BA Premium Amex Companion flights…

[BAggerAll]

I’ve had a BA Premium Amex since just before Covid. I have already lost one voucher due to expiry so was determined to use the others as I pay extra for this card. I have two more due to expire early next year. I’ve just tried to book long haul flights with them but there is zero available for the rest of this year and right up to next year. I was looking to go to Australia, Malaysia or Singapore. Stupidly I assumed you could just pay full fare for whichever flight and the other would be ‘free’ minus the taxes etc. Now I have read they have special companion flights and they release them 355 days in advance. Without manually inputting every destination in the world on BA’s site for the next 9 months, does anyone know an easy way of finding out when companion flights would be valid? Is there an aggregate website etc? I am not a Mensa member but consider myself vaguely above average but navigating this and Avios seems too complex. I have already looked on the flyer forum but even that runs to a billion pages.

We signed up to Amex 15 months ago. We've just used 2 companion vouchers to book economy flights for 4 of us during school holidays next Easter to travel to Dubai. Cost us £200 total, saving us around £4000. Not the 'best' use of companion vouchers in terms of potential savings, but it's a holiday we wouldn't be having otherwise.

How many Avios do you have? I booked Australia in business class a few months ago for February 2024. I waited up until midnight 355 days before the flight and booked the return leg 355 days before separately. Unfortunately everyone wants to go to Australia so it’ll be hard to find availability if you’re not flexible

We used a companion voucher on long haul economy earlier this year just because it was nearing expiry and we didn’t want to waste it.

DP and I earn 2x companion vouchers per year and have a handful of upgrade vouchers between us (we both have the Barclays current account and the Barclaycard). We have no kids, so just the two of us, and it’s mildly stressful working out how we’re going to use everything before it expires!

This thread has been so useful - thank you all. I am amazed that I have just managed to book two business class tickets on 2 July with avios and a CV. Can I just confirm how I book the return - do I call BA on the day that the return leg is available and then BA do the rest for me with the other side of the CV (I can be flexible on return date)? I am really worried now I may lose the CV for just the outward leg and will not be able to book the return. Can someone who has done this explain how it works?

Yes, you need to call up and they will do it for you. They will sort out the amount of Avios needed and the outstanding amount payable

3dogsnoholiday depends on your destination but, if it's a popular one, you have two choices.

Call the US office (in April, the reward flights were released at 1am our time) and see if they can hold and book them for you. I've done this a few times previously but when I did a dry run in April, I was passed around departments and no one seemed to be able to do it.

If you have enough spare airmiles, sit on your computer at 1am and try to book the return flights before someone else does (took me two painful nights). BA has changed their policy so that you can phone up the next day, they'll add the CV and refund your extra airmiles. I also discovered you can buy extra Avios and refund them after they're credited back. But you need enough extra Avios to be able to pay full airmile price without the CV in the first instance.

It's so stressful at times. My destination flights were always booked immediately on release so calling the U.K. in the morning was a lost cause.

Reading this with interest, I want 4 x Orlando seats for next august, we have just over 200,000 points and an Amex premium plus CV

i think for the number of points we’ve got we’ll struggle to get 4 x WT+ seats but I reckon we’ll be ok for 2 x seats, plus a 3rd with the companion voucher and then pay cash for a 4th seat.

I know it’s a case of fastest finger first at midnight 11 355 days out but am I asking for a miracle?

I know it’s a case of fastest finger first at midnight 11 355 days out but am I asking for a miracle?

I think it's 1am until the hour changes again. You've got a hope for Orlando (I've flown 4 business class to Tampa on CVs).

You need to call up to have the best chance of getting the tickets if it’s a sought after route.

Somebody on the phone will always beat somebody online.

You need to call the US number. I think it’s 001 800 452 1201. Skype should be free.

And is it currently 1am as it will be BST?

Yes, that’s correct.

I'd call before around that time and check.

The US office seemed to direct me around various departments, including the executive club, and no one seemed able to do it when I was booking in April. You've also got to factor in wait times and going through security.

They're such a pain in the a*se to book at times.

I normally call around 20 minutes before midnight GMT (1am BST) to give me time to get through then keep them on the line until the flights
open.

Sometimes you get a jobsworth who refused to stay on the line and you have to call back.

We called BA directly, we wanted to go to Dubai anytime between Jan-march, we managed to get to club tickets and used a load of points. Nothing was showing on their website so I'd deff recommend calling

is it just a standard number in US to call or is if Executive Club in US that you call?

good shout @ThePuma for ringing earlier than that - hadn’t factored in waiting time and security questions.
also as the CV is in my husbands name as he’s the Amex holder I know he needs to do it (with me supervising as I’m the flight booker in our house!!!)

It’s the number I posted above.

it’s also preparing the call-handler for the exact flights you want.

If they aren’t ready to grab them at 01:00:00 and it’s a sought after route, chances are someone on another line will get them before you.

And if you’re a minute or two later, someone online will have got them.

thanks for all the tips! Can’t help concluding this is a monumental pain in the ar$e though! Surely they should make it easier? The premium for the card is expensive and I know you get a ‘free’ flight but only if you can time it right and probably don’t have school age children!

It’s absolutely a pain in the arse, like you say.

For me, I don’t really want to go long-haul unless I’m at least in CW. But I also don’t want to pay for those seats. So my only viable options are to not go away or put up with BA’s ridiculous processes.

It's rare I cry.

But I stayed up until 1am, hit refresh exactly at the second 1am came, booked my four CW seats to Barbados, entered my cc details and got to the just creating your booking final screen. When it said error 30 seconds later (as someone else must have beaten me by a second or two), it actually made me cry (in my defence it was post surgery so I wasn't quite on full form).

And I had to do the same thing again the next night. Aagh. The sheer relief when it worked. (Probably at the expense of some poor soul).

I also had a flight to LA where we called the UK office (as 4 CW seats on both legs were miraculously available). We had two of the new CVs with enhanced availability but the lady had to split it over two bookings. As she booked the first pair, it did something to the availability algorithm and the second two disappeared. Not sure what she did but she managed to find a way round it eventually with the help of her manager.

I'm a nervous flyer but I find flying less stressful than booking BA reward seats.

Yes @grass321 you’ll always lose out if you try to book online vs someone on the phone.

It's finding someone competent on the phone. When I called at 1.15 Pam to try to salvage something, the US call centre chap didn't seem to have a clue how to book CV flights. I was on hold for 40 minutes while he tried to check something or other.

Occasionally you used to get lucky and be routed back to a U.K. call handler.

Just called the 0344 493 0747 number and asked for some advice. The lady said the number shuts at 12am. She recommended calling up at 11:45pm and keeping them chatting to book as it reserves the seats. She said there's a lot of scope for things to go wrong when trying to do it online.

She said booking return legs is just as competitive so to do the same thing, don't wait to call up for competitive routes.

Is this calling the number in the US?

@MabelMoo23 no but they said it stayed open until 12am for US customers

It is doable but you've got to really be on the ball. I get massive value from my Avios and companion vouchers and this year as a family of 4 travelling in school holidays we've been to Cape Town and Mauritius in Club with Singapore booked for Christmas.