now thinking to try somewhere else (there seems to be flights available for a few other destinations he's interested in) and then we'll book Japan 355 days before we want to go!

OP posts:
Minfilia · 04/07/2023 17:43

I know when I’ve had issues I’ve just called them. If you can be flexible on dates then IME they can either help you to book over the phone or let you know when and how many reward seats are opening up.

Last time I called though they only released 8 reward seats across a plane for nearly 300 people, so yes, it is a total pain!

Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 17:43

@buffyslays I'm just kicking myself so much for not booking the flights I had ready to go the other week!

OP posts:
Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 17:44

@Minfilia calling is a good idea. We're fairly flexible with travel dates – would just like to be there for DP's birthday and we're looking at 3 weeks. I'll give that a go before completely giving up!!

OP posts:
Coffeeisnecessary · 04/07/2023 17:46

Yep it's tricky, you need to do it about a year in advance which is a pain! Or just choose a place like new york where there are tonnes of flights daily.

Songinmyheart · 04/07/2023 17:49

I book at 6am 355 days before for the outbound then again in 7 or 10 days for the return. I’ve found flexibility with dates is essential. Unless it’s the US then there’s plenty of choice.

nospoonleftbehind · 04/07/2023 17:49

I'm about to lose a companion voucher for this very reason. I agree - the annual fee doesn't really feel worthwhile when you're playing a lottery system to actually get a flight to a place you want to go to and then at the right time ConfusedConfused

FusionChefGeoff · 04/07/2023 17:51

YDBear · 04/07/2023 15:53

Sorry, don’t have any tips. Just wanted to commiserate. We have so many blooming Avios we could probably fly to Australia. Why do we have them? Because we have been collecting them for 10 years on our Amex cards and never yet been able to
make a booking to use them.

I fear this may be us. Optimistically started collecting last year but really didn't do enough research into the vouchers.

We've also got Companion vouchers on Amex AND upgrade vouchers via Barclaycard which makes my brain hurt so no doubt 'computer says no' when I try to use them too

JustRingJoeDuffy · 04/07/2023 17:53

I have found it best to call them. Explain what you want and if you can be flexible, they'll probably find something (unless its very popular, like Christmas which you need to book pretty much when it opens).

Scienceadvisory · 04/07/2023 17:54

I find them really helpful if you call them. But the number of seats is limited so you do have to book far in advance

Scienceadvisory · 04/07/2023 17:57

YDBear · 04/07/2023 15:53

Sorry, don’t have any tips. Just wanted to commiserate. We have so many blooming Avios we could probably fly to Australia. Why do we have them? Because we have been collecting them for 10 years on our Amex cards and never yet been able to
make a booking to use them.

But you can use avois points to discount the cost on almost all flights? It may not be as good value as an upgrade (I don't know as never compared) but better than nothing.

Hobbesmanc · 04/07/2023 17:57

Honestly you do have to work hard and smart to maximise the rewards. We put all our spending on the rewards credit cards. And we've been able to score some great business flights all over the world. And we're not big income household. We've got to the Philippines. Thailand. Japan. Qatar is the best for us flying from Manchester. Flexibility is the key. And work ahead.

buffyslays · 04/07/2023 17:58

So frustrating for you! I blame your DH for dithering 😂 South America normally has decent availability if that’s an option.
Best bet I’ve found is to book your flight out online at midnight UK time 355 days in advance, then call up to add on the return flight when that opens. There’s a small fee but worth it to bag the flights. You can call the USA or Australia call centre which are open at UK midnight.

Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 18:10

@buffyslays haha the blame firmly lies with him... if he dares to complain about not getting flights to preferred destination I will be very unimpressed 😂South America is where I was looking, and it does seem a lot easier, so I think we will probably head that direction!

OP posts:
Frankola · 04/07/2023 18:32

I do what @JustRingJoeDuffy does and call them. The BA website is absolutely useless.

I signed up to a tool called Reward Flight Finder about a year ago because we have loads of unused Avios and we just keep on adding to them because we each have an Amex. They show Avios flights a year in advance and I set travel alerts to message me when seats I want are open to book. I've managed to get 2 bookings using it now. I get the message and then call BA.

Just bypass the BA website OP, it's the worst airline site.

meatbaseddessert · 04/07/2023 19:58

You can do it it just takes time and energy and a bit of luck.

We've used ours to go first three times. LAX, SFO and NYC

I booked a year in advance and did a bit of research on Flyertalk to find the best tool to use. The BA website was terrible

ajandjjmum · 04/07/2023 20:28

You have to make bookings when you see them - no dithering - and always bear in mind that you can cancel them up to shortly before the flight for £35 a ticket.

Original poster
FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 20:53

And, of course, now DP is grumpy because we can't get the rewards flights that I had last week and he told me not to get. Agh.

OP posts:
meatbaseddessert · 04/07/2023 21:45

FrenesiGates · 04/07/2023 20:53

And, of course, now DP is grumpy because we can't get the rewards flights that I had last week and he told me not to get. Agh.

They sometimes pop back up randomly a week or so later. Maybe search on a different computer/IP.

Do a flyertalk search and see if there's good advice on there on how to find reward flights, which tools to use. It's invaluable