Book TODAY for Good Friday 2016 Avios flight redemptions

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The experienced Avios collector will already have today marked in their diary. For the rest of you, you should know that today is 355 days until Good Friday 2016 (Friday 25th March).

Why is this important? Because, at midnight last night, British Airways made Avios redemption seats for Good Friday 2016 available.

If you want to lock in an Easter break for next year – and pay the current, cheaper Avios rates – you should book ASAP.

Don’t make any rash decisions. It will cost you £35 per person if you later choose to cancel your flights so booking something completely at random could prove expensive.

You can only book your outbound Good Friday flight today. You would need to book your return flight later when it becomes available. This incurs added risk, of course, since if you cannot book the return flight for some reason (perhaps someone beats you to the seats) you may have to cancel the outbound and pay the cancellation fee.

If you want to use a British Airways Premium Plus American Express 2-4-1 voucher, that is not a problem. You can book a one-way outbound and then ring BA to add the inbound when it becomes available. You will be charged the £35 per person change fee (and possibly a telephone booking fee) but the alternative is to risk losing the outbound seats.

Have a wander over to ba.com and see what you can find.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

gate4lounge says:

6 Apr6 April 06:29

I believe its still the case that no change fee is charged when adding on the inbound to an existing outbound award using BAPP Amex. I did it 5 to 6 months ago and wasn’t charged the amendment fee.
- Jason says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 07:18
  
  I’ve done it twice and been charged twice, when the fee was £25.
  - Worzel says:
    
    6 Apr6 April 07:34
    
    Interesting Jason:
    Last year, planning LHR-SIN-LHR(2-4-1), I booked the outbound(telephone) at about 355 days out and was told that there was no need to change the existing booking and that it would be a simple case of adding the inbound flight when it became available. Indeed this is what happened, I found an inbound flight, and there were no additional charges.
    - Jason says:
      
      6 Apr6 April 07:55
      
      Worzel
      I booked the outbound via BA.com, perhaps if you have already paid a telephone booking fee you don’t get charged again. I’m assuming you got charged for the phone booking as I know sometimes if you call and book, but are able to make the booking online, they will waive the fee.
      - Scott says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 08:15
        
        I’ve done this twice and both times (booked outbound on BA.com and inbound over the phone) haven’t been charged (either change fee or telephone fee). I’ve never even had payment raised as an issue but if so you should be able to argue that you can’t do it online
      - Worzel says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 08:39
        
        Jason,
        I can’t remember whether or not I was charged a telephone booking fee-I was just relieved to get the bookings-1st out and then Business in.
        I should add that the BA staff were helpful throughout,
      - Jon Easthope says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 10:19
        
        I think the answer must depend on the booking agent! When I called, I was told if I book the outbound on phone, they’ll charge £15pp booking fee and put a note on the system saying the inbound was out of range so that when you call to add the return, no further charge. They said if you book outbound on ba.com, when you call to add return they’ll charge £35 change fee + £15 booking fee = £50pp.
Mycity says:

6 Apr6 April 06:52

If I use my 241 and book this for March 2016, will I be able in say August this year change it for the same destination ie New York at the current mileage for July 2016. My 241 is valid till 2017
- Polly says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 07:14
  
  No, any bookings made up to April 27th 2016, can only be changed if you travel within the year. All bookings are valid for one year. If you change to dates outside of that term, you will be charged the new avios rate. I think raffles referred to that when we were discussing the avios changes at length. I may be wrong, but seem to remember much discussion on this very point. Correct me if I am wrong Rob.
  - Worzel says:
    
    6 Apr6 April 07:19
    
    I think you are correct Polly.
  - Rob says:
    
    6 Apr6 April 07:22
    
    Correct. Outbound must be flown within 365 days of original ticketing date.
    - Mycity says:
      
      6 Apr6 April 07:35
      
      Thanks all for the answers, I understand this now. Actually one wonders if it’s worth booking with BA when looking if I fly ex Dub it’s cost effective. One question if I book through Expedia do I still earn miles on BA and Virgin?
      - Michalis says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 08:06
        
        Well. Let’s say it depends on the destination. You can book a cash booking on Virgin ex-dub to NY in M fare class for less than £600 (and then use 40.000 miles to upgrade to Upper Class). Do that for 2 and it’s pretty much the same cost as what BA wants with a 241 voucher.
        
        However if you do other destinations and/or manage to book at the dates you want over Christmas or Easter then that is certainly quite good value.
      - pol says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 10:23
        
        You still earn miles with Virgin through Expedia, never done it with BA but shouldn’t see why not.
      - Hemz says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 12:09
        
        Damn. Scuppers my plans to fly to Japan in Summer 2016 at the current Avios rates. My plan was to book a return to Tokyo using 2-4-1 in Business for 120,000 points. The redemption rate would add another 30,000 Avios if I manage to find an off-peak date for Zone 7, so not the end of the world. I suppose I could always topup if need be. Thanks for the info all!
John says:

6 Apr6 April 07:50

Looking at using the 2-4-1 voucher and read your useful comment “You can book a one-way outbound and then ring BA to add the inbound when it becomes available”. I not realised you could do this.

