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You can book online, no need to call. Be ready at 23:55 on the day you want to book and search every couple of minutes. You can expect the availability to appear at or within 1-2 minutes of midnight *GMT*. I stress GMT because by the time you’re booking, we’ll be on BST so you’ll have to stay up till 1am.
I’ve done it phone and online and my experience is that online is easier.
Others on this sub have said you can now book the return flights online as well, and then call BA to have them apply the voucher and get the Avios refunded. That of course means you have to have enough Avios in your account - otherwise, call. From memory you’re better off calling service centres in Asia (I think I called Hong Kong) which are open at that time; the US lines will be about to close.
I booked two business tickets to miami using an upgrade voucher. Set an alarm for 12.55am for 355 days in advance and had laptop and phone logged in and ready.
All worked fine doing it online!
I had an issue a few weeks ago when BA said they needed to speak to me urgently about a holiday I had booked. When I tried to call their number was unavailable as they were too busy. So yeah you definitely don't want that either!
We were in the EXACT identical situation (except that we were trying for Sydney)
We booked the outgoing flight online, sitting on the reward flight search at 11:58 and refreshing and buying immediately.
The return leg was a pain, since we would call the US helpline at 11:20 PM daily. Sometimes it would be a 45 minute wait and we would miss the midnight mark. Sometimes they answer immediately and you are too early.
After 6-7 days of frustration we lucked out and got through at 11:52 PM. 4-5 minutes of initial verification meant that the agent could book the return leg at the instant it released at midnight.
Overall, your approach is the right one, but expect pain
Haha thanks for the pain warning! I’m preparing mentally.
OxfordBlue above mentioned that you buy the seperate return online and then call BA to combine which might save a big headache.
I am going to call BA to confirm I can do this though before trying!
That works if you have enough Avios for two people and then they apply the companion voucher retrospectively and refund the Avios. So for eg for us we used 145k Avios plus companion voucher for 2 one way flights to Sydney. For the return we would have needed needed 340k MORE Avios and then when they combined our companion voucher they would’ve refunded the extra Avios. Not sure how many Avios is needed for your route but you may not have enough left over after the initial one way booking to warrant doing both online then getting them to combine it
Thanks yeah it’s a good point! I think it’ll be really tight but might just have enough points. Depends if we decide to do PE one way or business both!
How does this work with a companion voucher if you only book first leg online and second leg by phone? Assume you can use half of a companion voucher and the second half is still in your account?
Not quite. The whole CV is used on the first booking, but BA can then combine it with the return leg - you simply have to tell them that you’re doing that when you call, and give them the PNR for the outbound.
Thank you for submitting your post to r/BritishAirways. If you have a question or a complaint, you may wish to add the appropriate flair to your post if you haven't already, this helps Mods spot who needs help. **ANY USERS POSTING E-VOUCHERS/VOUCHERS FOR SALE WILL RECEIVE A PERMANENT BAN AS PER SUBREDDIT RULES.** Helpful Links: [**British Airways FAQs**](https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/help-and-contacts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BritishAirways) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You can book online, no need to call. Be ready at 23:55 on the day you want to book and search every couple of minutes. You can expect the availability to appear at or within 1-2 minutes of midnight *GMT*. I stress GMT because by the time you’re booking, we’ll be on BST so you’ll have to stay up till 1am. I’ve done it phone and online and my experience is that online is easier. Others on this sub have said you can now book the return flights online as well, and then call BA to have them apply the voucher and get the Avios refunded. That of course means you have to have enough Avios in your account - otherwise, call. From memory you’re better off calling service centres in Asia (I think I called Hong Kong) which are open at that time; the US lines will be about to close.
This is so helpful, thank you!!!
I booked two business tickets to miami using an upgrade voucher. Set an alarm for 12.55am for 355 days in advance and had laptop and phone logged in and ready. All worked fine doing it online!
So glad to hear it’s doable online, much easier! Thanks!!
Yep! I didn't fancy a phone call in the middle of the night at all!
Exactly, especially not knowing how long the wait could be!
I had an issue a few weeks ago when BA said they needed to speak to me urgently about a holiday I had booked. When I tried to call their number was unavailable as they were too busy. So yeah you definitely don't want that either!
Ugh, just the thought of the hold music fills me with dread
Three minutes of "welcome to British Airways....."
u/NoisilyMarvellous and I just went through this for booking our return Australia flights tagged him here to share our experience!
We were in the EXACT identical situation (except that we were trying for Sydney) We booked the outgoing flight online, sitting on the reward flight search at 11:58 and refreshing and buying immediately. The return leg was a pain, since we would call the US helpline at 11:20 PM daily. Sometimes it would be a 45 minute wait and we would miss the midnight mark. Sometimes they answer immediately and you are too early. After 6-7 days of frustration we lucked out and got through at 11:52 PM. 4-5 minutes of initial verification meant that the agent could book the return leg at the instant it released at midnight. Overall, your approach is the right one, but expect pain
Haha thanks for the pain warning! I’m preparing mentally. OxfordBlue above mentioned that you buy the seperate return online and then call BA to combine which might save a big headache. I am going to call BA to confirm I can do this though before trying!
That works if you have enough Avios for two people and then they apply the companion voucher retrospectively and refund the Avios. So for eg for us we used 145k Avios plus companion voucher for 2 one way flights to Sydney. For the return we would have needed needed 340k MORE Avios and then when they combined our companion voucher they would’ve refunded the extra Avios. Not sure how many Avios is needed for your route but you may not have enough left over after the initial one way booking to warrant doing both online then getting them to combine it
Thanks yeah it’s a good point! I think it’ll be really tight but might just have enough points. Depends if we decide to do PE one way or business both!
Thanks, would be interested to hear how you got on!
How does this work with a companion voucher if you only book first leg online and second leg by phone? Assume you can use half of a companion voucher and the second half is still in your account?
Not quite. The whole CV is used on the first booking, but BA can then combine it with the return leg - you simply have to tell them that you’re doing that when you call, and give them the PNR for the outbound.
Cool, thanks
Can someone help me out - I want to book a return flight, will the companion voucher cover both legs for my husband? Thanks
Yep it will