Would the return part of the journey be at the same 2-4-1 rate in money and avios? My outbound is 40000 Avios with a £567 taxes fee – Does this mean BA would let me pay the same 40000 Avios with a £567 taxes + changing fee to complete the flight?
- Jason says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 07:57
  
  The Avios would be the same but the taxes will be a lot less. They will adjust to the same taxes you would have paid for the return flight if booked all at the same time.
  - John says:
    
    6 Apr6 April 08:00
    
    Thanks for the help. I will keep my fingers crossed the return flight comes up.
    - mark2 says:
      
      6 Apr6 April 09:40
      
      You need to put the 353 days in your diary and make sure that you look on the day that the flights are released. I did this for out to Toronto and back from Montreal this Sept.
      - Jason says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 09:42
        
        Seriously, am I the only one who checks availabilty 500 days out, 5 times a day 🙂
        Only kidding!!!!!!!!!
Stu R says:

6 Apr6 April 08:46

Thanks Raffles, that was useful.

Living in Glasgow, we stand to be shafted by the ‘no free domestic add on’ rule so just booked our walking trip to Cyprus for the pre-Easter week, returning on good Friday 2016. 20,000 Avios using our 2-4-1 voucher (we had two to use) and £70, a tad better than 29,000 and £140 as it would’ve been post 28 April.

The cheapest available fare on BA was £760 for 2 people and that meant an overnight stop in London on the return and a change of airports. Flying on the flights we’ve booked, BA.com was looking for £1,179 for 2 people!

Happy bunny here, thank you again for bringing this to our attention!
- Don says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 15:06
  
  I’m DREADING April 28 for this change. Of all the changes. The domestic RFS hurts the most. I am a long-haul earner in CW/F and short-haul burner…BA don’t want us anymore.
  
  I just think its maddening to ask for 18k and £70 for a flight to Paris! Even Flying Poo isn’t as bad!
Pol says:

6 Apr6 April 09:25

I have a flight booked from Washington, D.C. to Miami, booked with avios. Does anybody know how I add baggage to this. I can’t do it online and when I called AA they said to call BA who said it had nothing to do with them because it wasn’t a BA flight. I don’t want to get charged extra for just turning up at the airport without pre booking.
- Jason says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 09:46
  
  We did an AA flight last October, Orlando to New York( Avios), and the hotel checked in our luggage and I paid at the hotel( airline ) check in desk.
  I think that may have been specific to disney world though, but I got the impression it happens quite a lot at hotels in the US, It was $25 per bag.
  - pol says:
    
    6 Apr6 April 10:18
    
    Thanks.
    - jason says:
      
      6 Apr6 April 16:10
      
      yes same for me $25 dollars a bag
CC says:

6 Apr6 April 09:33

I’m planning Tokyo on 2-4-1 in April next year, is this worth doing in first class? I’ve heard not so positive things about the BA product and that I might as well book business class and save the miles? Anyone experienced both classes on this route? Thanks
SB says:

6 Apr6 April 10:02

I’d go First in JAL simply for the Salon champagne….!
- CC says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 10:10
  
  I was thinking about that but don’t you have to use a BA plane on 2-4-1?
  - Jason says:
    
    6 Apr6 April 10:21
    
    Yes you do have to fly BA to use the 241.
    It’s down to personal preference, but I would spend the extra Avios for F everytime.
    To the point where, unless I was using a 241, I would look at other carriers for business if it’s feasible.
    - CC says:
      
      6 Apr6 April 10:32
      
      First it is then! Cheers
      - Chris says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 12:01
        
        We used a 241 to go to NRT in F and it was amazing, long day flights to make the most of the service and without ridiculously early starts so you can use the CCR too. It was so good we plan to go again!
      - Jerry says:
        
        6 Apr6 April 20:55
        
        Here’s another vote for F. We’re doing HND again next month. The 60,000 avios with a 241 is well worth it for the day flights in both directions. We briefly considered downgrading to CW when the new rules were announced in Jan to save avios but we’re really glad we didn’t now the trip is imminent.
Chris says:

6 Apr6 April 11:05

I hadn’t realised you could do the one way and add the return later with the 2-4-1. Reading the original article you did (in Avios Redemption University) it said you should book a same day return.

When booking the return I assume I need to call the US BA contact centre at midnight to make the change to ensure we don’t miss the return tickets? Which should be interesting as I will be in India when its time to book the return, lets hope Skype works on the Indian internet.
- Jason says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 11:29
  
  They don’t open until 7.30am UK time, I think they close at 10pm UK time.
- Rob says:
  
  6 Apr6 April 13:28
  
  Works on UK time. I don’t know if it is midnight – I was actually up at UK midnight last night and (at least online) nothing was showing for Good Friday by 1pm at which point I returned to bed. (I only did because my 3-year old woke me at 2.50am Dubai time so I thought I’d see what happened!)
  - CC says:
    
    8 Apr8 April 10:11
    
    I spoke to BA yesterday and they said the US call centre wont be able to deal with adding the 2-4-1 return leg and I would have to wait until 6am to speak to the UK call centre.
    
    Or I could do it online and get charged the fee.